Artificial Insemination: A Pictorial

Phil and I were up early to make sure Fern was in the chute and ready for Giovanni. Michelle said that cows behave differently when they're in heat: they're more willing to put up with strange behavior from humans. It was as if Fern knew that she was the star: she headed right into the pen without struggle or fuss, and it took all of 30 seconds. I couldn't believe it.

A light rain had fallen all night, the first precipitation we've had in weeks. We were grateful. It was a good morning.

Why did we not use AI last night, when Fern was in standing heat? A bull would breed during a heifer's standing heat, and the sperm would swim towards her cervix. At some point in the next day, she would release an egg, right about the time the sperm arrive.

For AI, though, we hope that the egg is there waiting, since the semen is deposited right into the cervix. Hence, this morning's attempt.

When Giovanni arrived, he pulled a huge canister out of his truck. I had no idea it would be so large. It stores liquid nitrogen, which keeps the straws frozen. We had purchased 8 straws of semen, for $80, and to ship those straws was over $80. I was surprised about that, but after seeing the container, it made sense. (We pay to have the canister shipped both ways. The semen sales place shipped them to Giovanni, he transferred them to his canister, and then the shipper picks up the first canister and it returns to the semen sales place.)

Giovanni pulled out a little straw, covered in ice.

He put it in a cup of water, to bring it to cow body temperature almost instantly.

Then he loaded the straw into a long metal syringe which pushes the semen into the cervix. The long syringe went into a larger plastic straw (see above for comparative sizes). The plastic straw has a trap on the end, which prevents the semen straw from getting pushed permanently into the cow. Finally, he put on a flimsy sterile sheath (the texture of cheap sterile gloves), which, I suppose, prevents contamination.

Next he put on a shoulder-length gloves, secured with a rubber band, and Giovanni went striding off swiftly to work with Fern.

As far as I can tell, one hand went into her rectum, and from there, he could manipulate her cervix (perhaps through a membrane?). The straw itself went into her vagina, and from there, into the cervix.

As a heifer (unbred cow), her cervix opening was small and tight. There are three layers he had to open in order to deposit the semen, and it took a long time: about twenty minutes. No kidding. Usually, he said, it doesn't take so long. Poor Fern. She held up well.

Then, because Milking Devons are notoriously difficult to settle (impregnate) with AI, he did another straw. This time it was only maybe ten minutes more.

I have to remind myself that a bull would not be more gentle, necessarily. Bulls actually jump on their hind legs, so cows hold their tales out for a day or two afterwards; they are sore!

Giovanni grew up on a dairy farm in the Piedmont of Italy. Now he lives here, in the Virginia Piedmont, with his wife, also a vet. They run the Piedmont Veterinary Clinic, which I think is a clever name for the two of them. We enjoyed chatting with him while he worked. Joe was on my back, and, like many Italian men we've met, he loved smiling at, and talking to, the child.

But then, Joe is such a smiling boy, just about everybody likes him.