While we were gone to Missouri to care for my Mother-in-law and to be at her funeral, 10 days, my semen tank got knocked over by raccoons and I lost over $4,000 in semen. I have not told my wife. I had 16 straws of Ali, several of his brothers, some rare polled semen of Full Bloods, some Shorthorn semen of a winning bull, Hard Core, Icy Hot, 39 straws of Bouncer, and some older bulls that I used on heifers.... I have been sick for a few days with the pain in my stomach. I also had some experimental bulls that I did not pay much for but was using on special cows for those gathering data. I had a guy feeding cubes to the cows every other day and he did not get the extra door fastener latched, just the main latch and they pried the door open and got in and now they are dead meat if I catch them.
My semen tank
- Thread starter Joe Boy
- Start date
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OH Breeder
Well-known member
Sir,
that sickens your heart. I had one go dry that had a bad seal. It is awful when that occurs. Sorry about your bad luck and you all have my condolescenes on your loss in you family.
that sickens your heart. I had one go dry that had a bad seal. It is awful when that occurs. Sorry about your bad luck and you all have my condolescenes on your loss in you family.
justintime
Well-known member
I know exactly how you feel. I had a tank with 38 embryos and over 200 doses of semen in it rupture and lose all the nitrogen. This was a few years ago now, but I still remember the sick feeling I had for days on end. Some of the semen would be worth literally thousands of dollars today. Fortunately, I had about 10 vials of one of these bulls in another tank, and I have been able to get some embryos from it.Everytime I think of this, I start feeling bad again. I am sorry for your loss.... but like everything else in life, we have to just pick up the pieces and move on.
oakbar
Well-known member
Sorry for your loss!! I had a similar experience this week. I came out to do chores Monday morning and found my Dream Girl cow dead and bloated up like an LP tank. I had just looked at her at 7 p.m. the night before and she seemed fine. I'm not sure what happened except it looked like she'd lain down in a depression and couldn't get herself rolled back upright so she could stand. I didn't have time to post her as I was on my way to catch a plane for a 3 day business trip. It sure does make you feel sick for a while though. I got her at Schrag's last fall and was planning to flush her next month.
justintime
Well-known member
Lynn, That really sucks! As they say, if you have livestock... you will also have dead stock.... but why does it always seem to be the good ones?
I lost two good cows this week as well. One calved by herself but ruptured a uterine artery and bled to death in literally 5 minutes. A real uneventful birth... not hard in any way and she had the calf in a few minutes. I watched her calve and thought everything was fine. She got up and started to lick her baby but soon afte, I noticed that there was a pile of blood behind her. It literally poured out of her and she collapsed and died before I could even think. Now I have a calf with no mother, but I think another cow who lost a set of twins now thinks this calf is hers. The day after I lost this cow, I found another lying dead right on a trail by the feedlot. It appeared like she was walking along and suddenly dropped over dead.
I have attached a picture of a bull I lost in a similar manner that you lost your Dream Girl cow. He got rolled into a depression and could not get back and get his legs under him. I had brought him in from the breeding pasture and put him in a small 4 acre pasture by the yard, as he was supposed to be going to AI stud the next day. The day he died, a friend called me and asked me to go to a football game with him. It was dark when I got home, and when I got up the next morning, I saw him lying directly in front of the house... dead! His body was still warm, so I was thinking that he could have been laying there when I came home. For a long time, I blamed myself , as he may have been alive if I had stayed home. I have since learned that you cannot live with them 24-7. He was a good bull and we only had one calf crop from him.
I lost two good cows this week as well. One calved by herself but ruptured a uterine artery and bled to death in literally 5 minutes. A real uneventful birth... not hard in any way and she had the calf in a few minutes. I watched her calve and thought everything was fine. She got up and started to lick her baby but soon afte, I noticed that there was a pile of blood behind her. It literally poured out of her and she collapsed and died before I could even think. Now I have a calf with no mother, but I think another cow who lost a set of twins now thinks this calf is hers. The day after I lost this cow, I found another lying dead right on a trail by the feedlot. It appeared like she was walking along and suddenly dropped over dead.
I have attached a picture of a bull I lost in a similar manner that you lost your Dream Girl cow. He got rolled into a depression and could not get back and get his legs under him. I had brought him in from the breeding pasture and put him in a small 4 acre pasture by the yard, as he was supposed to be going to AI stud the next day. The day he died, a friend called me and asked me to go to a football game with him. It was dark when I got home, and when I got up the next morning, I saw him lying directly in front of the house... dead! His body was still warm, so I was thinking that he could have been laying there when I came home. For a long time, I blamed myself , as he may have been alive if I had stayed home. I have since learned that you cannot live with them 24-7. He was a good bull and we only had one calf crop from him.
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CAB
Well-known member
Sorry for all the losses on this one. Question, I have often wondered whether or not my blanket farm policy would cover an event similar to Joe's semen tank fiasco?
justintime
Well-known member
It totally depends on your insurance company. Most here in Canada will not cover these losses. A few have a policy that is seperate from your farm policy that will cover the contents of a semen tank. The ones here I have checked out seem pretty pricy... but then i guess if you lose a tank of semen it could be a very high priced payout.
