Embryo Transfer :: Alpaca Experience

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Welcome to Waiheke Alpaca Stud>Embryo Transfer

Leading New Zealand in Embryo Transfer

Waiheke Alpaca continues to have unprecedented success utlitsing Embryo Transfer which is a revolutionary breeding technique developed specifically for camelids by Dr Jane Vaughan and Dr David Hopkins in Australia. We have Embryos for sale from a wide range of our stud males and donor females, and also Embryo Transfer progeny for sale which showcase some of the best of our breeding program, feel free to visit the Alpacas For Sale page. In addition we have champion ET progeny now standing at stud.

Embryo transfer (ET) is the process by which embryos are harvested from elite breeding females and transferred into less valuable females for incubation and nurturing.
Each donor female is mated naturally by a stud male, resulting in the development of an embryo, which can be harvested from the uterus between 6-8 days after mating. Donor females are lightly sedated and flushed non-surgically. Embryos are transferred into reproductively-sound recipient females of lesser genetic merit. The average 'flush rate' is 3 embryos, however it is not uncommon to produce no viable embryos or even flush double figures. We once had 13 from one female.

The donor female can then be mated and flushed in subsequent weeks to allow more embryo collections and transfers. This enables us to experience a life-time of cria in as little as one or two years. Embryo transfer exploits the complementary genetic merits of elite male and female alpacas and has the potential for major impact in genetic improvement.

Embryo Transfer is practised extensively in Australia however there have only been a handful of breeders in New Zealand who have successfully produced progeny from an ET program. Waiheke Alpaca is proudly leading New Zealand in Embryo Transfer.