I am contemplating possibly using my warmblood mare for a donor mare for embryo transfer but have some questions. I won't be doing it but my vet but I thought I would like to know. What does it cost to do the P&E to synchronize the mares? I have a friend that has about 30 mares, do I still need to synchronize or can I tease them and see which ones are close to my mares "cycle" and go from there? How close to they need to be? Ovulate the same day or within a day of each other? What is involved in the flushing process? I know you flush the mare day 6 or 7 (I am assuming this is post ovulation rather than post breeding)? When would donor mare come back into heat following a flushing or can you short cycle again and if so when? If the vet was to flush more than one embryo, how long do you have to find another recipient mare so that it is still viable? How would you "store" it in that time? Thanks!
What does it cost to do the P&E to synchronize the mares? It will cost about the same as using Regumate would. You will have to contact your veterinarian to determine what they usually charge.
do I still need to synchronize or can I tease them and see which ones are close to my mares "cycle" and go from there? You should synchronize. Your success rate will be higher, and the overall frustration level lower if you do!
How close to they need to be? The recipient mare should be no more than 1 day ahead of or 2 days behind the donor mare, and preferably 2 days behind (i.e. the recipient mare ovulates 2 days after the donor mare).
What is involved in the flushing process? In essence, passing a Foley catheter through the cervix and running in a large volume of flush media, then running the flush media out through a filter that will (hopefully!) capture the embryo.
(I am assuming this is post ovulation rather than post breeding)? Correct.
When would donor mare come back into heat following a flushing or can you short cycle again and if so when? The donor mare should be short-cycled with PGF2a immediately following the flush. She should return to estrus in about 3-5 days.
If the vet was to flush more than one embryo, how long do you have to find another recipient mare so that it is still viable? It is desirable to synchronize 2 or 3 recipient mares in case this happens, then one can transfer the second embryo immediately. If one cannot do that, one could possibly transport the embryo to a recipient herd location if the happen to have a suitably synchronized mare, and there have been instances where when attempting transport of embryos they have been lost by the courier and actually not transferred for up to 3 days and yet still successfully maintained! It's not exactly desirable to plan on that though...!!!
How would you "store" it in that time? If to be stored or shipped, it is best placed in a special transport media in an Equitainer. Another alternative of course is to freeze the embryo for future use.
Thanks Jos! That was really helpful! Just a couple more questions. When in a mares cycle can you start the P&E? Also is it adviseable to have the recipient mare the same type (size) as the donor mare? I have one recipient mare (proven broodmare) lined up which is comparable to my mare in size but the other mare offered to me is only a 15-15.1HH QH maiden mare. My mare is a 17.2HH warmblood mare would be bred to a 17HH stallion. I don't want the foal to be big for a QH mare, especially being a maiden, so should I look for a bigger mare? Thanks for all your help!
I know this thread is really old but I have some questions as well. We have a mare who we would like to breed from again. Her first foal is gorgeous, beautiful in every way- looks, temperment, trainability, attitude, everything. Anyway we breed the mare again, but she got colic about 10 weeks of foaling and it resulted in a really nasty abortion and the vet has advised us not to breed from her again, which we fully intend to do. But if ET is an option I think we would seriously consider it. All I know about ET is that the eggs are flushed out of the mare and somehow placed in another. And approx how much does it cost? We have a mare who could be the recipiant mare, and another who we could use if we had to.
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