Embryo cost

[midtncattle]

Anyone around middle TN have embryos implanted by a certified embryologist mind telling me the cost? I am looking at toying around with it.

 

[Nesikep]

I think WalnutCrest would be able to give you a pretty good idea

 

[jd720]

They usually charge $50 if they did the flush on the embryos you`re putting in and $75 for ones someone else did the flush.

 

[bse]

Were paying $60 some fresh, some frozen, then depending on the number going in in, there may be a trip charge.
If you want her name and number PM me ill send it all to you.

 

[WalnutCrest]

They usually charge $50 if they did the flush on the embryos you`re putting in and $75 for ones someone else did the flush.

Were paying $60 some fresh, some frozen, then depending on the number going in in, there may be a trip charge.

If you want her name and number PM me ill send it all to you.

The prices I'm paying are pretty similar for a certified embryologist to do the work.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I pay $85 an embryo, all frozen. And he comes out for just one cow, since I use natural heats. Out of 7 embryos we put in this fall, all 7 stuck!!! :banana: that is me doing the happy dance!

 

[inyati13]

I pay $85 an embryo, all frozen. And he comes out for just one cow, since I use natural heats. Out of 7 embryos we put in this fall, all 7 stuck!!! :banana: that is me doing the happy dance!

You do that dance pretty well.

 

[Dsteim]

Out of curiosity, are y'all flushing your own cows and using other ones as recipes or are y'all buying embryos from breeders?

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Out of curiosity, are y'all flushing your own cows and using other ones as recipes or are y'all buying embryos from breeders?

If you are asking me, then both. We have flushed two cows, but I find I can improve my genetics a lot quicker by buying embryos from some of the top producing breeders. There is no way I can afford a heifer calf from a 6 digit producing cow, but I can afford to buy some of her embryos and put them in my cows. All of my cows are top quality, and if they do not get an embryo then I know I can AI them and still get a good calf out of them. We put in more embryos that are purchased than what I produced myself. We usually get bulls from those embryos (about 5 out of 6 will be bulls), so in most cases the quality is high and they are sold as yearlings. The heifers we get we usually keep, and use them to AI. I do have two embryo heifers that are used as recips themselves, but that is because they can raise a great calf year after year, so I put an embryo in them now and then.
Our kids like to show, so the embryos we buy we hope turn into nice show heifers for them, that can then go on and become great cows.

 

[midtncattle]

If I could get close to 7 out of 7 then I know I would be all in. I am just trying to produce the most profitable calf I can. I have been doing AI and it has worked well, but as FSR said to get those higher dollar calves it takes cows with not only the right phenotype but the right set of papers.

 

[bse]

It can advance you pretty quick, but dont think its all 100% conception, you need to be ready for the flops as well as the success. A buddy did 12 a few years back got 0 and you couldnt give him an embryo now, my very first experience was 30% but I was good with it, ive had cows flushed with nothing and it would be easy to get discouraged, but I know how it all works. We do all the prep work now on the donors and recips. We have the embryologist flush the cow and put in the eggs and things have improved. All im saying is be prepaired for the lows, they can get costly.

 

[Bigfoot]

Midtn,

Does this embryo talk end my supply of high quality crossbred heifers from your place? If so, I may have to come down just to visit one day every fall.

 

[midtncattle]

No bigfoot it does not. I am just looking at options on getting a few "top papered" registered calves. My current plan is still to AI and then clean up with the Harland 408 hereford bull. Looking forward to my first calves from him. If I can get another group of 10-15 cows going I may try it on them. I have also had some pretty interesting offers to use my cows a recipients, but they have not convinced me yet.

 

[midtncattle]

It can advance you pretty quick, but dont think its all 100% conception, you need to be ready for the flops as well as the success. A buddy did 12 a few years back got 0 and you couldnt give him an embryo now, my very first experience was 30% but I was good with it, ive had cows flushed with nothing and it would be easy to get discouraged, but I know how it all works. We do all the prep work now on the donors and recips. We have the embryologist flush the cow and put in the eggs and things have improved. All im saying is be prepaired for the lows, they can get costly.

THanks BSE,

I am looking at one of those deals where you buy say 6 embryo and the seller guarantees 50% conception of using a certified person. Just kicking it around as a business decision.

 

[WalnutCrest]

We sold a guaranteed deal like that a couple months ago. We're looking forward to good results for our client.

Flushes / aspirations can be boom / bust ... the trick is knowing that to go into it knowing you're going to need to do a certain minimum amount of embryo work to know that the averages will play out. Our production has ranged from 0 (on our most recent flush) to 10 (on an aspiration from last fall) and we're averaging a shade under five per flush/aspiration over the last year.

Our most recent day to implant resulted in two of three taking ... and those two calves are due to hit the ground within the week.

In our case, with our breed, there are limited numbers of fullbloods in North America ... we've visited pretty much every place in North America in search of the best fullbloods and have purchased what we believe are the best fullblood cows and semen on the very best bulls for flushes for these cows. And prior to doing these flushes, we did DNA testing for various traits and probabilities at two labs (one in the US and one in Canada) so we could fine-tune our decisions even more.

So, we've combined the French linear measurements on the bulls and their progeny (in the case of the FR imported semen) and the phenotypes of the cows ... along with all anecdotal observations about temperaments, productivity, longevity, carcass traits, etc. ... and ... the genetic data from our testing to really accelerate our program.

We believe that this upfront investment in securing the best of our breed (in terms of cows and bulls), and determining the best genotypes, will easily cut 5-10 years off of our breeding program ... which is to breed absolutely world-class animals that will best perform in the pasture AND on the plate ... and do so with very low / no imputs.