Semen Age

I just started out AIing, so when I saw some semen for $5 I jumped on it. I figured I would buy some cheap since I might be missing some the first few go arounds. Well my question is, I just realized that the bull I bought the semen from was born in 1985. Is the semen still any good? I wasn't sure how long semen lasted. This may actually be a dumb question :/

As long as the semen was stored properly you will have no problem.  Semen should thoereticly last forever along as it is properly stored in liquid nitrogen.

I asked a ABS rep this at the school one time. They sold me they it might not last forever but 500 years would be safe bet.

you can always thaw a straw out and have your vet check it to to see if it is o.k.  Out of curiosity what bull did you buy?

It's a braford bull named RO Red Mac 5207. I don't raise brafords, I just needed some cheap semen to practice on some open cows I bought from the sale barn because all of my cattle were already bred. Then if they stick I'm going to keep them for a few months and then take them back to the sale barn.

I remember when I was in school we had a dairy man come in with some 7 year old semen and had us look at it through our microscopes in biology class to determine if it would work

I have used several doses of 40 and even some 50 year old semen in some flushes in the past couple of years. I always have it checked... just in case something has happened over time, but I have never had a vial rejected because it was poor quality. The 50 year old semen, in fact, was some of the highest quality semen my ET vet had used in a flush in many years.

Last year I found some semen that was produced in 1970. It was sitting in a man's tank and he had sold his cows in 1982. For some reason he kept his semen tank and kept it full of nitrogen for 27 years. Everything I have had checked from what I purchased from him has been excellent quality.