Another shocking event...

[firesweepranch]

OK, so we did not learn our lesson the first time... Some of you may remember our failure at AI last fall because our thermos was plugged into the same wall as our electric fence, and after horrible conception rates I finally figured out there was an electrical pulse going through the thermos, thus killing all the sperm? And how did I figure it out? I got shocked when I went out in the garage (where the thermos was set up) to check the temp on the thermos to see if it was ready, barefoot. 
Well, last night we went to AI a cow, in our brand new barn we just built. We have electrical cords running lights there for now until after the first of the year when we plan on pulling power from the pole. Hubby set up the thermos and got the tank ready while we loaded the cow in the chute. He got the gun loaded and got in the cow when I decided to check the temp on the thermos (I was bored waiting for him), had my rubber boots on, and I got shocked AGAIN! My daughter, nor my husband, could feel the electricity in the water in the thermos and thought I was crazy. I had my middle daughter run up to the shop and get the fence tester and guess what? There was electricity being sent through the thermos, AGAIN! At least the cow was still in the chute, and we could thaw another straw, with the thermos UNPLUGGED, but gheesh! Our luck with frying semen has to be the worst! I bet the AI companies just LOVE me  ;D
So, remember to UNPLUG your thermos before dropping your straws in it.... Just a public service announcement!

 

[KSanburg]

I would have my thaw unit tested because I don't think there should be an issue with it as it is insulated, or at least mine is.

 

[DSC]

We had the exact same thing happen to us. From now on we just unplug the thermo before we drop the straw in.

 

[Freddy]

I breed my heifers every year in the barn with electric thaw  box and have done it for years ,and can think of many others to ,need to checck that deal out ....company that makes them would sure get their attention or your AI company also ... Your ground is not proper or something ...

 

[thats funny]

Has anyone on here ever not thawed out the straw of semen and went and bred the cow?  Just wondering if anyone else has ever done this?

 

[Cowboy]

I feel very strongly about this topic, so will add some thoughts.

First off, I have used the exact same BLUE 120 volt thaw unit as every one else for many many years. The first one I ever bought was always left plugged in inside the lab over in Colorado. Never had an issue andshe stayed at 96 degrees for over three years, until one night was had a storm come thru and got some lightning. I didn't give it any thought the next morning, went in and was getting ready to thaw some semen for a donor, when I popped the damn thing had been fried andstayed on the HEAT mode all night. It was boiling inside the lid, and when I opened it I got sprayed with boiling water. Lesson number one -- never leave then plugged in during a pending lightning storm as it will damage the heat sensing unit inside - as it did to mine.

Unit number 2 was in constant use for over 10 years, going with me every where I went. I did have a stray voltage problem at one producers place, where we had to plug directly into the light pole box that was set up for 110. That box was not grounded properly, and when I went to retrieve the first unit of semen, I got one hell of a surprise. It not only ruined that one unit of semen, but it fried the entire unit -- it never worked right again.

Unit number 3 is in use as we speak, and is now 6 years old. No problems. In the case with Chris on this post, you may very well have damaged it when it was happening the first time, and it now will not completely keep the stray voltage out of the water. If it is giving you a shock, simply unplugging it every time MAY NOT be giving you the correct temp of 96 degrees. When in doubt, I always keep one of those round topped temp probes in the water along with the furnished ABS card reader.

I guess I am trying to tell every one to protect these things when ever possible. Just because an available plug in is handy, does not mean it is also SAFE to use.Even a very small stray voltage will kill semen, FAST. These things don't last forever, but are reliable most of the time if we take the time to be casrefull. I sure hope these tid bits will help evefy one from here on. I think I have been fortunate, I am on the third unit in over 30 years -- makes for a darn cheap investment!!!

MERRY ""CHRISTMAS"" to every one, I don't do the happy holiday thing, so if that ticks any one off -- TUFF !!!!!! hehehehe

See ya -- Terry

 

[Pleasant Grove Farms]

Cowboy or any of you other long-time AI'ers....
how important, really is the "correct" temp of the water?

back years ago, a guy that custom bred hundreds of cows for ppl each year, just
popped a straw into his front shirt pocket and there it thawed while he got his other
stuff ready; the conception was normal.

myself, I have always had the ingrained thought that if each step of the preparation
process took the semen warmer or maintained it at the temp it was...never lowered then
raised it, then that worked really fine also; too cool is way, way better than too warm;

I have never had an electric thaw unit; always and forever just use a thermometer in a thermos;
never have the water above 95 just in case the thermometer might be a few degrees off.
If I have a doz or more cows to do, the water does get cooler with each successive  straw
but the conception remains just as good. 

More important in my thinking than a specific temp to thaw is shielding the semen from the sun,
being absolutely clean, keeping the loaded gun warm in cold weather and never letting the open
straw come in contact with water at all.

