Transcervical embryo collection in Boer goats

Two experiments were conducted, aimed at improving the practicability of the method for transcervical embryo collection in Boer goats described by Pereira et al. [Pereira, R.J.T.A., Sohnrey, B., Holtz, W., 1998. J. Anim. Sci. 76, 360-363]. Invention of a hammock-like restraining device, use of a wider-bore flushing catheter and a modified flushing mode contributed toward this end. The importance of a luteolytic prostaglandin F(2alpha)-treatment [Pereira et al., 1998] was confirmed. In Experiment 1, administration of PGF(2alpha) 8h before does are flushed, increased the recovery rate from 43 to 79% (P<0.05). Advancing the PG F(2alpha)-treatment to 24h before flushing was instrumental in further enhancing embryo recovery rate. The amount of time required for flushing was reduced by about 20min (P<0.05) and the number of embryos recovered from the first 10 out of 30 flushes amounted to more than 80%, compared to 50% (P<0.05) when treating 8h before flushing. Administration of 1IU of oxytocin at the onset of flushing did not have any significant effect. When applying the findings of this investigation, the time required for flushing may be reduced from about 4h [Pereira et al., 1998] to less than 45min per doe and the required number of person involved decreased from four to two persons.