Artificial
Insemination
_
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
(Article in Scottish & Northern Equestrian
Magazine, February 2008)
Attention to detail is key to
stud success
Breeding from a mare by AI can be an expensive
business, particularly if the mare does not conceive. Dukes Veterinary
Practice at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire had excellent success rates with
last season’s AI program and vet Jim Dukes said “We
were delighted with the pregnancy rates we achieved. This success
has been due to attention to detail at every stage of the program.”
An AI pregnancy is a result of successful teamwork
from various organisations who may never have met each other. A
problem at any point from semen collection through processing storage,
transport and insemination to mare management may result in failure.
Vet Jim Dukes again “It is important to work with reliable
organisations and be able to trust the other members of the team.
In return they must trust in your skills to ensure the program works.
We have successfully inseminated mares with fresh chilled semen
couriered in from Europe and also used precious frozen semen in
limited supply from a deceased stallion. Careful preparation is
essential to ensure this part of the program goes smoothly and to
prevent a waste of time and money.”
He believes management of the mares during the
breeding season is extremely important. “We keep the mares
out in small groups as naturally as possible. They are grazed on
good quality unfertilized grass pastures managed carefully to ensure
maximum nutrient uptake. In addition we feed all the mares Bailey’s
Stud Balancer every day. This gives us peace of mind that any variability
in nutrients is compensated by the balancer.”
Mare selection is also important. “We have
encouraged our clients to only breed from mares that are likely
to get in foal. Most people understand the concept of a woman’s
biological clock. The mare’s reproductive lifespan is a lot
shorter than her total lifespan and in most mares, fertility and
the ability to carry a foal to term falls off rapidly after about
15 years old. In the same way as some couples have difficulty conceiving
children, some mares and stallions are less fertile than others.”
In a recent review of over a thousand mares using
natural service at various studs around Newmarket stallion conception
rates per oestrus varied between about 30 and 89%. The lowest conception
rate stallion also had a high rate of subsequent pregnancy failure.
Mare owners should not be too shy to ask semen suppliers exactly
what the conception rate per oestrus cycle and subsequent foaling
rate is for each stallion. Dukes Vet Practice provides an information
handout for their mare owners including a list of questions to ask
the stud.
Jim Dukes said “This season we had an 80%
conception rate per oestrus cycle using fresh semen from our own
stallion. Using outside stallions we achieved conception rates of
55% with chilled and 66% with frozen semen per insemination. If
we exclude one stallion and those mares we knew would be subfertile
following initial assessments, these results increase to 75% for
chilled and 80% for frozen semen per insemination. Whilst we may
not get these results every year, it gives us something to aim for!”
Click below to download the latest copy
of our AI price list
AI Pricelist 2011
Stallion details
Stud newsletter
