ET in sheep

[waltonCharollais]

Can anyone share how ET works? Rough costs? Does the ewe who has been flushed carry a lamb or does she stay empty? Best ewes to receive the embryos? Does it affect the ewes in later breeding?

Thanks

 

[andybk]

Have a word with ian mcdougall (farmgene) , I recon you need some really good proven stock to justify it , (not show sheep )

 

[neilo]

Can anyone share how ET works? Rough costs? Does the ewe who has been flushed carry a lamb or does she stay empty? Best ewes to receive the embryos? Does it affect the ewes in later breeding?

Thanks

As above, speak to Ian. He’s highly respected and possibly the best sheep ET vet working in the UK I would say.

Rough cost is £450-500/donor, plus recipient sponging costs, etc. Success rates are higher if the donors & recips are within their natural breeding season, but can vary between zero pregnancies and 30+ per donor. Some breeds, and lines within those breeds, will generally flush better than others (Charollais flush quite well, but you’ve moved on from those I guess).

Recips should ideally be in their natural breeding season at whatever time you’re flushing, and healthy sheep ‘in their prime’. Obviously they should be covered for any local TE deficiencies, and against any abortion risks. They should be able to have the embryo lambs easily, and then rear them well, or what’s the point?

Donor ewes are normally given a jab of estrumate at flushing, which should make them cycle 5 days later. If they don’t hold then, they should cycle again 17 days later. Personally, I think the donor’s fertility is compromised at those cycles, but some will certainly hold. The next year, they should be as fertile as anything else IME.

I used to flush 5 Charollais ewes in July every year, but have now gone to flushing in October, with far better results on average. However this year, we’vedone everything the same and had the worst results in 20 odd years of flushing. Last year they were cheap lambs, this year they will be very dear.

As to choice of donor, I would suggest you should pick the ewes that you really want more daughters from. The sort of sheep that you would struggle to source those genetics at economic cost (however you choose to define ‘superior’).
You should avoid flushing ewes purely on the basis that you’ve paid a lot of money for them and they looked nice at the time (says he), or at least be prepared to accept the disappointments if you do. Until you’ve bred from them/their families, you really don’t know which are your best breeding ewes IME.

I have twice flushed groups of 10 ewe lambs when i’ve Wanted to expand the flock rapidly, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do so again. As above, you need to be willing to accept that some won’t be worth keeping though.

 

[Longlowdog]

http://www.abreeds.co.uk/index.php/services/breeding-sheep/embryo-transfer-et/faq/
The ewe does not retain an embryo from the flushing but should cycle again.