New AI Setup

[Anastasia]

This is going out to all you boffins who have already set up your own AI.

We are wanting to set up our own AI at home. Obviously need the dummy and AV etc and all the mod cons that go with the collecting and insemination, but what else would you recommend.

We are looking at shipping out fresh and chilled semen from the beginning of next year, plus also to inseminate our own mares at home. Will put Vision away to see if his semen freezes this year and if so will get that done.

AndyPandy.......you MUST have plenty of thoughts and ideas on this one........

 

[AndyPandy]

I do indeed

For semen collection, I would recommend a basic dummy. Research has shown that necks and ears and that kind of thing are unnecessary, and potentially dangerous. Although, I would recommend that you get a biting strap so that if you have a stallion who is a biter, he bites that, rather than shredding the cover of the dummy mare.

A good AV is worth it's weight in gold; for me - the Missouri is too soft & bendy and wears out too quickly, the Colorado is too heavy and bulky although it gives a better feel for the stallion, but the INRA AV is an excellent AV offering the light weight of the Missouri with the "realism" (for the stallion) and heat retention properties of the Colorado. Get yourself some good lube!

Having a Burco boiler is great for filling the AV and always having enough hot water on tap.

Waterbath and incubator are very imortant to prevent the semen being cooled and reheated over and over. In fact, on this note - bottle warmers/insulators for the semen collection bottle are essential.

Analysis/processing - a decent microscope is very useful, but don't go overboard. There are plenty of good, but affordable ones out there, and make sure you get a heated stage. A sperm counter is also a MUST to save you time. Use a nephlometric turbidity based machine as opposed to a densimeter/photometer, as the neph' method of assessing the concentration is much more accurate.

Test your stallion's semen with a range of extenders at the beginning of the season to find out which one is best for his semen; so invest in a few doses of a wide range of different extenders (I can think of at least 10 that I'd want to try).

We've done some work here recently which suggests that one of the disposable shippers on the market is more effective than the famous Equitainer at keeping the semen at a constant temperature for up to 72 hours; so don't worry about investing in Equitainers - go for one of the good disposable ones (which are really reusable).

PM me if you want anymore info on any of these bits and pieces. Any other suggestions?

 

[htobago]

Gosh I think AndyPandy has covered (no pun intended) just about everything!

I went out and got an expensive dummy with neck and ears and so on for my boy - probably wasn't necessary but I'm a silly neurotic perfectionist Arab-owner and besides was in a hurry and it was the quickest delivery. So, er, advice would be don't leave dummy-purchase till the last minute like I did LOL!

You mention 'shipping out fresh semen' as well as chilled. I didn't think this was possible - I thought fresh semen could only be used on-site for immediate insemination? But somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

Only other thing I would say is make sure your boy gets good dummy-training, and ideally don't leave it too long between the training and starting the stud season, or do a quick bit of 'refresher' training just before the season starts.

Also, some stallions simply will not mount a dummy -especially if they have been accustomed to covering naturally for some time. I know one stally who refuses point-blank to go anywhere near a dummy. So don't buy your dummy until you've sent your boy away for training and know that he will be OK with it - otherwise you could end up with a useless dummy to sell on eBay!

Oh - and obviously the ideal you are aiming for is for the stallion to mount the dummy without the need for an in-season jump mare. That way you can provide semen 'on demand' without the godawful constant anxiety about whether you will have a mare in season when breeders ring up urgently wanting semen!

We've got there now - Tobago happily jumps on Trinidad his dummy-mare even without an in-season mare for encouragement. But it can take a bit of time to get to this stage, so in the early part of the season you may need jump mares - OK if you have a lot of your own/visiting mares 'on hand', but it seems to be Sod's law that when an urgent collection is needed, you've got nothing in season.

If the breeders give you enough notice, you can jab a jump mare into season as a last resort - but you have to nag most of them constantly to do this. Best to find out from them well in advance roughly when their mares are expected to come into season, and keep all this info on a spreadsheet so you can ring them nearer the time with reminders to keep you informed.

Sorry - having said AP had covered everything, I now seem to have found rather a lot to say, most of which you probably already know!

This is just what I've learnt from my experience as a total novice AIer!!! Thank goodness the stud where my boy lives are very experienced - I'm learning a lot from them!