[QUOTE=caballogurl;8124073]
Bayhawk -
Have you had success with Comme il Faut frozen semen? Or known of others who have?[/QUOTE]
Yes , pregnancies with frozen and fresh in Holstein
[QUOTE=Bayhawk;8124263]
Yes , pregnancies with frozen and fresh in Holstein[/QUOTE]
Thank you! Looking forward to trying him!
[QUOTE=RyuEquestrian;8121284]
Do you know what your vet thought the post thaw motility was and whether or not she was happy with the concentration? Feel free to PM me.[/QUOTE]
To update everyone my mare was confirmed in foal to CO. We used three straws purchased from GES frozen in 2014. So the semen does work. Also, she is a young maiden mare.
[QUOTE=caballogurl;8128392]
To update everyone my mare was confirmed in foal to CO. We used three straws purchased from GES frozen in 2014. So the semen does work. Also, she is a young maiden mare.[/QUOTE]
Congrats and consider yourself very lucky. Confirmed pregnancies to him are rare.
[QUOTE=Bayhawk;8128431]
Congrats and consider yourself very lucky. Confirmed pregnancies to him are rare.[/QUOTE]
Well it must be beginner’s luck because this is the first foal I have bred :-). It should be a nice foal - my mare is from Stamm 182A and is a maternal sister to Castella.
When I purchased her former owner and breeder asked me to breed her to CO. So I purchased the semen regrettably knowing it was a gamble. Then when it came time to breed her I ordered other semen because I had chickened out on breeding to CO. Well my vet had already bred her using the CO semen…and by some miracle she took.
[QUOTE=caballogurl;8135153]
Well it must be beginner’s luck because this is the first foal I have bred :-). It should be a nice foal - my mare is from Stamm 182A and is a maternal sister to Castella.
When I purchased her former owner and breeder asked me to breed her to CO. So I purchased the semen regrettably knowing it was a gamble. Then when it came time to breed her I ordered other semen because I had chickened out on breeding to CO. Well my vet had already bred her using the CO semen…and by some miracle she took.[/QUOTE]
I think you mean stamm 18A2 ? Super and congrtats ! I heard there was big drama in Europe the last few days as the semen really sucks.
[QUOTE=Bayhawk;8135377]
I think you mean stamm 18A2 ? Super and congrtats ! I heard there was big drama in Europe the last few days as the semen really sucks.[/QUOTE]
Yes correct 18A2. I heard there were rumors that semen was coming from a clone but from my research I could not find evidence that a clone exists.
I only know that my friend got a foal in Europe using three straws of the 2014 semen. I think most people are only using two straws.
Next year I am breeding my mare to Comme il Faut via embryo transfer as she will go into sport as I feel CO is too risky for ET.
[QUOTE=caballogurl;8124097]
I asked my vet on the phone last week, he said the semen looked good - concentration and motility and he had no negative comments. He said they only note motility or concentration if it looks low or of poor quality. But I will ask him again if his lab noted the specifics when I see him Thursday as he was a bit rushed on the phone.
We used three straws and so did my friend who has had two successful pregnancies this year in Europe using CO’s frozen. I know most people now are only using two straws as a dose. Also, I left her at the repo facility where they were monitoring her every two hours for ovulation during the middle of the night and inseminated her right as she ovulated. We did not split the dose.
I went into knowing it was a gamble and I thought I would breed early enough that I would have time to rebreed to someone else if it doesn’t take. I figured I would try it once. I have a friend in the US who used two straws on an older mare and it did not take. But I think her mare is 16 or 17.
My mare has her 14 day check on this upcoming Thursday, so I will update you then.[/QUOTE]
I´ve sent you a PM !
My mare just had her 30 day check and the heart beat was strong so that is good news. To answer some questions I have received, to my knowledge I was the first one to try the semen from Jens at GES this year. Jens said he had a pregnancy last year for one client, but I do not know the other client or if that pregnancy resulted in a live foal. When I purchased the semen back in early February, I was the first to do so for the season. So again I don’t know if anyone else has tried the semen this year.
Last year using the same semen, I know someone who tried using two straws for ET and was not successful. I used three straws and allowed the mare to carry even though I wanted to do an ET and have her go into sport. Personally, ET is risky enough and I wouldn’t risk it with CO’s semen.
I also spent a fortune on ultrasounds and board at the clinic because my mare’s first two cycle’s follicles were not quite perfect. If I had had a LFG, I would have tried in February but since the semen was risky enough we waited for a perfect follicle again costing me extra $$. We also inseminated her at the EXACT time of ovulation and did not split the dose. My vet thought the semen looked fine and he has been doing repro for 35 years…but who knows maybe I got good straws?
