Select Sires

SELECTIONS - Winter 2004
Handling Semen in
Cold Weather and Year Round

With the weather turning cold, this is an excellent time to take a moment to review one of the most basic aspects of the A.I. program - semen handling. Semen quality is one of the few aspects of fertility in which the herd owner has almost complete control, but it is also one of the most over-looked. Fortunately, the procedures that ensure high-quality semen is maintained from the thaw bath to the cow are pretty simple.

Semen to Thermos

First, make sure frozen straws stay frozen by keeping them as low as possible below the tank’s frost line. Use long forceps or tweezers to remove straws, keep an up-to-date inventory card so you know where to look in the tank and have enough light to see what you are doing so straws and canes can quickly be found, removed and the canisters returned to their normal storage location. The thaw bath should be within arm’s reach of the nitrogen tank, with water temperature about 95 degrees F (a range of 92 degrees F to 98 degrees F is acceptable). Thermometers and thermostats must be routinely calibrated with a mercury or alcohol thermometer to ensure accuracy. Also, when thawing multiple straws make sure they do not come in direct contact with each other during the thawing process.

Pay attention to time. It’s funny how 45 seconds required for semen thawing may seem like hours while the recommended 10 to 15 minutes maximum interval from thaw bath to insemination seems to pass by in a blink of the eye. Once thawed, make sure anything that comes in contact with the straw is prewarmed to about 95 degrees and place the loaded gun inside clothing to protect it. Make sure you are not thawing more straws than you can deposit in the cow within 10 to 15 minutes.

The most over-looked aspect of the semen handling process is hygiene. The uterus is a great environment for growing bugs and any unwanted organisms introduced by poor hygiene will likely flourish. To test your semen-handling hygiene, just ask yourself the following questions: Would you use your breeding kit for a lunch box? Would you use the thaw bath for a coffee cup or the breeding sheaths as sipper straws? If the thought makes you nauseous, you may have a problem.

The fertility of dairy cattle is influenced by a host of factors, most of which we have very limited, if any, control. Something so straightforward as our semen-handling procedures should never become the limiting factor in reproductive efficiency. To brush up on these procedures in your herd, contact your local Select Sires Reproductive Solutions™ specialist.

™Reproductive Solutions is a trademark of Select Sires Inc.

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Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751