S
StarRidgeAcres
Guest
A few weeks back I asked why so few mini people do AI instead of live cover. I got a wide range of answers, but most came back to two things:
Cost (high)
Experienced vet (lack of)
So I said I would start my own fact-finding mission and report back with my results. Sorry it took me so long, but things have been crazy around here - including starting our foaling season out where we left off last year with a foal that didn't make it.
I went to my local equine hospital and met with a vet who specializes in reproduction. We just sat around a conference table and talked; no specific horses were involved. I got to ask a ton of stupid questions and didn't feel bad about it since I was paying for her time!
Taking the information from that visit, adding it to the wealth of information I got from Stacy Score (Stacy, you're awesome!
) plus information I could find on the web and here's what I learned...
It IS expensive (for both the stallion and mare owner) and it IS hard to find a qualified vet to do the insemination. Here are the prices I was quoted:
Prep costs for the stallion:
Office visit: 17.50
Semen collection: 212.50 (per)
Semen evaluation: 86.50 (includes 9 tests, 3 extenders at 12, 24 and 36 hours)
Extender - INRA: 19.00
Extender - Amikacin: 13.50
Extender - plain: 12.25
Culture/Senstivity: 83.00
Cytology: 52.00
AMHA fee: 100.00
AMHR fee: 100.00
Total for the stallion owner to get started with ONE stallion: $695.25
Collection costs (probably passed on to the mare owner):
Office visit: 17.50
Semen collection: 212.50 (per)
Extender: 19.00 (used the highest one for estimate)
Overnight shipping: 75.00 (could be higher or lower)
Disposable Equitainer: 80.00
Total for the collection: $404.00
Mare costs:
Office visit: 38.00 (yes, it was more)
Insemination: 71.50 (per)
Ultrasound: 52.00
Culture/cytology: 135.00
Total for the insemination: $296.50
For the stallion owner, it's a one-time cost (probably) for the initial collection and testing. So once that's all completed, the stallion owner just has the yearly AMHA and AMHR fees and possible culture if bacteria/etc. is suspected. The owner of the mare has a cost of about $700 per collection/insemination on top of the stud fee. Plus whatever the stallion owner charges for the process of transporting the stallion to the vet for collection once the mare owner calls and says "now is the time!"
The other challenge is finding a vet (on each side) that has the proper equipment and experience to work on minis. MANY will say "oh sure, I can inseminate (collect) a mini" but when it comes down to it and you push them for information on their equipment, etc. they decide well maybe they don't have that much experience with minis. But they are out there. I came across one in VA that seemed fairly knowledgeable and could collect or inseminate a mini. Many of the universities can do it also.
The positives include not having to send the mare away, no risk of injury from a kick to the stallion, no mare care fees (or the hassle of having new mares coming all the time if you're the stallion owner), etc.
If you're the stallion owner, do you REQUIRE the mare have a culture/cytology? Do you offer a LFG? You lose control over your stallion's semen. There is extra paperwork with the registries. Will you get enough bookings to cover all your expenses of preparing your stallion? Some stallions won't do collections and live cover at the same time. What if you have one of those and now you have to AI your mares also. That could get really expensive. And all of this is irrelevent if your stallion doesn't have enough little guys (a min of one billion per collection) and the ones he does have don't live well/long enough in the extender.
Having said all this, I think I'm going to try it. Not will all three stallions, but I'm curious to see it really play out and find out firsthand if it's worth it or not.
Thoughts?
Cost (high)
Experienced vet (lack of)
So I said I would start my own fact-finding mission and report back with my results. Sorry it took me so long, but things have been crazy around here - including starting our foaling season out where we left off last year with a foal that didn't make it.
I went to my local equine hospital and met with a vet who specializes in reproduction. We just sat around a conference table and talked; no specific horses were involved. I got to ask a ton of stupid questions and didn't feel bad about it since I was paying for her time!
It IS expensive (for both the stallion and mare owner) and it IS hard to find a qualified vet to do the insemination. Here are the prices I was quoted:
Prep costs for the stallion:
Office visit: 17.50
Semen collection: 212.50 (per)
Semen evaluation: 86.50 (includes 9 tests, 3 extenders at 12, 24 and 36 hours)
Extender - INRA: 19.00
Extender - Amikacin: 13.50
Extender - plain: 12.25
Culture/Senstivity: 83.00
Cytology: 52.00
AMHA fee: 100.00
AMHR fee: 100.00
Total for the stallion owner to get started with ONE stallion: $695.25
Collection costs (probably passed on to the mare owner):
Office visit: 17.50
Semen collection: 212.50 (per)
Extender: 19.00 (used the highest one for estimate)
Overnight shipping: 75.00 (could be higher or lower)
Disposable Equitainer: 80.00
Total for the collection: $404.00
Mare costs:
Office visit: 38.00 (yes, it was more)
Insemination: 71.50 (per)
Ultrasound: 52.00
Culture/cytology: 135.00
Total for the insemination: $296.50
For the stallion owner, it's a one-time cost (probably) for the initial collection and testing. So once that's all completed, the stallion owner just has the yearly AMHA and AMHR fees and possible culture if bacteria/etc. is suspected. The owner of the mare has a cost of about $700 per collection/insemination on top of the stud fee. Plus whatever the stallion owner charges for the process of transporting the stallion to the vet for collection once the mare owner calls and says "now is the time!"
The other challenge is finding a vet (on each side) that has the proper equipment and experience to work on minis. MANY will say "oh sure, I can inseminate (collect) a mini" but when it comes down to it and you push them for information on their equipment, etc. they decide well maybe they don't have that much experience with minis. But they are out there. I came across one in VA that seemed fairly knowledgeable and could collect or inseminate a mini. Many of the universities can do it also.
The positives include not having to send the mare away, no risk of injury from a kick to the stallion, no mare care fees (or the hassle of having new mares coming all the time if you're the stallion owner), etc.
If you're the stallion owner, do you REQUIRE the mare have a culture/cytology? Do you offer a LFG? You lose control over your stallion's semen. There is extra paperwork with the registries. Will you get enough bookings to cover all your expenses of preparing your stallion? Some stallions won't do collections and live cover at the same time. What if you have one of those and now you have to AI your mares also. That could get really expensive. And all of this is irrelevent if your stallion doesn't have enough little guys (a min of one billion per collection) and the ones he does have don't live well/long enough in the extender.
Having said all this, I think I'm going to try it. Not will all three stallions, but I'm curious to see it really play out and find out firsthand if it's worth it or not.
Thoughts?