CR - BREEDING INFO

SHIPPED SEMEN BREEDING

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR MARE FOR A SUCCESSFUL SHIPPED SEMEN PREGNANCY.
Call your veterinarian! Discuss everything in the contract with him. Without his expertise, your mare will probably not get in foal. Be sure that he is VERY comfortable with being able to predict and pinpoint your mare's ovulation. If your mare is a difficult breeder and usually takes more than one cycle to conceive, or she is a chronically dirty mare, she is probably not the mare you wish to use with shipped semen.

Tease your Mare! Keep track of her cycles and be sure that she is cycling regularly, not transitionally. Normal cycles generally last 5-7 days with approximately 18 days of no heat in between. Be sure that she has a clean culture and a clean cytology. Cultures are not always completely accurate, especially early on in the breeding season so a cytology is a good idea. A quick ultrasound of her uterus at this time is a very good idea. This will enable your vet to see if your mare has fluid in her uterus or if she has any existing cyst that could be misinterpreted as an early pregnancy.

If your mare is currently in foal, we suggest (this is our standard farm procedure) your veterinarian flush the mare with Gentocin Bi-Carb and saline solution, followed by a 1cc Oxytocin injection on the day following foaling. This will enable him to visually check her vagina for necessary repairs as well as manually feel for any internal injuries that may have occurred during foaling. This mare normally will cycle 8-15 days following her foaling. We have had mares cycle as soon as six days post foaling, but that is unusual. Teasing these mares is also important. Bear in mind, some mares will tease to anything on hooves, some mares will tease only to certain studs or some only to geldings. Occasionally a mare will not tease at all and will need to be palpated to ascertain where she is in her cycle. Some mares will also tease even when they are pregnant. Those mares should not be teased on a regular basis once they are confirmed in foal by ultrasound. They should have their progesterone levels tested to insure they have adequate P-4 levels to maintain pregnancy.

When your mare begins to cycle! Call the farm to notify the estimated date that you will want the shipped semen. Call the farm by 11:00 AM on the morning that you need the semen shipped. This gives us sufficient time to collect the stallion and notify Fed-Ex that we need pick up for that day. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are our collection days! If you need a shipment of an off breeding day or Saturday, there will be an additional $150.00 collection fee charge. Your vet should want to palpate your mare every day when she gets close to ovulating. He also needs to palpate 48 hours after inseminating to be sure your mare did ovulate. Some vets prefer to inseminate two days in a row, some prefer to put all semen in at one time. This is not proven to be better either way. If the semen is being shipped directly to you, notify your vet as soon as it arrives so that he can inseminate your mare as soon as possible. Do not open the canister until the vet is ready to inseminate. When your veterinarian has inseminated the mare the Hamilton-Thorne canister must be Federal Expressed back to us prepaid immediately! This ensures that we have canisters available for the next person who needs one. Once your mare has ovulated continue to tease your mare to insure that she doesn't short cycle back into heat.

On day 16 following her ovulation, have your veterinarian ultrasound for pregnancy. Notify the farm of the results. Day 21 ultrasound again to verify. The majority of embryos that are lost occur during day 16-21. Day 30 check again to be sure your mare is still in foal. Please call the farm to confirm your pregnancy.

ON FARM BREEDING

We at CHAR-O-LOT RANCH offer you the finest facilities and care for your mares. Our highly trained and experienced breeding personnel and technicians offer you conception rates second to none. We use modern A.I. and ultrasound equipment, and Foal-Alert for 24 hour monitoring of your pregnant mares.

BREEDING BARN COSTS:

PALPATIONS:
Your mare will usually be examined every other day while she is in heat and being bred, to be sure her follicle is progressing and ovulating. She will also be palpated if she does not come into season or does not show to the teasing stud (silent), on a weekly basis to be sure that we are not missing her cycle. It is also necessary to palpate prior to administering Lutalyze to insure that multiple follicles are not present. Palpation cost is $14.00. Should it be necessary to sedate your mare, for her safety, Rompun is generally used at a cost of $10.00 per injection.

ULTRASOUNDS:
Your mare will be ultra sounded for pregnancy on or about the 16th day following ovulation. Depending upon the clarity and size of the pregnancy, most mares are re-checked again at 21, 30, and 45 days to be sure all is progressing normally. Most twins can also be pinched off in this time period if necessary. The first ultrasound charge is $50.00 and each following are $18.00.

