South West Embryo Transfer and Advanced Breeding Service

Wyvern Farm Vets offers a full pedigree and commercial cow embryo flushing and freezing service to our Wyvern and Advanced Breeding clients, with all retrieved embryos stored in our APHA approved embryo store at our Frome farm practice. (Please refer to the map for the area covered by our team)

Flushing high genetic merit animals enables a greater number of calves to be born during the lifetime of a cow than would otherwise be possible.

On average, you can expect to flush 5 embryos per procedure and approximately 30 embryos throughout the lifetime of a cow compared to 6-8 calves being produced. This enables quicker genetic progress from superior animals and allows you to select higher genetic merit replacements.

Coupled with Genomic Testing and genetic progress reports, we can help you select your best animals to be flushed and transfer their embryos into the bottom 25% of your stock, generating better replacements and quicker genetic progress.

This service also takes our Repeat Breeder Service to the next level as we’re now able to flush cows on your farm to generate your own repeat breeder embryos. You then own the flushed embryos and can transfer them into problem breeders when you need to with your own genetics, taking out the cost of purchasing repeat breeder embryos.

“You’re buying a pregnancy, not a calf”

This service is suitable for any dairy cow that has had 2 or more serves and hasn’t held but is otherwise a healthy, valuable and profitable individual. The aim is to achieve a pregnancy and retain the dam for a further lactation, reducing replacement costs. We can provide non-pedigree dairy or beef cross embryos as requested.

Key points:
– Embryo transferred 7 days after a heat + AI
– Can be done following a line-up program OR natural heat
– Otherwise, a healthy individual that you can’t get pregnant
– Retain a good cow for another lactation
– Reduces the need to buy in a replacement heifer at ~£1500
– 55% conception rate currently compared to 23% for 3rd service conception rate nationally

Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET) is also known as conventional flushing and is the most common procedure in advanced breeding of cattle. MOET is a powerful tool in breeding programs, allowing multiple offspring per year from the most valuable animals in your herd, thereby speeding up genetic progress. On average 6 viable embryos are returned per flush.

The ET service includes:
– Competitive, transparent pricing
– Up-to-date and modern equipment and dedicated laboratory
– Database recording of all transfers and flush records at the practice
– Fully backed by specialist bovine reproductive knowledge
– Can be used in tandem with genomic testing to substantially improve the value gained

Ovum pick up (OPU) and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) and production of embryos is the next step on from the more traditional MOET production of embryos. OPU involves collecting eggs (oocytes) directly from the ovary of the donor animal before sending them to a local laboratory for In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). We offer a fully mobile on-farm OPU service including a mobile laboratory. The recent shift towards IVF reflects the many advantages it has as a tool for genetic improvement and is a cost-effective way of producing embryos.

The many benefits of OPU/IVF include:
– Cows can be collected from when pregnant (up to 4 months) or empty
– The line-up program is less labour intensive compared to MOET, with fewer injections
– Embryos collected can be transferred fresh 8 days after collection or frozen and stored in our practice store
– Multiple sires can be used with each collection, thereby increasing the number of mating’s
– Sexed semen is now regularly and successfully used
– Valuable semen straws can be split over multiple donor cows
– Similar number of embryos produced per collection
– Donors can be collected from every 3-4 weeks
– Lower disease status animals can be collected from and produce high health status embryos, useful for Johnes and Neospora positive cows that have a high genetic value

Together with NMR, we offer a full genomic testing service at competitive prices, including a genetic progress report, with discussion and advice regarding your results. We can help tailor the advice based on traits that are important to you, or that you want to improve within your herd, to target your breeding strategy and improve welfare and profitability.

Genomic testing is more accurate than parent trait averages (PTA’s) and can be done in calves, allowing you to select your genetically superior animals much earlier as replacements and enabling quicker genetic progress to be made.