 

[firesweepranch]

I am thinking of getting it checked, just in case, when we get the barn set up. It is only 4 years old, but we bump it around a bit with the temporary set we have had over the last few years. We did do the pocket thaw last fall, and the results were the set of red Rendition twins we have. Rendition is collected at Genex, which uses a milk semen extender. I have been told that milk extenders can be pocket thawed, but others can not. I am not sure how true that is, but we have pocket thawed Genex semen with luck.
For now, we will just have to remember to unplug it. Got to breed another one tomorrow morning, kids are telling me if she sticks to call the calf Clause when it is born  Nothing like a little early AI on Christmas morning.
Thanks Terry, as always your advice is and experience is priceless!

Merry Christmas!

 

[knabe]

at work, I have to voltage leak/ground test every single piece of equipment.

it is a CAP requirement. http://www.cap.org/apps/cap.portal

we had a freezer plugged into a circuit that had a bad ground and it tripped the breaker to the building one time. it burnt the fuse box and ruined an $8000 freezer.  luckily we have a mandated backup generator that worked as well as an extra freezer to move the stuff to.

we have two pieces of equipment that leak voltage.  one has to have it's own dedicated ground wire attached to a building beam in the ground.

alternatively, we could have buried a 10' grounding rod, standard i guess

the risk they are trying to mitigate is really for patients and personnel who may come in contact with high voltage equipment and is a risk mitigation.

 

[AAOK]

The day I swore off all methodology of Heat detection except Visual Standing Heat, is the same day I swore off man made thawing containers. For those last seven years, I had a conception rate of 92% on the first stick. The cow thaws to the perfect temperature every time.  And, breeding 12 hours after the beginning of Standing Heat really does work!

 

[savaged]

The day I swore off all methodology of Heat detection except Visual Standing Heat, is the same day I swore off man made thawing containers. For those last seven years, I had a conception rate of 92% on the first stick. The cow thaws to the perfect temperature every time.  And, breeding 12 hours after the beginning of Standing Heat really does work!

So do you directly load the "unthawed" straw in the gun directly, or do you stick it in a pocket prior to the gun?

 

[AAOK]

Directly into the gun, and into the cow. I wait a couple of minutes before  grabbing the Cervex.

 

[DSC]

I would like to hear more info about thawing in the cow? How many of you have done it that way? Conception rates? It makes sense to me that it would work but I could be wrong. Can you do it will any straw or only certain ones? Thanks for any help.

 

[kanshow]

When I was taught to AI, the 'in' thing was to thaw it in the cow..    I never noticed any conception rate difference between thermos thawing and cow thawing.  That said, I think that semen collected more recently needs to be thawed in the warm water because I believe there is a difference in extenders - but I've not researched it enough to be sure.  

Firesweep, I think I would probably not use that electric thawer anymore unless just as a thermos.   We had an electric one but didnt use it unless we are AIing more than a 3 or 4 at once..   it is easier to get the right temp from the tap and put it in the thermos than to wait on the electric to warm the water.   JMO of course!!

 

[TPX]

When we first started to AI I took the course but still didn't feel confident enough to do it so we got a neighbor to do it for us as he had been doing it for 30 plus years at that time.  When he showed up to do the first cow he went to the semen tank and got the straw of semen and walked over to the cow and AI'd her.  I just about fell over with a heart attack when he did that as we had all the proper thawers and equipment that we needed to it the way I was taught.  He just laughed and said he had always done it that way and to trust him on it so we did (he never runs a bull with cows, he AI's 2 cycles and has the same conception rates that neighbors with bulls have if not better).  Well that year we had over 90% success rate and since then we have AI'd every cow the same way by thawing the straw out in the cow. 

 

[kidsandkows]

This is really interesting...so how long do you wait before you grab the cervix and begin to feed the gun through (as good/ or as bad as I am at it I could probably start right away and by the time I get there it will be ready). haha

 

[DSC]

I think I am going to try it. Can you only use this method on certain straws or any straw?

 

[AAOK]

I earn my living as a State Consultant for Manufacturers.  The goal is to help them become progressively more profitable. What we do most is Process Improvement. The most simple way to go about this is to identify processes which are unnecessary or repetitive, and eliminate them.

The same can be accomplished with any business.  The reason I decided to thaw in the cow was to save time.  It just made sense!

 

[CAB]

First time for me. I thawed one in a cow yesterday for a flush in about a week I guess we'll see!!!

 

[DLD]

I used to always thaw in the cow.  One fall my conception rate got down around 50%, and looking for anything that I might've done wrong,  I went back to thawing (I just use tap water and a thermometer in a thermos, btw).  That's been several years ago, and I've been thawing some in the cows lately.  Truthfully, I can't tell any difference in the long run - there could've been any number of factors contributing to that one bad season.  I really think it would have to stress the semen less, especially when it's cold weather, to be thawed in it's ultimate enviroment rather than being thawed and then being exposed to much colder temperatures, even momentarily, before it makes it to the cow.  I do believe that it's important to get the semen in the cow as quickly as possible, to avoid the slow thaw that does damage semen quality - if you have the cow in the chute and the tank is nearby, it should be okay. But if you load your gun first and carry it some distance to the cow, or still have to catch the cow, then thawing right after you take it out of the tank is still prob'ly your best bet.