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AI Sire Descriptions
VAI - Frequently Asked Questions
By Barbara Webb, Jager Farm
Why do you do AI at your farm?
The AI gives us access to the best sheep genetics in Iceland. AI has been a breeding tool in Iceland since the 1940's, and the stations have developed a very specific and precise system of evaluating the AI rams and the lambs they have, and will, produce. We purchase our straws from Southram, the AI station in the South of Iceland. Southram maintains a very informative website at:
http://southram.bssl.is/default2.asp?Docid=398&RevID=375&Tpl=1Template1.asp&M1=398
Two wonderful additions to the information provided are the BLUP indexes and the Daughter Prolificacy Rates. There is a link to each field of statistics. BLUP is a prediction of how the AI ram will affect the traits of his offspring, and the daughter information is the fertility rates of the ram's daughters, as reported by the Icelandic farmers.
Even with our small breeding pool here in North America, we can tap into this wonderful system and use rams selected from Iceland's gene pool of 500,000 sheep. The Icelandic Sheep is a commercial meat breed in Iceland and VAI brings outstanding, tested meat genetics to our farm.
How much does it cost?
Straws were priced at $40 US/straw for the 2008 import season. This price has held for several years, although we don't know how the economic downturn will affect next year's price. The straw cost is paid directly to Southram at the time of import. There is a cooperative of breeders who share out the costs of the importation which has been running between $6 and $8 per straw. Jager Farm coordinates the importation for the benefit of the import coop. We charge a $1.50/straw handling fee for that process, which is included in the figure quoted above. If you are interested in joining the import cooperative, you can email us at jager@jager-icelandics.com
You will also need at least the use of a nitrogen tank for the breeding season. Most breeders own a tank, while a few will borrow or rent one for the season. You will need to fill, or charge, your tank for the season, so count on at least 8 liters of nitrogen. Prices vary across the country for nitrogen, but in our neighborhood it has been running around $35-$40 for 8 liters. An 8 liter charge will probably last you for the breeding season. If you plan to purchase more straws than you will use in one season, you will need to keep your tank charged throughout the year. We use in the neighborhood of 40-48 liters per year.
The cost of supplies is minimal. Tweezers, a 12" thermometer, a deep thermos and a small pair of sharp scissors. The two specialized pieces of equipment are the pipette and the package of disposable plastic sheathes. The pipette is a one time cost, while you will need to maintain a supply of sheathes. AI breeding catalogues will usually carry these.
What is the fertility rate like?
Because no hormones are used, the fertility rate of a ewe with VAI will be similar to her natural fertility. There is a slight depressing effect of VAI on fertility however, so you will have a few more single births than you are used to. We do occasionally get VAI triplets however.
How can I order straws?
Straws are ordered directly from Southram, and payment for the cost of the straw is made to them. You can place orders with Mundi at Southram who can be reached at mundi@bssl.is Put "straw order" in the subject line. There have been a few lost emails, so follow up with Mundi to be sure he has received your order. Late fall into winter is the ordering season, although Mundi often is able to fill orders placed as late as the following summer. The list of sires available for import is on the Southram website.
The new rams are posted to the site sometime in November and Mundi likes to have the orders in before New Year's if possible. The rams are blood tested for export over the winter, and then Mundi sends out final notification of availability when the test results come in during the spring. The tank is shipped from Iceland to our farm in late September or early October. Coop members will either come to the farm with their tanks to pick up their straws, or make arrangements to meet us at the New York Sheep and Wool in October. Vapor shippers may also be used to send the straws via the FedEx system without a dangerous good surcharge. Some coop members in the same region of the country are able to share in one vapor tank shipment from our farm, and then make arrangements amongst themselves to pick up their straws from the tank. Shipping in liquid nitrogen tanks is not possible.
Mundi will bill for the straws when he ships the tank, and we will bill for the import costs when the member either picks up or sends us a vapor shipper tank. Coop members must pay their share of the import cost at the time of straw shipping or pick up.
Do you import every year?
Yes. Our first straw import was in 1998, resulting in "J" AI lambs. We have imported straws every year since then.
Has the VAI really helped your flock? Or is it more for the novelty factor?
The AI breeding has had a rapid and improving effect on our flock. Any genetic improvement is made by selection and culling, but the AI work has given us improved animals from which to choose for our breeding choices. We do cull some of our AI lambs, just as we cull from our farm bred lambs, but the flock improvement in conformation, muscling and fleece, has been much, much faster than we could possibly have accomplished without the AI. Now that we have the improved AI bloodlines in our ewe flock as well as the ram flock, the pace of improvement has really picked up. Our lamb fleeces are approaching twice or three times the weight than our pre-AI weights, and the carcass improvement was immediately noticeable in our very first season.
What kind of take rate can I get using AI?
Dr. Þorsteinn Ólafsson, the inventor of the VAI method in Icelandic sheep, states that you should hope for around 50%, meaning that you should be able to get one AI pregnancy for every two ewes bred. There are two major uncertainties that can affect your take rate; timing and semen prep. Detecting the standing heat in the ewe and timing the AI, will obviously affect your pregnancy rate. If you breed her too early or too late, even perfect semen prep is useless. The semen cell needs to swim through the cervix, and hopefully will meet up with the egg(s) when it arrives. If the semen gets there too early, it will die before the egg is dropped, and if the semen cells are too late, the egg will have already been flushed out of the system.
Likewise, if your timing is perfect, but the semen is handled badly, your take rate will still be affected. Ideally, the straw is defrosted for the correct period of time, dried, loaded into a preheated pipette, trimmed, covered with a sheath, and protected from the cold right up until it is inserted the correct distance into the ewe. If any of those factors are mishandled, the semen cells may be killed, or be unable to swim the distance.
With practice, luck, and with discussion with other VAI breeders, a producer can get take rates up to 70-80%, although 50-60% is the norm. Compared to the higher rates of LAI, (laparoscopic AI), this may be discouraging, but the very low cost, and the negligible stress to the ewe and to the shepherd, outbalances the issue of take rate. The key is to go into the AI season hoping and planning for 50%, and to consider anything above that as a happy bonus. The producer will need to keep at least one, mature cleanup ram on the premises, to breed the ewes who do not catch with VAI.
Will you continue to do the VAI breeding?
Absolutely. Each year there are great rams being brought to the AI station. Their fleeces and carcass effects for their lambs just get better and better, and we want to improve our flock along with them. We have ordered straws for the 2009 import season.
Do you need a teaser ram?
Using a teaser has worked really for us in detecting the standing heats. (A teaser is a ram that has been vasectomized; he acts and smells like an intact ram, but he is infertile.) It is important in the VAI process to pinpoint the time that the ewe enters a full standing heat as accurately as possible, and using a teaser is the safest and most effective way to do so. You can use an intact ram, but you would need to use an apron so that he cannot actually breed the ewe. Some breeders will walk an intact ram along the fence line, or keep him in an adjacent pen, and detect the ewes in that way. However, sometimes the smaller or more submissive ewes are pushed out of the way by the dominant ewes, and you may miss their heats unless the ram can walk in among the ewes. A teaser will eventually find all the girls in heat, if you let him go in the pen, and give him enough time. Although during the peak of the breeding season, it may still be possible for him to miss a ewe if she has a subtle heat, or is very submissive to the other ewes.
Can we just breed VAI and not keep any rams on the property?
No! Even the most successful VAI breeders will have some of their girls recycle, so you will need a mature ram available for cleanup.