Breeding/AI question

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chuckanut
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Breeding/AI question

Post by chuckanut » Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:40 pm

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with shipping chilled semen and doing AI. What did the whole process cost? What were the results? Thanks.

oregon woodsmoke
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by oregon woodsmoke » Sun Sep 18, 2016 5:30 pm

I've had frozen semen shipped, but I wasn't the one paying for it. One shipment resulted in two puppies and one shipment went to England and they haven't used it yet.

You can call the place that stores it and they will give you a rundown on costs. I think I paid about $300 for the collection and storage, but my memory could be wrong.

I also had a request for frozen semen from a different dog but when I took him to be collected, his semen wasn't in good enough condition to be frozen. He was an imported dog who was sterile when he arrived. A couple of years later, he started to sire some nice litters but was never up to the point where it was possible to freeze his semen. Not every dog is suitable to be collected and shipped.

Rumor has it that the chilled shipped semen is slightly more successful than with frozen, but there is less of an issue with timing when you use frozen.

chuckanut
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by chuckanut » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:15 pm

Do you recall what it cost to do the AI?

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Vision
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by Vision » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:20 pm

Plan on $1000 minimum for hormone testing and implanting

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SCT
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by SCT » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:48 pm

$200 to ship frozen semen from KS to UT, $50 each for 3 progesterone tests, and $475 for surgical AI. Got the same litter size as live cover and won't hesitate to do it again as I have one more breeding from that particular stud.

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zrp
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by zrp » Sun Sep 18, 2016 10:23 pm

I've had good success using cool shipped semen and regular ai ( as opposed to surgical ). Overnight shipping costs vary. I would decide what ai procedure to use based on semen costs and what, if any, guarantees are tied to it, anesthetic risks or concerns of the female, budget etc. Also, with cool shipped semen, I often did vaginal cytology rather than progesterone testing, particularly if the stud owner divided the semen into 2 doses.

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zrp
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by zrp » Sun Sep 18, 2016 10:28 pm

I just want to clarify that I was talking about cool shipped fresh semen and not frozen semen. With frozen, progesterone testing and surgical ai are essential in my opinion and I still expect reduced conception rates and smaller litters more often than not.

chuckanut
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by chuckanut » Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:16 am

Chilled fresh semen and regular AI are what I am considering. Sounds like folks have had some success and I'm looking at about $1000 when all is said and done. Thanks for the responses. Appreciate it.

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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by chuckanut » Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:35 am

I just called my vet and they quoted me $185 for a progesterone test. Does that seem a bit high?

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birddogdoc
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by birddogdoc » Mon Oct 03, 2016 1:35 pm

I see no reason why you can't your dog bred via fresh chilled AI for less than $1,000.

A few things to consider:
  • Progesterone assays are used to approximate ovulation timing and confirm ovulation. A single progesterone test is not going to help, so if you go the progesterone route, plan on doing more than one. (The price you quoted seems a bit high; however only a handful of clinics have in-house progesterone capability, so most samples go to one of a few laboratories). Make an appointment for the morning and fast the dog. If you do a series, have the appointment made for the same time of day each time.
  • Fertility is a two-way street. Has this male had successful litters via fresh chilled AI? Will the collecting vet be performing a semen evaluation, and more importantly, does the vet know how to perform a proper semen evaluation? Highly fertile males give you more leeway in hitting the ovulation window. Males with poor fertility require more rigorous ovulation timing to get a pregnancy.
  • Vaginal cytology can help approximate the fertile period for a dog, but it is NOT an exact science. Some bitches never get 100% cornified epithelial cells at ovulation, and you'll miss ovulation waiting for that to occur. Again, make sure your vet is experienced in the analysis of vaginal cytology, but know that it's not all that is necessary.
  • Semen either needs to be in the dog or the bitch. Don't agree to split a breeding dose of semen. If you want to AI twice, have the dog collected twice.
  • I've alluded to this already, but have a frank conversation with your vet about their training/interest/competency in reproduction work. In the small animal realm, most of my colleagues would rather scratch out their own eyes than deal with an AI case.

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SCT
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by SCT » Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:51 pm

chuckanut wrote:I just called my vet and they quoted me $185 for a progesterone test. Does that seem a bit high?
Is he/she a reproductive vet? My repro vet does the progesterone test in house for $50 each.

codym
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by codym » Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:30 am

Maybe it's the area that I live in but we are doing the numbers for a frozen semen vice a chilled semen breeding and it's way higher out here. Frozen we are looking at $500 bucks just to ovenight it and like a $250 deposit on the shipping cannister, frozen semen its self is $1500.00 plus the $120.00 each proesterone test, $500 for the procedure and then at leasst $100.00 in boarding as I don't want to miss the window. It's less for chilled but that just because we are using a different dog and the semen is only going to cost $600.00, not sure what it will cost to have it shipped but I'm assuming similar to frozen.

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SCT
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by SCT » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:18 pm

That sucks Cody! My last one was $625 for 3 progesterone tests and surgical implant. And it was done on Christmas day. $200 to ship frozen semen, but we did 2 day shipping. On chilled it would have to be overnight.

Steve

codym
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Re: Breeding/AI question

Post by codym » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:32 pm

SCT wrote:That sucks Cody! My last one was $625 for 3 progesterone tests and surgical implant. And it was done on Christmas day. $200 to ship frozen semen, but we did 2 day shipping. On chilled it would have to be overnight.

Steve

Yes it does. We are going to use a vet out of Phoenix. It will all be worth it if we get a nice big litter!

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