The American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Association and Desert Weyr, LLC are pleased to announce an intensive two-day seminar on non-surgical sheep artificial insemination taking place on December 5th and 6th of 2018. Dr. Philip Purdy from the USDA National Animal Germplasm Program will be teaching our class. The class will cover important AI topics, including:
- Estrous synchronization
- Handling frozen semen
- Artificial insemination
- Flock handling and scheduling techniques
This hands-on class will include practice performances of the thawing and preparation of frozen semen. We’ll follow that with actual inseminations on the Desert Weyr flock of Black Welsh Mountain ewes.
Lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. Each student will also receive an information packet about the procedures, plus a sheep AI kit that includes the insemination gun, sheathes, and other materials. This kit will allow you to perform the procedure on your own ewes.
There are a number of local B&Bs in the area, and a list of available accommodations will be sent once we receive your deposits. The cost for the seminar is $500 per person, non-refundable, unless the class is cancelled. A $250 deposit for each student must be received by October 1st, 2018. The deadline to send the remainder is November 1st, 2018. All fees are transferable to another person up until November 30th, 2018.
The class size will be limited to ten students. The minimum number of confirmed students for us to hold the class is eight. If we do not have eight fully-paid attendees by November 1st, we’ll cancel the class and refund all deposits.
If we have more than ten people sign up, we will set up a waiting list. To reserve a spot in this class, please send a deposit check of $250 to:
Desert Weyr, LLC
16870 Garvin Mesa Road
Paonia, CO 81428
Or, you can send it via PayPal to oogiem@desertweyr.com.
Include your name and your email address with the check, as all further class info will be sent via a special email list. We will hold these checks until November 1st, at which point we will cash them if the class is on. If it’s cancelled, we will return the checks to their senders.
In addition, at no additional charge, we can accept up to five students to come to our farm between October 15th and 17th. They’ll observe the process of training rams to serve an AV, plus the collection and preparation of semen for freezing. If you wish to attend, please note that with your deposit.
We are excited to offer this opportunity, taking advantage of this new and easily performed procedure. We look forward to seeing you in December!