More Longhorn enthusiasts are turning to embryonics to improve their herd.

In the past, most breeders relied on natural breeding to produce calves.  The obvious disadvantage was that one mating could only produce one calf each year.  With that in mind, some people took advantage of artificial insemination to improve the chance of having a better calf.  Even though that is an excellent option, it still limits a great cow to only one calf per year.

Embryo transfer allows one cow to deliver several calves in one year.

If you have a special cow and/or a special bull, you can join the growing number of people who are taking their Longhorn herd farther-faster by placing embryos in several surrogate mothers.  We have taken advantage of this relatively simple science to produce more calves from two of our favorite animals.

The most common practice involves breeding the cow of your choice through artificial insemination to the bull of your choice.  If you are fortunate enough to have access to BOTH the cow and the bull, a better option (in my opinion) is natural cover.  The bull knows better than you, the best time to breed the cow.

Several days after the cow is bred, the embryos are “flushed” from the donor cow.  They can be placed in recipient mothers that have been prepared to receive the embryos, or frozen for placement at a later time.  The best results come from immediate placement, but frozen embryos are also a viable option.

It does require some time, attention and expense.  Many people send their cow to a facility to have her flushed.  We do it all at the ranch.  That only requires the embryologist to make one trip here to do the flush and place the embryos.  It’s more labor intensive for us to work the cattle and do all the set up and vaccinations of the donor cow and the recips, but it’s more cost effective and less stressful on the animals.

We have been happy with the results.  You might want to consider it for your herd.

If you haven’t tried it yet, and have some questions, give me a call (605) 381-3998.  I’ll be happy to share how it has worked for us and help steer you in the right direction.

You can see some of our Longhorns on our web site

***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***

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