I am breeding for myself not for profit, so I was willing to invest additional money in vet costs and the expensive risky semen. Even still I was only willing to try once as the semen including shipping cost almost $4k. If I were breeding for resale, his semen might be a risky proposition unless the client is willing to upfront the cost of semen and eat the cost if it doesn’t work, in a custom foal situation. You could also try the new standard dose of two straws but as I said earlier my limited sample size of myself and two friends (in the UK) have only had success using three straws. But again we all used three straws…so maybe we could have gotten away with two? Who knows…
I am curious if anyone else is trying this year and to see how many straws are used. I have no idea what success people are having or not having with two straws in Europe. If anyone else is trying with CO’s semen this year, please let us know if you have success or if the quality is poor. Maybe some batches are good and some are bad???
[QUOTE=caballogurl;8141290]
My mare just had her 30 day check and the heart beat was strong so that is good news. To answer some questions I have received, to my knowledge I was the first one to try the semen from Jens at GES this year. Jens said he had a pregnancy last year for one client, but I do not know the other client or if that pregnancy resulted in a live foal. When I purchased the semen back in early February, I was the first to do so for the season. So again I don’t know if anyone else has tried the semen this year.
Last year using the same semen, I know someone who tried using two straws for ET and was not successful. I used three straws and allowed the mare to carry even though I wanted to do an ET and have her go into sport. Personally, ET is risky enough and I wouldn’t risk it with CO’s semen.
I also spent a fortune on ultrasounds and board at the clinic because my mare’s first two cycle’s follicles were not quite perfect. If I had had a LFG, I would have tried in February but since the semen was risky enough we waited for a perfect follicle again costing me extra $$. We also inseminated her at the EXACT time of ovulation and did not split the dose. My vet thought the semen looked fine and he has been doing repro for 35 years…but who knows maybe I got good straws?
I am breeding for myself not for profit, so I was willing to invest additional money in vet costs and the expensive risky semen. Even still I was only willing to try once as the semen including shipping cost almost $4k. If I were breeding for resale, his semen might be a risky proposition unless the client is willing to upfront the cost of semen and eat the cost if it doesn’t work, in a custom foal situation. You could also try the new standard dose of two straws but as I said earlier my limited sample size of myself and two friends (in the UK) have only had success using three straws. But again we all used three straws…so maybe we could have gotten away with two? Who knows…
I am curious if anyone else is trying this year and to see how many straws are used. I have no idea what success people are having or not having with two straws in Europe. If anyone else is trying with CO’s semen this year, please let us know if you have success or if the quality is poor. Maybe some batches are good and some are bad???[/QUOTE]
It really depends on when the doses were frozen. Not in which year but when exactly - so bayhawks experiences have to be put into that light. And than there were first more straws in a dose of those good ones - and when they worked they reduced the straws in a dose sold.
[QUOTE=alexandra;8143344]
It really depends on when the doses were frozen. Not in which year but when exactly - so bayhawks experiences have to be put into that light. And than there were first more straws in a dose of those good ones - and when they worked they reduced the straws in a dose sold.[/QUOTE]
The 2013 semen that was sold in 2014 is working about half the time. The semen that was made in 2014 and sold for use in 2015 is not working at all according to the mares I know. 10 mares I know were bred this spring and no pregnancies.
[QUOTE=Bayhawk;8143500]
The 2013 semen that was sold in 2014 is working about half the time. The semen that was made in 2014 and sold for use in 2015 is not working at all according to the mares I know. 10 mares I know were bred this spring and no pregnancies.[/QUOTE]
That makes sense because both my mare’s pregnancy and the one other “reported” US pregnancy from last season were from the same batch using three straws. That said, another friend stateside purchased the same semen from GES and did not get a pregnancy, but she split the dose and only used two straws. Subsequently, her mare took immediately with another stallion.
I probably would not try again with the new CO semen unless I know more mares are getting pregnant consistently…it is too expensive especially if you use three straws. I took a risk this year and got very lucky.
As an experienced breeder, do you know why semen quality would so drastically change? Is it the smaller dose? I know the straw size has remained the same. Or is in an environmental change in the management of the stallion? Age?
I can also only repeat that I have been told by a jumper breeder and repro vet himself that patshes frozen until a certain time in 2014 work well…
What an make a difference ? Processing of the senen, extender, freezing process, anything that has been done to the stallion be it environment, work, feed etc etc etc