UTERINE CULTURES:
This procedure is usually done to all open mares to insure that we are not starting out with a problem in the uterus. These cultures are grown in our incubator on the farm. The cost is $20.00 for clean cultures and $30.00 for dirty cultures/sensitivities on-farm.
If you wish to have the organism identified, the laboratory has an additional charge. Should your mare's culture be dirty, normally they can be infused and bred, within the same heat cycle, with about an 80% success rate, depending upon the seriousness of the infection.
Wet mares that do not conceive with the first coverage are then cultured. Occasionally, resistant bacteria will not show up until later on in the breeding season. This is unusual but does occur. The mare must be in a good breeding cycle to get a fair and accurate culture.

INFUSIONS AND LAVAGE:
The type of antibiotic used for your mares infection depends upon the sensitivity test that is run on the bacteria. Occasionally mares will have a low grade running infection and poor uterine tone, which is when a post ovulation infusion is strongly recommended. The cost of this depends upon the type of antibiotics that are required, generally running from $25.00 to $40.00 per infusion. Dirty mares require three infusions per cycle, hoping that cycling time permits. The culture takes 48 hours to grow out in the incubator and sensitivity takes another 24-48 hours.

REGUMATE:
This is administered in the mouth at the correct dosage for your mare if necessary. We use Regumate in conjunction with mares in transition (multiple follicles or irregular cycling) and also on mares that are indicative of low progesterone levels. We put these suspect mares on Regumate until the progesterone test can be run. The cost for Regumate is $4.00 per day.

HIGH-CONCEPT 2:
This is a beta carotene supplement that has been extremely effective when dealing with older or problem mares. It is can be added to your mares feed at a cost of $1.00 per day upon request.

LUTALYZE:
This is a prostin shot that is administered to bring on heat cycles. It is not always effective, especially if your mare is shut down for Winter Anestrous. This can be used if your mare is cycling regularly and to short cycle if both ovaries are clean. Occasionally early in the year this shot will bring a mare into the transitional stage when Regumate can be used to bring them into a good breeding cycle. Cost is $12.00 per shot.

FOALING:
We use the Foal-Alert Monitor System. This is sewed onto your mare's vagina prior to her foaling. This sends a signal immediately when her water breaks and we are there to assist her as necessary.
The mare should have already been given her EWT, FLU, Strep-Vac, & West Niles booster protection shots preferably 30 days prior to foaling so the foal will get its immediate protection from the mare's antibodies. The foal is examined for any problems and iodine solution is applied to the navel along with penicillian and Foal-Discovery to boost immune system immediately upon birth. The foal is watched until it stands to nurse. Colostrum is taken from the mare's udder and checked with a Colostrometer to insure that the foal is getting adequate coverage. To be sure adequate antibodies have been passed on, an IGG blood test is pulled on the foal the next day. The mare and foal are left alone to bond in as natural a setting as is possible. The next day the mare and foal are brought in and the mare is infused with Gentocin/bi-carb/saline solution and given a low dose oxytocin injection to help her dispel any debris in her uterus as well as to assist post tone up and tighten for foal heat rebreeding. Any tears or problems are also repaired following the post foaling infusion. Depending upon the age and condition of the mare's uterus some mares are also given another oxytocin injection on day 6 or 7 following foaling. Cost of the foaling-out procedure, not including required injections is $300.00. We also have an oxygen tank available for any slow starting foals. Each new foal's navel is treated for three more days with iodine solution.

FOAL CARE:
Each foal on the premises is wormed with paste every 30 days. Strongid is used for 30 & 60 days worming and Ivomec-M is used for the 90 day worming. Strongid and Ivomec-M are alternated each month there after. Cost for this is $15.00 per worming. Ft Dodge (Innovator) W.Nile+EWT shots are given at 60 days of age, the second Innovator Booster is given at 90 days of age. The cost for this is $35.00 per injection. Creep feeders with oats and Buck-eye Foal Starter are provided in each Mare Motel stall.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFO:
Mares are all kept in the Mare Motel until they are called in foal at least 30 days. These mares are teased every day, this allows us to see any potential problem with your mare's ongoing pregnancy. Mares are turned out with others like themselves in turn-out pens every day for several hours. This better enables them to tone-up and re-breed in better condition. After being ultrasounded at 30 days with no problems, space permitting, your mare can be turned out in a field with other dry mares.
If you have an open mare that you are planning to breed early in the year, we strongly recommend that she be put up under a lighting system which will bring her out of Winter Anestrous. She should be exposed to lights for 16 hours of daylight beginning November 15th.