SRGenetic's High-Health Embryo Recipients

Your choice of recipient animals to use for embryo transfer can have a great influence on the success of your ET program.

SRGenetics can often provide you with embryo recipients. These highly selected ewes are synchronized, used for the surgery, kept on site for  up to 60 days, pregnancy tested twice and then sold to you as guaranteed pregnant animals.

The age, breed, period since last lambing, and health of recipients all affect the success of establishing the pregnancies. 

Recipient health can affect the ET program in two ways. Embryo and lamb survival is highest in high-health recipients  - the same higher fertility that occurs in high-health flocks. But the added bonus is that embryos are free from production diseases that are common to the sheep industry. Bacteria and viruses causing disease are "washed" off the embryo during the laboratory handling. By using high health recipients the lambs born from these disease-free embryos will themselves be free of disease. What a great added value to an ET program and what a waste to loose that advantage by choosing poor recipients.

The recipient ewes that SRGenetics make available are test negative for Maedi-visna. The flock is free of Johnes disease, Caseous lymphadenitis, foot rot, ecto parasites and abortion diseases. The breed is Rideau Arcott, either pure or crossed with Polled Dorset or East Friesian.

Your cost for these ewes includes a usage fee and a cost of purchase (market value). The usage fee is $200   and covers:

	The production loss of keeping the ewes open and available for ET - at some times of year this means keeping the ewes off production for many months
	Cost of drugs and time for synchronization
	Boarding from first synchronization until pregnancy tested at and up to 60days
	Ultrasound pregnancy testing - twice
	The loss of production to SRGenetics of those that don't become pregnant (generally at least one third of those used for ET)
	The surgical insult that occurs with the use of the procedure for those that don't get pregnant and are retained in the flock - you can only use them so many times
	An allowance for the ewes that are not used for ET. A proportion (up to 25% in some cases) fail to respond to the drugs that bring them into a successful heat. Those are pulled out of production, receive all the drugs and undergo the laparoscopic procedures. You are not charged for those animals.

	High health for your embryos and for your flock
	Genetics designed for multiple birthing and high milk production - improve the 50 day weights of your ET lambs
	Excellent for out-of-season programs
	No synchronization program for you to manage
	You purchase only the pregnant animals
	No cost of transport of animals to SRGenetics
	Convenience of having recipient animals available and on site