Embryo Transfer

Not only can we artificially inseminate female cattle with semen from bulls, we can transplant embryos from donor cows into recipient cows. There are exceptional bulls in the industry that have had semen drawn and sold all over the world, but only have of a calves genes come from the sire. There are also some amazing cows around! One cow only produces one offspring a year but through embryo transfer they can produce more than one just like bulls!

Embryo transplant is a similar process to artificial insemination only the opposite and slightly more complicated. Embryos are flushed from a donor cow, fertilized and then either inserted directly into the recipient cow or frozen and transferred later when the recipient cows are in heat.

Here is a video I found with a little bit more information on Embryo Transfer and the process



Transplant is a process that ranchers will use with some of there best cows and embryos can also be sold to other countries. We transplanted about twenty today, hopefully we will get a few good calves from exceptional cows for the 2012 World Hereford Conference!

I also found this article that goes through the process of embryo transfer in more detail with all the steps from selection of the donor cow to transfer of the embryos.  http://www.brangusworld.com/documents/Estrus%20Sinchonization.pdf. It may be of interest to some of you that want more information otherwise you can always comment with questions or email me at ruthschuepbach@hotmail.com.