ET newbie here... looking for advise

[TwoByrdsMG]

My husband and I purchased 4 embryos this season and hope to use them this winter.

We have used syncing to bring cows in for fixed time AI with moderate success 7/15 stuck on the first heat and another 6 on the second heat.

Is this the same procedure that you use for ET?

I can ask my ET specialist but I have been told from multiple people that he is the kind of guy who prefers to just do his work and not chat about doing the work.

Any suggestions/recommendations/warnings?

 

[LJCB]

I believe it's same as AI but you just wait 7 days later to put them (most embryos are 7 days old) in my experience

 

[bse]

its pretty much the same, i give gnrh at 60 hrs after pulling cidr and lute. If i was going to put in 4 id set up 6 cows, all the recips may not work. It will be 7 days later to put them in.

 

[Son of Butch]

7 of 15 (47%) and 6 of 8 repeats (75%) = 13 pgs from 23 straws of semen.
Given embryo costs IF 13 pregnancies from 23 embryos (56%) it would be too expensive for me.
Lose one along the way and you're down to 52% live calves weaned.
So, I guess 2 weaned calves from the 4 embryos is the reasonable expectation.

Sorry not I can't address your question, but hopefully someone experienced will come along
to give tips on how to improve your chances of success.

p.s.
Off the top of my head I'd give shots of multi-min a month before breeding in helping with
conception, as insurance in case your mineral program isn't up to snuff.

 

[LJCB]

its pretty much the same, i give gnrh at 60 hrs after pulling cidr and lute. If i was going to put in 4 id set up 6 cows, all the recips may not work. It will be 7 days later to put them in.

I'd definitely set more cows up than embryos. I was going to put some in this past spring and the cows I had caught on natural heats the vet said the heat they had wasn't a good enough one in lamest terms . Made we wish I had just set them up but he had talked me into natural heats because I think he said it was like a 10-15% jump in conception plus you save on the drugs and cidrs .

 

[NEFarmwife]

its pretty much the same, i give gnrh at 60 hrs after pulling cidr and lute. If i was going to put in 4 id set up 6 cows, all the recips may not work. It will be 7 days later to put them in.

Yep. And as SOb mentioned, multimin 30 days before. I'm all for syncing such a small group but I'm guessing it may be a trip to an embryologist. If it's not too far, then do natural heats. Just maybe put some heat tags on them if you can't keep a visual.

 

[Bright Raven]

My husband and I purchased 4 embryos this season and hope to use them this winter.

We have used syncing to bring cows in for fixed time AI with moderate success 7/15 stuck on the first heat and another 6 on the second heat.

Is this the same procedure that you use for ET?

I can ask my ET specialist but I have been told from multiple people that he is the kind of guy who prefers to just do his work and not chat about doing the work.

Any suggestions/recommendations/warnings?

I assume these are MG embryos. If you have found some MG breeders that are using both the Sire and Cow families that you want in your herd, ET allows you to bring those genetics into the herd without buying the animal at a sale. It might take a little longer but IMO it is less expensive and an excellent way to get those genetics into your herd. I wish I had used ET when I got started. I have a few ET cows in my herd and they have not disappointed.

Were the four embryos purchased as a group from the same flush? The most common number of embryos in a cane from the same flush is usually three.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I "3rd" the advice to give Multimin90 and make sure you have GREAT minerals out for them.
I use natural heats. I get about a 70-75% conception. but, you have to have someone willing to come out 6.5 to 7.5 days after heat. Actually put 1 IVF embryo in and it stuck!! Got 2 more to try.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

My husband and I purchased 4 embryos this season and hope to use them this winter.

We have used syncing to bring cows in for fixed time AI with moderate success 7/15 stuck on the first heat and another 6 on the second heat.

Is this the same procedure that you use for ET?

I can ask my ET specialist but I have been told from multiple people that he is the kind of guy who prefers to just do his work and not chat about doing the work.

Any suggestions/recommendations/warnings?

I assume these are MG embryos. If you have found some MG breeders that are using both the Sire and Cow families that you want in your herd, ET allows you to bring those genetics into the herd without buying the animal at a sale. It might take a little longer but IMO it is less expensive and an excellent way to get those genetics into your herd. I wish I had used ET when I got started. I have a few ET cows in my herd and they have not disappointed.

Were the four embryos purchased as a group from the same flush? The most common number of embryos in a cane from the same flush is usually three.

We are very excited to try this. They are MG embryos from 2 completely different flushes. Each breeder put 2 embryos per cane so we bought one cane from each flush. One flush was done 10 years ago by a cow now deceased. The other flush was by a bull that has very limited supply of semen left if any. Very few Murray Grey bulls are collected in large supply so we are crossing our fingers here.

We provide loose locally blended mineral and do 2x a year vaccines including Multimin.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

7 of 15 (47%) and 6 of 8 repeats (75%) = 13 pgs from 23 straws of semen.
Given embryo costs IF 13 pregnancies from 23 embryos (56%) it would be too expensive for me.
Lose one along the way and you're down to 52% live calves weaned.
So, I guess 2 weaned calves from the 4 embryos is the reasonable expectation.

