Embryos: Invetro vs Conventional

[slick4591]

I'm shopping for embryos and spoke to one guy last night that had a bunch that were flushed using the invetro method, whatever that is. He didn't know too much about it as he let his son run most of the operation. I checked with two people that I've used previously for embryos and they said to stay away from them as they carry a lower conception rate. This guy swore his vet told him the same thing, but his experience was opposite and had better rates. I'd like to hear from some of y'all that have experience.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

No personal experience as I have not used IVF embryos. However, several large breeders have told me the conception, for the most part,is horrible. Way worse than conventional. There are several collection points around here that are no longer offering IVF until they can get some of the bugs worked out, or a little more consistency. They have yet to figure out why some flushes are bunk (VERY LOW CONCEPTIONS) and some are as good as conventional.
A breeder near here told me (and Ron while he was out here for a sale) that they bought a flush on a cow. They decided to do it via IVF, and ended up with 13 eggs. The location where the cow was flushed offered to put the embryos in the recips fresh, and they would only have to pay for the ones that stuck the embryo 60 days. They ended up with ZERO conceptions on those 13 embryos. Not good odds. At least they only lost the money on the flush!
As long as you get your guarantee when you buy (usually it is one pregnancy when you buy 3), it might be worth a try. I usually get two or even three pregnancies when I buy conventional, and am afraid if I do get some IVF, I would be lucky to get one!

 

[slick4591]

That's even lower than what I was told. One gal said her experience was about 20% lower and the other guy basically said with my small operation I should stay away from them completely. The owner did not offer a guarantee and I'm not buying any of them. So far I'm batting .500 with the conventional method.

 

[WORANCH]

We used IVF embryos because we wanted all heifers . But the conception rates on fresh embryos was only 45-50 percent , frozen was 25 %.

 

[farmerjan]

IVF is very popular with dairy cows now and is alot easier on the cows so that is one reason so many are using it. I have one farmer that gets nearly the conception that he got with traditional flushes but most do not. I think alot of it has to do with where it is being done and the cow being flushed. This particular dairyman ships embryos all over the world. He does get better conception rates with fresh, and does not recommend freezing the sexed ones, but has done it on occasion. The recip cows have to be in very good shape and on the exact same timeline; that is where there is as much problems in his opinion as with the actual eggs. They have to be number 1's to be considered for freezing. He will implant the 2's and even the 3's if he has the recips available.