I have a question, I would like to know what others would do if they were in this position or if you have been in this position.
I have been doing AI for a good friend of mine down in NE Alabama for 5 years now. Every year we have hit between 60-75% on our AI, 60% on the years when the majority of the does being bred were yearlings. The 2011 and 2012 breeding season my friend purchased some semen from one of the bigger deer in the country, he wanted to try to do lap AI so he could split straws three ways if the semen was good enough. For the sake of writing I will refer to him as Buck A1. My friend had also heard that doing lap AI on yearlings could slightly increase his chance of conception. During the 2011 breeding season he AI'd 4 yearlings and 12 mature does who had previously fawned. The 4 yearlings and 2 of his mature does were all AI'd to the same buck. They were being AI'd 57 hours post CIDR removal, the yearlings had been administered 1.5cc of fresh PMSG, the mature does were administered 1cc of fresh PMSG. All 6 of the does that were AI'd to Buck A1 did not take to AI, the did take to the backup buck. Of the 10 remaining does that were lap AI'd at the same time, 8 of them took.
During the 2012 breeding season my friend spoke with the breeder of Buck A1, the breeder said it must have been something that was done wrong leading up to the AI, it couldn't be the semen from Buck A1. This breeder struck a deal with my friend so that he could try one more year to get offspring from Buck A1. My friend purchased 3 more straws of Buck A1 and starting lining up 6 does he wanted to breed. Everything was looking good, I had been working with my friend to help him get his does in the best shape they had ever been in, all in hopes of increasing his chances of conception as much as possible. He adjusted his feed slowly, and by the time we were a month away from his lap AI date, and the transcervical AI date I had set with the rest of his deer, my friend was really speaking highly about his does. He said they were shining just as bright as a new penny, he told me I would sure be proud at the condition he had them in by the time I arrived. I only say this because I want to emphasize how good of condition he had his deer in. I have seen thousands of deer in breeding facilities, I can say his does were darn close to the best condition animals I have ever seen. They were not too fat, not too skinny, just PERFECT! During the 2012 breeding season he was going to lap AI 18 does total. He would be breeding 6 of his does to Buck A1. Everything was looking great, the Dr. who was performing the lap AI said the does looked wonderful, and that the semen looked to have good movement. After all was said and done this spring, my friend you guessed it did not end up with one fawn from Buck A1. Of the remaining 12 does that were lap AI'd at the same time, 10 of them had fawns from AI.
I have thought about this over and over again, the only thing I can come up with is that the semen is no good. There is one more detail I forgot to mention, my friend also housed 4 does in both 2011 and 2012 for his neighbor who AI'd those does to Buck A1, both years not one of them took.
If this happened to you, or has happened to you, what did you do, or what would you do?
Thank you for your time!
-Johnny B
I have been doing AI for a good friend of mine down in NE Alabama for 5 years now. Every year we have hit between 60-75% on our AI, 60% on the years when the majority of the does being bred were yearlings. The 2011 and 2012 breeding season my friend purchased some semen from one of the bigger deer in the country, he wanted to try to do lap AI so he could split straws three ways if the semen was good enough. For the sake of writing I will refer to him as Buck A1. My friend had also heard that doing lap AI on yearlings could slightly increase his chance of conception. During the 2011 breeding season he AI'd 4 yearlings and 12 mature does who had previously fawned. The 4 yearlings and 2 of his mature does were all AI'd to the same buck. They were being AI'd 57 hours post CIDR removal, the yearlings had been administered 1.5cc of fresh PMSG, the mature does were administered 1cc of fresh PMSG. All 6 of the does that were AI'd to Buck A1 did not take to AI, the did take to the backup buck. Of the 10 remaining does that were lap AI'd at the same time, 8 of them took.
During the 2012 breeding season my friend spoke with the breeder of Buck A1, the breeder said it must have been something that was done wrong leading up to the AI, it couldn't be the semen from Buck A1. This breeder struck a deal with my friend so that he could try one more year to get offspring from Buck A1. My friend purchased 3 more straws of Buck A1 and starting lining up 6 does he wanted to breed. Everything was looking good, I had been working with my friend to help him get his does in the best shape they had ever been in, all in hopes of increasing his chances of conception as much as possible. He adjusted his feed slowly, and by the time we were a month away from his lap AI date, and the transcervical AI date I had set with the rest of his deer, my friend was really speaking highly about his does. He said they were shining just as bright as a new penny, he told me I would sure be proud at the condition he had them in by the time I arrived. I only say this because I want to emphasize how good of condition he had his deer in. I have seen thousands of deer in breeding facilities, I can say his does were darn close to the best condition animals I have ever seen. They were not too fat, not too skinny, just PERFECT! During the 2012 breeding season he was going to lap AI 18 does total. He would be breeding 6 of his does to Buck A1. Everything was looking great, the Dr. who was performing the lap AI said the does looked wonderful, and that the semen looked to have good movement. After all was said and done this spring, my friend you guessed it did not end up with one fawn from Buck A1. Of the remaining 12 does that were lap AI'd at the same time, 10 of them had fawns from AI.
I have thought about this over and over again, the only thing I can come up with is that the semen is no good. There is one more detail I forgot to mention, my friend also housed 4 does in both 2011 and 2012 for his neighbor who AI'd those does to Buck A1, both years not one of them took.
If this happened to you, or has happened to you, what did you do, or what would you do?
Thank you for your time!
-Johnny B
