***Do you have to keep a liquid nitrogen tank on the premises?
It depends on whether there is anyone around you that you could rent tank space from.
***If so, how big?
Depends on what you want! The sky is the limit -- you can get them anywhere from a few hundred straws to thousands.
***How much would one expect to pay for a reliable tank?
I bought a 1200 straw tank from
http://www.superiorsemenworks.com for $485 last year. Sometimes you can find used tanks at a good cost.
***What is the maintenance cost (refilling with Nitrogen)?
They say the hold time on mine is 5 months, but I usually take mine in every couple of months to get topped off. If I am going that way anyhow, I may as well. It costs me $20-25 usually.
***What is the maintenance period? Does one typically have an automatic schedule with a nitrogen guy, or what?
Most folks who don't live in the boonies like me do, yes. They will zip by your place once a month or so. Or, you simply haul your tank in to them.
***If you don't need to keep your own tank, where do you store the semen? If the semen is offsite, how do you get it home in good shape when your doe is in heat?
You would have to rent tank space from someone else. The downside to this is that you are completely dependent upon them for the "health" of your semen. You can transport it in a dense covered styrofoam cooler filled with liquid nitrogen for maybe 20-30 minutes. Longer transport time would mean either carrying the tank or having a shipper (which costs as much as the tank)
***I've seen straws of semen for sale. What does it cost to ship them? How much is the shipper? If it's expensive, do you have to buy it, or can it be rented?
No clue on this....though I know you can rent a shipper. I think most of the processing companies will send your semen to you in one and then you send it back. Keep in mind too, that they will have a minimum order if you get semen that way -- I know one is $300, another I think is $100. Much cheaper and easier to pick up semen from the processor at buck collections, shows, conventions, etc.
***How reliable is AI? Is it technically difficult to get it right?
I'm just starting, but plenty of folks have a 90%+ conception rate. It's not so much difficult I think as just practice, and you HAVE to check does throughout their cycle to get the right timing. The best thing to do is to attend an AI clinic -- all the processors offer them.
***What is involved in getting a buck collected? Does it make sense economically if you only want to keep the straws yourself, not necessarily market them?
I had both my bucks collected this year....it's cheap insurance if they decide to drop dead. You haul them to where ever the buck collection is, they get to mount a jump doe repeatedly (they like this, lol) and you go back the next day with your tank to pick up your finished straws of semen. It is ~$3 a straw, with a 30 straw minimum on a buck.
The beauty of AI though, is getting to use all those bucks that you could never afford yourself, or be able to travel to!
Tracy
