Services
Sterling Sire Services offers both on-farm and at-facility semen collection and freezing services as well as frozen semen storage and shipping. Below you will find more detailed information on all services offered by Sterling.
On-Farm Collection
Sterling offers professional on-farm collection and freezing services at a level that hasn’t been seen in the small ruminant industry. Sterling developed our freeze protocol with the ability to be mobile being an imperative consideration. With our unique freeze protocol and extender, Sterling works to maximize the number of units produced from fertile rams in a single freeze day.
To schedule an on farm freeze day with Sterling please call us to learn about upcoming opportunities and open dates. Contact information can be found on our contact us page as well as on our Facebook page.
At-Facility Housing and Collection
If you would like to get a sire collected and housed at Sterling Sire Services located outside of College Station, Texas please reach out via phone or email to schedule. Prior to your sire coming to our facilities please fill out our liability release waver and semen collection contract.
Upon arrival to sterling, a sterling representative will meet you to unload your animal and complete an initial exam. The initial exam will include a complete evaluation of the animals physical parameters including weight, body condition score, soundness on feet and legs, as well as having pictures of the animal taken for liability purposes.
Your ram will be individually housed in isolation for a week as part of the biosecurity plan developed for Sterling. After this isolation period, the ram will be moved into their housing pen where they will stay the remainder of their time at our facilities. Housing will take place in one of two barns depending on weather conditions. In both barns, rams will be housed individually in limited sight pens minimizing stress and the chance of injury.
To ensure males have the best chance of fertility, housing during the warmer months is done in our heat management housing facility which is focused on temperature regulation and ventilation. The open sided configuration with a raised slatted floor, this barn offers top of the line ventilation from both sides as well as from underneath. Starting in March, the barn is shaded from the afternoon sun by tree cover further keeping animals cool during the hot Texas climate.
Cool weather housing is done at our main barn with packed dirt floor and limited sight individual pens.
All rams will be fed and checked at a minimum of twice a day. Animals housed with us will be transitioned over a one week period to Sterling’s ration. Sterling has worked on a nutritional supplementation strategy targeting those individuals who struggle with fertility. Nutritional supplementation will be offered on a case by case basis unless requested by the client.
Semen Storage
Sterling Sire Services offers semen storage services at our location outside of College Station, Texas. Our facility offers a safe and secure environment for storage of semen and frozen embryos. We can also assist in shipping from our facilities to any domestic location.
Frozen Semen Storage Rates:
- 1-50 units: $20/quarter flat fee
- 51-150 units: $0.09/unit/month
- 151-300 units: $0.07/unit/month
- 300+ units: $0.06/unit/month
Frozen Embryo Storage Rate:
- Frozen embryo storage is $2.00/month/cane
Storage for both semen and embryos is billed quarterly.
Frozen semen storage special terms:
Clients just starting storage at Sterling will be billed to the closest month following the arrival of their units. Units released by a client will continue to be stored for 30 days before a storage contract is required by the new client. This 30 day grace period allows for the shipping of semen from clients to customers to occur without storage fees.