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Donor Superovulation
Superovulation is the process utilized to force your donor to produce multiple ova to become fertilized for embryo collection. It involves the administration of an FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) product over a period of days with multiple injections. Some of the products used currently are Folltropin and Pluset.
For many of you this will be remedial, but for the new owners, I will make some general guidelines to follow.
- The products will need to be reconstituted prior to administration. Always use a sterile needle and syringe to add the diluent to the powder
- Always refrigerate the bottle after mixing
- Use a sterile 3cc 20gauge 1.5 inch needle to administer the FSH. Do NOT use the same needles and syringes on multiple donors. This creates unnecessary risk of transmitting diseases particularly Bovine Leukosis Virus throughout your donor population.
- Give injections deep IM following BQA recommendations (in the neck). Do NOT give them on the top of the hip particularly in fat animals. This is an IM product and can be injected in fat on some animals.
- Follow your schedules closely. Donor injections should be given 8-12 hours apart. Follow the amounts as scheduled closely. As we gain experience with each donors, the dosages they receive will vary. It is imperative that you follow your schedules.
- Freeze any unused FSH in the bottle. You can use this in the future if you need a small amount to finish another donor.
The statistics say that most collections will produce some non-fertile and degenerate embryos. If your donor has an unusually large percentage of these nonviable embryos, we make sure we address the issues that can cause this effect. The first variable to evaluate is semen quality. Obviously, high quality semen is essential to the success of ET. However, I do believe semen always gets the blame! Be sure your semen is evaluated preferably prior to using in a flush. Just like donor variability in fertility, there is much variation in the ability of bulls to produce viable embryos. If you have any doubts, especially on semen collected from young, highly conditioned show bulls, have your semen evaluated. Also be sure your semen handling techniques are sound. Consistently check your thermometer to assure accuracy. Many other factors affect embryo quality. Stress (hot weather, injury, temperament). Always try to minimize stress in your donors and recips. Finally, there is certainly an inherent genetic predisposition in some donors that make them poor candidates for ET programs. All cows do not produce viable embryos.
The key to the usefulness of this program is accurate heat detection in the recipients. This will not work if you are not able to accurately identify return heats on your recips. I schedule flush days every 35-40 days. This allows you time to check for heats in your recips that are used. Most of those heats will be 12-16 days after transfers (19-23 days from heat). The 35 day interval will allow you time to resynchronize those open recips for the next flush in addition to the recips that are not used or are new to the program. This protocol will greatly reduce the time your recips will stay open and give them more opportunities to get pregnant in an acceptable window of time. The greatest expense in any ET program is the recips. It is very important to maximize pregnancy rates in your pool of recip cows. This program allows you to produce a higher percentage of ET pregnancies in your herd. If heat detection in the recips that have embryos transferred into them is not an option, we can pregnancy check those cows and resynch the open cows on the next cycle. That will still allow you to reuse those recips in a shorter window of time but is obviously not as good as the first plan. What is the best way to synchronize your recips, you might ask. We currently use two primary protocols. When we utilize heat detection programs, we recommend the Select Synch + CIDR (GnRH + CIDR followed in 7 days by CIDR removal + Prostaglandin injection). Recips are then heat detected and time of standing heats are recorded. Only the recips with recorded heats are then checked on transfer day. We commonly use Fixed Time ET (FTET) Programs now eliminating the need for heat detection. The protocol we use is Co-Synch + CIDR. The protocol is the same as for heat detection except the recips are also given a dose of GnRH (Cystorelin, Factrel, Fertagyl) 48 hours after CIDR removal and Prostaglandin injection. All recips are then brought through the chute on transfer day. Typically, we will use approximately 80% of the recips synchronized.
Now that you have followed your schedules and programmed your donors and recipients, it is important that you are prepared for flush day. Manage your cows in the same manner after your heats and breeding as you did prior to procedures. Keep your cattle on their gaining plane of nutrition and continue to utilize all management practices to minimize stress. On actual day of collection, please have your donors up prior to arrival in a comfortable pen. It is very important that you have all of the donor names and registration numbers as well as the sire names and registration numbers. As an AETA certified business, it is our responsibility to be sure that information is provided on all our paperwork but most importantly it must be used when processing frozen embryos. Depending on how many donors are being flushed, the recipient cows may need to be penned also. At least you should have them in a smaller area close to the chute. If you are using “heats” on your recips, have that information also written in a concise legible format. After the donors are flushed, they will be given a shot of prostaglandin to minimize the risk of a retained embryo(s) and a resulting pregnancy in your donors. Depending on your future plans for this donor, it is advisable to give a second injection of prostaglandin 3-5 days later. After transfers are made into the recipients, they should be handled very quietly. If moving them to a new farm or location, it is recommended to move them either transfer day or possibly the next two days. Do not handle them from five days after transfer through twenty-five days to provide them with their best chance to recognize pregnancy.
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Bickett's Blog
The statistics say that most collections will produce some non-fertile and degenerate embryos. If your donor has an unusually large percentage of these nonviable embryos, we make sure we address the issues that can cause this effect. The first variable to evaluate is semen quality. Obviously, high quality semen is essential to the success of ET. However, I do believe semen always gets the blame! Be sure your semen is evaluated preferably prior to using in a flush. Just like donor variability in fertility, there is much variation in the ability of bulls to produce viable embryos. If you have any doubts, especially on semen collected from young, highly conditioned show bulls, have your semen evaluated. Also be sure your semen handling techniques are sound. Consistently check your thermometer to assure accuracy. Many other factors affect embryo quality. Stress (hot weather, injury, temperament). Always try to minimize stress in your donors and recips. Finally, there is certainly an inherent genetic predisposition in some donors that make them poor candidates for ET programs. All cows do not produce viable embryos.
The key to the usefulness of this program is accurate heat detection in the recipients. This will not work if you are not able to accurately identify return heats on your recips. I schedule flush days every 35-40 days. This allows you time to check for heats in your recips that are used. Most of those heats will be 12-16 days after transfers (19-23 days from heat). The 35 day interval will allow you time to resynchronize those open recips for the next flush in addition to the recips that are not used or are new to the program. This protocol will greatly reduce the time your recips will stay open and give them more opportunities to get pregnant in an acceptable window of time. The greatest expense in any ET program is the recips. It is very important to maximize pregnancy rates in your pool of recip cows. This program allows you to produce a higher percentage of ET pregnancies in your herd. If heat detection in the recips that have embryos transferred into them is not an option, we can pregnancy check those cows and resynch the open cows on the next cycle. That will still allow you to reuse those recips in a shorter window of time but is obviously not as good as the first plan. What is the best way to synchronize your recips, you might ask. We currently use two primary protocols. When we utilize heat detection programs, we recommend the Select Synch + CIDR (GnRH + CIDR followed in 7 days by CIDR removal + Prostaglandin injection). Recips are then heat detected and time of standing heats are recorded. Only the recips with recorded heats are then checked on transfer day. We commonly use Fixed Time ET (FTET) Programs now eliminating the need for heat detection. The protocol we use is Co-Synch + CIDR. The protocol is the same as for heat detection except the recips are also given a dose of GnRH (Cystorelin, Factrel, Fertagyl) 48 hours after CIDR removal and Prostaglandin injection. All recips are then brought through the chute on transfer day. Typically, we will use approximately 80% of the recips synchronized.