I used to carry insurance on all my cows, until I figured out that i could lose 4 per year for what the premium was on the herd. Now I only carry insurance on a bull until i have semen collected on him. I take my chances with the females. Most general livestock policies seem to only cover a death if it was hit by a falling aircraft or sinks on a ferry. When I carried a general insurance policy on the entire herd, I had a cow fall upside down in a manger in the barn. (She was dead when I found her..talk about a fun time getting her out of the manger by yourself and not having a tractor that could get in there!!!). I checked the insurance policy and it covered stranding. I made a claim seeing that I thought this cow was stranded.. on her back with no chance of ever getting out by herself. I was told that stranding was something like getting stuck on an island in a river with no food. I checked the policy further and I saw that sinking on a ferry and hit by falling aircraft were covered. I then told my insurance agent that the cow was stranded on an island after the ferry she was on, sank. He wanted pictures.,.... damn it!
I used to carry insurance on all my cows, until I figured out that i could lose 4 per year for what the premium was on the herd. Now I only carry insurance on a bull until i have semen collected on him. I take my chances with the females. Most general livestock policies seem to only cover a death if it was hit by a falling aircraft or sinks on a ferry. When I carried a general insurance policy on the entire herd, I had a cow fall upside down in a manger in the barn. (She was dead when I found her..talk about a fun time getting her out of the manger by yourself and not having a tractor that could get in there!!!). I checked the insurance policy and it covered stranding. I made a claim seeing that I thought this cow was stranded.. on her back with no chance of ever getting out by herself. I was told that stranding was something like getting stuck on an island in a river with no food. I checked the policy further and I saw that sinking on a ferry and hit by falling aircraft were covered. I then told my insurance agent that the cow was stranded on an island after the ferry she was on, sank. He wanted pictures.,.... damn it!
You can always try to turn it into your insurance it never hurts to try.
My Aunt killed two of our donors with taxuis bush trimmings, we turned in the purchase price to her insurane company and they paid us back our purchase price.
It never hurts to try!
My Aunt killed two of our donors with taxuis bush trimmings, we turned in the purchase price to her insurane company and they paid us back our purchase price.
It never hurts to try!
I'm going to start charging you guys for insurance advice:
On livestock mortality policies, there are 2 general ways you can go with these. The first, and most common is to go with a company like Harding and Harding, or American Livestock Insurance, that will actually cover the animal for a specified amount. These are the policies that will require a vet exam before the policy is issued, as well as upon verification of death. They are also quite a bit more expensive since they cover the full stated value of 1 animal against the peril of death.
The second common form of livestock insurance is to put them under a farm blanket coverage. Typically you will say that you have 50 cows valued at $50,000, or $1,000 per cow. The problem with this is that the animals are typically only covered upon a listed peril in the policy (fire, wind, hail, aircraft, etc). If you have a group of cattle standing along a fence that gets hit by lightning, you will be covered since lightning is a listed peril on the policy. If the bulls get in a fight and one gets killed, you're out of luck. Some policies do allow for endorsements for stated value items like bulls or show animals, but I would recommend going with a mortality policy since it's more fitting to what you're wanting to cover.
I posted in another thread about checking your farm policy for equipment breakdown coverage. If your semen tank ruptures and the semen is not recoverable, the equipment breakdown coverage should pay you the cash value of the semen. Many of my farm companies also have coverage for reproductive materials. Whether this be semen, embryo's, etc.
Of course, with all of these options, they all come with a price tag. Here is the simplest rule to remember when you look at these: if one option is considerably cheaper, it's probably for a reason. Why do you think it costs $300 to insure a $5,000 bull for 6 months with Harding and Harding, while it costs $300 to insured $50,000 worth of livestock for a year
On livestock mortality policies, there are 2 general ways you can go with these. The first, and most common is to go with a company like Harding and Harding, or American Livestock Insurance, that will actually cover the animal for a specified amount. These are the policies that will require a vet exam before the policy is issued, as well as upon verification of death. They are also quite a bit more expensive since they cover the full stated value of 1 animal against the peril of death.
The second common form of livestock insurance is to put them under a farm blanket coverage. Typically you will say that you have 50 cows valued at $50,000, or $1,000 per cow. The problem with this is that the animals are typically only covered upon a listed peril in the policy (fire, wind, hail, aircraft, etc). If you have a group of cattle standing along a fence that gets hit by lightning, you will be covered since lightning is a listed peril on the policy. If the bulls get in a fight and one gets killed, you're out of luck. Some policies do allow for endorsements for stated value items like bulls or show animals, but I would recommend going with a mortality policy since it's more fitting to what you're wanting to cover.
I posted in another thread about checking your farm policy for equipment breakdown coverage. If your semen tank ruptures and the semen is not recoverable, the equipment breakdown coverage should pay you the cash value of the semen. Many of my farm companies also have coverage for reproductive materials. Whether this be semen, embryo's, etc.
Of course, with all of these options, they all come with a price tag. Here is the simplest rule to remember when you look at these: if one option is considerably cheaper, it's probably for a reason. Why do you think it costs $300 to insure a $5,000 bull for 6 months with Harding and Harding, while it costs $300 to insured $50,000 worth of livestock for a year
