Almost a year ago, we attended our first
Artificial Insemination (AI) class. At that time
it was only a thought for the future. We asked around
to find if anyone was doing AI in our area: we asked
our Vet, the Coop, the County Extension Center -
no one knew of anyone doing AI on goats in the area.
Well we heard of a lady that did sheep; the Vet
knew several people who did cows and horses; but
not goat folk. We did hear that a lady a couple
of Counties away did AI on her diary goats. So AI
sorta went on the back burner.
In the fall of 2002, we lost what we though
would be our herd sire of the future. He was dead
and gone and we had nothing of his. Well we did
have one of his offspring… a cute doeling
born March 2003. The more we though and the more
we talked to people in the goat business, we found
that we should insure our Bucks - take out some
insurance if we lost them, we would not loose all
of them.
Life went on; we purchased a buck, Enhancer
II from Cookville, TN, a good looking little
dude. Hercules
was born on the place, out of one of our does. Several
folks suggested we collect our bucks. We talked
to the Robert Spencer of Alabama A&M University’s
Small Farms Research Center and decided collecting
our bucks would be a good risk management tool,
and Robert had room in his nitrogen tank. So following
the Collection,
we had 89 straws in the Spencer tank.
I looked for a tank in town, asked at the
Coop, the Extension center, nothing. We had looked
at buying a new tank but really had not decided.
One night we were on line looking at Superior Semen
Works, the Masterman’s web site and noticed
they sold semen they had collected. We spotted a
couple of bucks we would like to use. But, we had
no tank and didn’t have an idea where to go.
Then from out of the blue, we heard that
Dr. Maria Browning, formerly of Tennessee State
University Goat Specialist, was doing AI training.
We contacted her husband but she had nothing going
on at the time.
A few weeks later, we came home early and
on the answering machine was a massage from Dr.
Richard Browning, Maria’s husband. They were
putting on an AI class; it was full, but our names
were on the list of attendee. The AI class was to
be in a neighboring town the next day, 8 am Saturday
morning. We were up and gone, looking forward to
the class. When we arrived, we learned that only
one other couple had shown up for the class.
The first part of the class was a ground
school. We were instructed on the inter-working
of a goat, both male and female. Goat Reproduction
Management. We had had the freshman class, and probably
during the Collection the sophomore level class.
Well, we were in Graduate school. We, Pat and I
and the other couple, had the opportunity to ask
as many ‘dumb’ questions as could be;
and Maria and Richard had answers and gave us time
to absorb the answers before moving on.
In the afternoon, we looked at the female
goat reproduction system from some slaughtered animals.
We were given the opportunity to insert the insemination
gun with a French point needle into the training
aid to feel what it was like for the needle point
to pass through the rings of the Cervix. Then real
goats were brought in. We were able to insert the
speculums, pen light and take a look at the cervix.
Maria spent time showing us exactly what to look
for and where to insert the insemination gun. I
must have done three or four does. Oh, we were also
shown how to handle the straws, remove them from
the tank, check to insure we have the correct straw,
warm them up, cut the tips, insert them into the
gun and insert them in a does. On the way home,
we felt comfortable about this AI stuff.
A few weeks later, we went to Heart of
Dixie Boer Goat Field Day, 2004. Jackie Edwards
was there and talked about their AI class in Stephenville
TX. On the way home we decided that we want to do
this AI.
We called the Masterman’s and placed
our order for the tank, AI kit, and some semen.
They agreed to deliver it on their way from New
Hampshire to the ABGA show in Louisiana. On the
side of Interstate 65 and US 64, I took possession
of our new tank, AI kit, and the straws we purchased.
We were ready to do the AI.
We inserted CIDRs in four goats, then another
four, a week later. All of these would be trial
runs. We would inseminate each of the does with
Hercules’s semen then turn them out with Hercules
for breeding. Failure proof.
Failure proof bull….. We pulled the
CIDRs, gave the Lutalyse, and waited for the does
to go into heat. We walked Hercules through the
pen; of the four, he only showed interested in two.
Ok, the classes were great, but until you have that
first doe on a stand and you are the one that is
going to inseminate her… Well, it was an experience.
I followed the step-by-step procedures that we had
gotten from Maria, and other sources. Hercules may
have been interested, but I could not find a ‘rose
bud.’ We put her back in the pen and get our
second goat. Followed the steps and, well, I think
I found that ‘rose bud.’ We determined
which canister, cane and goblet had Hercules straws,
removed a straw, thawed the straw in our brand new
thaw tank, cut the straw, loaded into our brand
new inseminate gun with French needle, and got ready
for to insert it into the doe. Well, with all of
the possibility for things to go wrong, we had success.
Well if success is placing the semen, through the
cervix into the uterus, we had success with our
second doe.
The third does was not in heat or we missed
her cycle and also on for the fourth. One of four.
We pulled our second group of CIDRs, gave shots
and watched better this time. We paraded the buck
thought the pen a couple of time. At 9 pm, we had
a doe in heat.
This time, of the four, we were able to
inseminate two.
Our Artificial Insemination was not a failure,
but also not the success we had dreamed. With additional
practice, I think it will become an important part
of our reproduction management. Maybe another class…..
