As you know, we brought Cierra home after a first failed AI attempt. We found out she was back in heat, and not bred. Her ovary measurements were calculated for ideal timing to rebreed a second time at our barn. Semen was ordered, and overnighted.
Our vet came out to our place to do the second AI, annnnd we got more bad news. Cierra had ovulated early. Sigh. Our vet felt bad, and was very surprised. We are dealing with nature, which is unpredictable. Pretty sure he doesn't decide her cycle timing. There was instantly little hope.
He did the AI anyways, because we had the semen. There was a slim chance she could still be bred IF Cierra had ovulated the night before.
frozen semen container
that gets sent back and forth
I learned they calculate 21 days between mare's ovulation cycle during peak season. He said Cierra ovulated at 20 days, which they wouldn't expect to happen until around August. Ovaries measure on average 40mm at ovulation, so ideal AI breeding is done with ovaries measuring around 38mm. That is a small window of guestimation.
At Cierra's recheck appointment, we didn't have our hopes up. As expected, she was not pregnant. Our vet checked her and estimated she was around 60% of the way into her cycle. We have another appointment bright and early on Monday to see if she is in productive heat and figure out when to reorder semen. Again. He is planning to do a third AI at the 20 day mark.
Maybe three times will be the charm?
7 comments:
When we bred Cowgirl, they had to give her something to ovulate, and then the breeder, our trainer, allowed her stud to breed her everyday for a week. Basically, until Cowgirl rejected him. In fact, that’s how she knew she was ready in the first place, she finally accepted him, then was very receptive for about a week, then abruptly lost interest in him. Cold-hearted. 😂 I know very few breeders do live cover though. However, McBride’s come pretty close with their program. You leave your mare there and they have their own ultrasound machine and they watch for it daily and know exactly when to administer the AI. GunnaOutShinaya is who they’re standing there.
Can I ask you what a basic cost is for the process of AI? I’ve always been curious.
@Linda- Gunnaoutshineya is a really really nice stallion! Rosalie had a baby by him this year I believe.
Aurora- AI breeding is expensive! It is a big part of why I decided to own my own stallion. There is no guesswork, the mares take care of it!
I sure hope Cierra catches this time and there are no glitches with the semen.
So this has nothing to do with AI'ing. However we noted that with OLD Fred our only male who is gelded has decided all the mules and 15 are in heat and ready to be bred!
We laughed at the love fest of mare mules mounting each other and little Fred trying to accommodate them all this morning.
My little stud pony was our indicator for heat cycles and readiness to bred. Lil Richard was never wrong and his job now is simply to graze around places I can't mow.
Lil Richard is retired of course and has been a mower for 18 yrs now.
Fred at 35 can still detect a 'hot' gal.
Amazing.
I really hope that Cierra can be bred for you guys. I know how difficult that can be.
Fingers Crossed!
Linda, I don't mind sharing the general cost of AI, I would say around $125-190 per visit. So far our AI charges have varied for different reasons. For example, sometimes they sedate vs twitch, sometimes they ultrasound and manually check, or just manually check. Some visits include the actual AI, the ovulation shot charge and semen potency pre check, others are pre/follow up exams. Add to that, every AI vet does things differently and of course charges vary among vet clinics. The shipping part of the cost depends on what is included in the stud contract. I/we would still choose AI over live cover. If you are thinking of McBrides, with their volume and being onsite I would expect costs to be much lower.
Shirley, Padame's breeder bred her mares to Gunnaoutshineya (except for Padame's dam) the babies I've seen are flashy and well built.
Silly Fred, that is funny Val!
Sorry to hear about your disappointment with Cierra's AI. Maybe next time? Fingers crossed for you.
McBrides said all of the ultrasounds and AI are included in their stud fee. I was surprised. It’s a good deal.
But that’s if the mare is onsite, and I’m sure there are fees for that, too.
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