FAQ's
Recent Superovulation Questions
Question: After a failed superovulation treatment when can I start the donor again with a reasonable chance of success?
Answer: The optimum time is after two normal cycle lengths.
Question: When the donor exhibits heat one day earlier or later than the predicted date, should she be bred?
Answer: Yes, one day either side of the estimated date can be successful, but usually two days or more will fail.
Question: If the donor exhibits signs of heat but is not observed standing, do we breed her?
Answer: No, if the donor does not stand, breeding is not successful. However be careful in this case-she may have stood but was not observed standing e.g. 60% of cows stand during the dark a common
Occurrence during hot humid weather. In all cases heat detection aids are essential.
Question: How many times should the superovulated donor be bred?
Answer: Breed donors on two occasions using one straw per AI. First AI at first observed standing heat and the second AI approximately 12 hours later. It is not necessary to be exactly 12 hours apart. Proven quality semen used correctly is equivalent to a proven bull. Increasing doses of semen or number of times bred will not improve results.
(Kurykim, Therio.67, 754-759).
Question: How to handle sexed semen?
Answer: When using sexed semen handle with great care. In this case only use two doses of semen per AI. Experiments have shown horn breeding did not improve results.
Question: Should we breed donors coming into heat one day earlier or later than the predicted date?
Answer: Yes, our data records no difference in embryo production,however two days later than the predicted date has not been successful.
Question: If the donor exhibits signs of estrus but does not stand ,embryos have not been recovered.
Answer: In this case great care has to be taken that the donor did not stand or a stand was missed.Correct tail head marking would answer this question.
Question: When a superovulated cow exhibits heat before or after the predicted date should we still breed her?
Answer: Yes, if she is two days early or one day after the predicted date it is possible to retrieve transferrable quality embryos.
Question: If a donor shows some signs of heat at the predicted time of heat but does not stand,should we still breed her ?
Answer: Not unless she actually stands to be mounted . When they only show secondary estrous signs at the time of heat the donors usually do not ovulate. Just inject PG to initiate a new cycle .
Question: Who sells the "best' FSH? Are there "weak" or "stronger" batches of FSH?
Answer: There are no measurable differences in donor responses between batches or brands of FSH .Any small differences between FSH manufacturers or brands are eliminated by the large variable ability of cows to respond to injected FSH. We even found in controlled experiments very little difference between FSH ( a small protein with a half life of only a few hours) and PMSG ( a large protein with a half life of 15 days).
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