How do I buy semen?

I have never done any ai before but am interested. What i am wondering is if I buy some semen (say on whitetail exchange)what happens to it until I need it and how do i get it.

You need to either have a semen tank of your own or you will have to get an account set-up with a semen storage facility like Great Lakes Sire Service and they will store your semen for you till you need it (for a fee)........but then you will eventually need a tank or need to know someone with a tank so when they ship it to you ..you will have a place to store it for the Ai.

Or find a local guy who has their own tank and that you trust will keep good tabs on the tank to insure the semen doesn't go bad, and pay them something to keep your semen for you. That way it is close by and you don't have to pay to have the semen shipped from the seller to the storage place, and then pay again to have it shipped from the storage place to you. And also pay the outrageous fees associated with "handling" and then shipping.

Plus I don't know how others operate during their A/I, but I like to have an extra straw or two on hand just in case of a problem such as a straw that "pops" while being thawed in the warm water cup. If a straw pops in the water and the semen is exposed to the water it is dead semen and no good for use. If this happens you won't have any semen for that doe or does that you had planned to use that straw in.

However if you have that extra straw brought in and don't use it you will have to then pay to have it shipped back again to the storage place and then pay that handling fee yet again. But if your semen is kept locally you can just run over and put it back in the tank.

Another benefit to keeping it locally is when you would otherwise want your semen shipped to you so does everyone else in the industry. Often you can wait weeks for your semen to get sent to you if it is stored at a facility that stores for lots of deer farmers.

Just some thoughts to consider.

We are lucky to have a cattle facility in our town. I ship semen to them and they store it for a small fee. Then when we need it it's already in town and like the points Roger brings up are exactly why we do this. plus if we have had plans on splitting it and its not good enough to split were covered!

Not sure how far acme is from Fombell PA but i would be happy to store your semen for you but you would need to find a way to get it to your place come AI season......I can't be responsible if something were to go wrong with your straw (but i could not see any problems)........my tank is checked and filled every other month.

gotta ask..... In Acme PA do you have problems with Whiley Coyote? and hows the roadrunner population?

The coyotes in Acme, PA usually dont survive any "accidents" like Whiley does. As for the roadrunner our coyotes must be a little smarter than old Whiley because I havent seen any yet but ill be sure to post if I do.