But think of the possibilities... maybe YOU TOO could be selling $10,000 bucklings, all produced from $125 AI straws!! 
Goat Semen Collection
- Thread starter OneFineAcre
- Start date
Baymule
Herd Master
- Thread starter
- #33
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
@Baymule
As promised some more pictures.
So, this "Field Day" was put on by the Johnston County Goat Producers with the help of the NC Extension Service and NC State University.
The young man doing the demonstration finished his Phd at NC State last year in animal science with a concentration on small ruminant reproduction. NC State offers a 3 day class for $500 on AI for goats and he is one of the instructors.
They have a very specific technique they use and teach. There is a goat unit at State and they use this protocol and have a good rate of success (about 60%). But, keep in mind they are doing a high volume, the use hormones to sync heat and will inseminate 75 animals in one day.
If you are only going to do AI on 5 goats in your herd in a year, you can get better results than that.
You see how they have the goat standing on the ramp?. If you have their front legs lower than their back legs it tends to make all of their internal organs shift forward, including the uterus which takes pressure off of he cervix.
That's why the do that.
You clean the vulva area really well and dry off thoroughly. I did not know this but water is spermicidal.
He's holding a duck billed speculum. They use a non spermicidal lubricant.
Of course the speculum has a light.
This picture is what makes this technique a little unusual. You see in the picture the handles that look like scissors? Those are for a "pozzi clamp".
This is what a pozzi clamp looks like. They use this to grab the first ring of the cervix. A goats cervix has 4 rings, but they are not always clearly aligned with each other. By grabbing the first ring, you can manipulate it to ease the insertion of the catheter all the way through the cervix (which is about 1" long") into the uterus. Ideally you want to deposit the semen into the opening of the uterus.
So, he said that no one should attempt to use these clamps without being well trained in that you can do some damage with them. I was thinking "You think?"
They actually make a hole about the size of an 18 gauge needle. But, the cervix is made of cartilege and is non vascular (no blood vessels), no nerves so when you grab that ring, it does not hurt them. But, everything from the vulva to the cervix is obviously very sensitive.
In the last picture you can see him trying to work the catheter through all 4 rings of the cervix.
So, of course we asked them how to do this with Nigerians. He actually went to Haiti last year and AI'd a bunch of goats there to try to improve their genetics. He said all of the goats there are small, so they do what they call a "poke and hope".
They use a tubular shaped speculum, and they don't use the pozzi clamp. They just try to get the catheter or the semen gun tube through the cervix.
Sometimes if you can't get it all the way through the cervix, you have to make the decision to you go ahead an deposit the semen in the cervix. You generally have lower success if you don't get it all the way into the uterus.
Now with that said, the next day we had our club meeting and no one uses the pozzi clamp. They all use a tubular speculum and a semen gun. Everyone I spoke to also just do AI on natural heat cycles with out the drugs
If you do a mature do who has kidded at least twice, and wait until her second heat of the fall say in Oct. and you are only doing two or 3, then over time they all say they have about a 70% success rate.
You may get 3 for 3 on year, 1 for 3 the next year. Etc.
As promised some more pictures.
So, this "Field Day" was put on by the Johnston County Goat Producers with the help of the NC Extension Service and NC State University.
The young man doing the demonstration finished his Phd at NC State last year in animal science with a concentration on small ruminant reproduction. NC State offers a 3 day class for $500 on AI for goats and he is one of the instructors.
They have a very specific technique they use and teach. There is a goat unit at State and they use this protocol and have a good rate of success (about 60%). But, keep in mind they are doing a high volume, the use hormones to sync heat and will inseminate 75 animals in one day.
If you are only going to do AI on 5 goats in your herd in a year, you can get better results than that.
You see how they have the goat standing on the ramp?. If you have their front legs lower than their back legs it tends to make all of their internal organs shift forward, including the uterus which takes pressure off of he cervix.
That's why the do that.
You clean the vulva area really well and dry off thoroughly. I did not know this but water is spermicidal.
He's holding a duck billed speculum. They use a non spermicidal lubricant.
Of course the speculum has a light.