Sorry not I can't address your question, but hopefully someone experienced will come along
to give tips on how to improve your chances of success.

p.s.
Off the top of my head I'd give shots of multi-min a month before breeding in helping with
conception, as insurance in case your mineral program isn't up to snuff.

If I got 2 weaned calves from the 4 embryos then I would be thrilled (of course 4/4 would be perfect!). I really only have 4 fall calvers that are mature enough to sync up so if not all of them are put in this year then I am ok with that.

Our ET specialist has a 85-90% success rate over his career. He prides himself on only putting embryos in the cows that are exactly ready for them. The 4 cows that I am syncing are only ones that took to timed AI after 1 straw of semen.

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

My husband and I purchased 4 embryos this season and hope to use them this winter.

We have used syncing to bring cows in for fixed time AI with moderate success 7/15 stuck on the first heat and another 6 on the second heat.

Is this the same procedure that you use for ET?

I can ask my ET specialist but I have been told from multiple people that he is the kind of guy who prefers to just do his work and not chat about doing the work.

Any suggestions/recommendations/warnings?

Personally I would not set up more cows than embryos, if you set up six, and all 6 come in heat, and you put 4 embryos in, what do you do with the other 2? Seems like a waste to me. Not like you can breed them at implant time.

I always set up what I have available, and put in what I can. Sometimes all the recips are good, sometimes only a few are. I've had one time where none of my recips responded to getting set up.

I tried something different this year compared to previous years......I had Vitaferm Concept Aide out all year long, and gave the cows MultiMin 30 days before planned implant or AI. All my cows responded, and all the recips got implanted. I had incredible ET and AI conception rates this year.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

Personally I would not set up more cows than embryos, if you set up six, and all 6 come in heat, and you put 4 embryos in, what do you do with the other 2? Seems like a waste to me. Not like you can breed them at implant time.

I always set up what I have available, and put in what I can. Sometimes all the recips are good, sometimes only a few are. I've had one time where none of my recips responded to getting set up.

I tried something different this year compared to previous years......I had Vitaferm Concept Aide out all year long, and gave the cows MultiMin 30 days before planned implant or AI. All my cows responded, and all the recips got implanted. I had incredible ET and AI conception rates this year.

I have never seen Vitaferm Concept Aide. Do you use the loose mineral or the tubs?

Thank you!

 

[Little Cow]

Personally I would not set up more cows than embryos, if you set up six, and all 6 come in heat, and you put 4 embryos in, what do you do with the other 2? Seems like a waste to me. Not like you can breed them at implant time.

I always set up what I have available, and put in what I can. Sometimes all the recips are good, sometimes only a few are. I've had one time where none of my recips responded to getting set up.

I tried something different this year compared to previous years......I had Vitaferm Concept Aide out all year long, and gave the cows MultiMin 30 days before planned implant or AI. All my cows responded, and all the recips got implanted. I had incredible ET and AI conception rates this year.

I have never seen Vitaferm Concept Aide. Do you use the loose mineral or the tubs?

Thank you!

I agree wholeheartedly with the mineral supplements. I saw a big difference in vigor and appearance when my cows were ready for AI (I haven't done ET). We used loose mineral. Multimin was a shot, I believe. Concept Aide was loose mineral. I avoid tubs and blocks, as a general rule, because they can cause sore tongues in cattle hungry for the supplement, followed by a period of avoidance. The result is uneven supplementation.

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

Personally I would not set up more cows than embryos, if you set up six, and all 6 come in heat, and you put 4 embryos in, what do you do with the other 2? Seems like a waste to me. Not like you can breed them at implant time.

I always set up what I have available, and put in what I can. Sometimes all the recips are good, sometimes only a few are. I've had one time where none of my recips responded to getting set up.

I tried something different this year compared to previous years......I had Vitaferm Concept Aide out all year long, and gave the cows MultiMin 30 days before planned implant or AI. All my cows responded, and all the recips got implanted. I had incredible ET and AI conception rates this year.

I have never seen Vitaferm Concept Aide. Do you use the loose mineral or the tubs?

Thank you!

Loose mineral. They will hammer it pretty hard for the first month or so of putting it out if they aren't on a good mineral program. But after that they level off and have periods where they consume more. I also have a salt block with the mineral.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

Personally I would not set up more cows than embryos, if you set up six, and all 6 come in heat, and you put 4 embryos in, what do you do with the other 2? Seems like a waste to me. Not like you can breed them at implant time.

I always set up what I have available, and put in what I can. Sometimes all the recips are good, sometimes only a few are. I've had one time where none of my recips responded to getting set up.

I tried something different this year compared to previous years......I had Vitaferm Concept Aide out all year long, and gave the cows MultiMin 30 days before planned implant or AI. All my cows responded, and all the recips got implanted. I had incredible ET and AI conception rates this year.

I have never seen Vitaferm Concept Aide. Do you use the loose mineral or the tubs?

Thank you!

Loose mineral. They will hammer it pretty hard for the first month or so of putting it out if they aren't on a good mineral program. But after that they level off and have periods where they consume more. I also have a salt block with the mineral.

I found a local supplier for the Concept Aide loose mineral. We have them on a local blend loose mineral and put Availa4 tub and salt lick out at different spots. Will switch to the Concept Aide when we run out of loose mineral. Thank you for the advise!