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Non‐surgical embryo auto‐transfer in the mare
Author(s) -
BOWEN M. JILL,
SALSBURY J. M.,
BOWEN J. M.,
KRAEMER D. C.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/j.2042-3306.1985.tb04607.x
Subject(s) - estrous cycle , uterine horns , uterus , embryo , embryo transfer , ovulation , pregnancy , andrology , horse , medicine , gynecology , biology , zoology , paleontology , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Summary The feasibility of collecting equine embryos non‐surgically and returning them non‐surgically to the same donor mare for the continuation of that pregnancy is described. Sixteen reproductively normal, cycling mares were the subject of 65 embryo collection attempts between May and October. The embryo was held outside the mare for three different time spans (0, 2 and 4 h) before replacing it into the uterus of the same animal. Two different methods of non‐surgical embryo collection were compared. From 23 collections that involved flushing only the ipsilateral uterine horn on Day 6 post ovulation, 12 embryos (52 per cent) were recovered. From 31 collections that involved flushing the whole uterus on Day 8, 25 embryos (81 per cent) were recovered. None of the non‐surgical auto‐transfers resulted in a full term pregnancy. In 11 mares in which single horn flushing on Day 6 had not produced an embryo, reflushing the whole uterus on Day 8 also failed to yield any embryos. There was no significant difference in the onset of the next oestrus in mares flushed on Day 6 as compared with Day 8, nor did the overall mean (± sd) oestrous cycle lengths of these flushed mares (21.5 ± 4.75 days) differ from those of normal, unflushed mares. Mares that had an embryo replaced in their uteri, either on Day 6 or Day 8, showed no prolongation of their oestrous cycles.