This picture is what makes this technique a little unusual. You see in the picture the handles that look like scissors? Those are for a "pozzi clamp".
This is what a pozzi clamp looks like. They use this to grab the first ring of the cervix. A goats cervix has 4 rings, but they are not always clearly aligned with each other. By grabbing the first ring, you can manipulate it to ease the insertion of the catheter all the way through the cervix (which is about 1" long") into the uterus. Ideally you want to deposit the semen into the opening of the uterus.
So, he said that no one should attempt to use these clamps without being well trained in that you can do some damage with them. I was thinking "You think?"
They actually make a hole about the size of an 18 gauge needle. But, the cervix is made of cartilege and is non vascular (no blood vessels), no nerves so when you grab that ring, it does not hurt them. But, everything from the vulva to the cervix is obviously very sensitive.
In the last picture you can see him trying to work the catheter through all 4 rings of the cervix.
So, of course we asked them how to do this with Nigerians. He actually went to Haiti last year and AI'd a bunch of goats there to try to improve their genetics. He said all of the goats there are small, so they do what they call a "poke and hope".
They use a tubular shaped speculum, and they don't use the pozzi clamp. They just try to get the catheter or the semen gun tube through the cervix.
Sometimes if you can't get it all the way through the cervix, you have to make the decision to you go ahead an deposit the semen in the cervix. You generally have lower success if you don't get it all the way into the uterus.
Now with that said, the next day we had our club meeting and no one uses the pozzi clamp. They all use a tubular speculum and a semen gun. Everyone I spoke to also just do AI on natural heat cycles with out the drugs
If you do a mature do who has kidded at least twice, and wait until her second heat of the fall say in Oct. and you are only doing two or 3, then over time they all say they have about a 70% success rate.
You may get 3 for 3 on year, 1 for 3 the next year. Etc.
Last edited:
Ferguson K
Herd Master
I wonder what the success rate is on ff vs seasoned does using the inclined technique.
babsbag
Herd Master
I think that AI is a neat solution if you can do it yourself but too much work for me to have to take them somewhere to get it done. I have a friend that used to raise LMs 20+ years ago and she had her best buck "collected" and put in some tanks at various farms. Now she is back to raising LMs and she is able to get some straws of her buck and use them on her current does. How neat is that?
I am considering going to a class in a few months. If I was breeding my own does and could catch them every time they are in heat I don't think I would use the CIDR to synchronize the heats, those things are a little $$$. I can see the advantage of doing everyone in a day but I don't really want all my does kidding out on the same day either.
The tanks are expensive but I have friends that would give me space in their tanks so that is not an issue. No bucks to feed would be awesome and so would being able to raise minis without having to figure out how to breed the different sized goats. Could be a lot of fun.
I am considering going to a class in a few months. If I was breeding my own does and could catch them every time they are in heat I don't think I would use the CIDR to synchronize the heats, those things are a little $$$. I can see the advantage of doing everyone in a day but I don't really want all my does kidding out on the same day either.
The tanks are expensive but I have friends that would give me space in their tanks so that is not an issue. No bucks to feed would be awesome and so would being able to raise minis without having to figure out how to breed the different sized goats. Could be a lot of fun.
- Thread starter
- #36
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
No one I have spoken to recommend doing AI on maiden does.
Much easier after a few kiddings and the cervix is more open.
- Thread starter
- #37
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
You should probably look at my post again, I accidently submitted before I had finished.
Most folks that I know are not using drugs, just natural heats. And they aren't trying to do AI on every animal every year.
Just selectively trying to get a good match, and then you can always keep a buck out the breeding.
- Thread starter
- #38
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Everyone says, that the protocol of how you thaw and handle the semen is also a big part of how successful you will be with AI.
babsbag
Herd Master
Yep, I read before you were done. I like the idea of no pozzi clamp. That thing looks brutal.
- Thread starter
- #40
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Yes, my vet friend was at the meeting of our club yesterday. He said to me "why don't you try grabbing your you know what with that thing".
He also thinks that the puncture it makes in the cervix can lead to scar tissue, and inhibit formation of a mucus plug.
