I had a quick question about "average pregnancy rates" with frozen semen.
I read in a review a couple of months back that the industry average per cycle conception rate with frozen semen is 34%... now, what does that actually mean? Does it mean:
1) That on average, it will take three "perfect" attempts to produce a pregnancy
or
2) That on average, it will take three attempts end of story, and the conception rate takes into account mistimed inseminations etc.
I'm guessing that only data from experts/proficient AI centres are used in creating these stats...
The reason I ask, is that we had some frozen semen recently that did not produce a pregnancy despite the fact that it was inseminated 4 hours before ovulation in two mares. The stud manager was convinced that the mare would take, as the semen looked good, AI was at an ideal time, and the mares were easy breeders. I could not convince her that they might not take on the first try, simply because it was frozen semen. No pregnancy first time, and she panicked (and made me panic)... second round, mares AI'd 6-8 hours before ovulation, and bingo, 2 pregnancies...
I think this means it can take up to 3 inseminations to get a pregnancy.
Of course being a statistic it does not take into account all variables, such as some mares will never take to frozen semen, and many others will usually take on the first insemination if every thing else is right
Personall i never do 3 insems to get a pregnancy, i do 2 and if it doesnt work, change to chilled semen
Also, just because the semen has good motility under the scope, does not mean it is 'fertile' enough to join with the egg of the mare
Semen that looks bad under the scope can actually get mares pregnant
After having spent thousands of dollars with vets over the years, i now have my own set of rules about using frozen semen. Vets will always go ahead and inseminate, they get paid anyway, but i now tend to cut my losses early. If a mare is a bad candidate i dont go on endlessly inseminating like i used to, i will try twice, then either switch to another stallion or try cooled semen, or just try once more next season. if she still doesnt take, thats it for that mare in the frozen semen department
paulamc
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