Tailored Breeding Program
Breeding programs are designed to suit mare owners’ specific requests, with the centre offering a choice of natural service preparation, chilled or frozen semen insemination. Following joining, there is then an option to transfer embryos to recipient mares so as to rebreed or keep a mare performing.
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Embryo transfer programs have become extremely popular in recent years. The ability to breed offspring from a mare in a single season, while still allowing the mare to continue in her performance area, provides mare owners with genetic security. ET at MERC has now developed to become an affordable option for mare owners to consider in their breeding plans and avoids having to wait until retirement to start the next generation.
Semen Collection
Mid North Coast Equine Reproduction Centre (MERC) collects several stallions on a routine basis for frozen semen storage. This work is normally completed in September and February. Stallions are either housed at MERC or walked on daily as required for collection. Stallions are teased and then collected using an artificial vagina before the ejaculate is examined and then processed into insemination doses.
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MERC only collects for chilled semen shipment by prior arrangement. These days mare breeding work dominates October, November and December and makes organisation & preparation of chilled semen for overnight freight almost impossible. The reliability of overnight freight, particularly interstate has become very fickle and frustrating so our preference is always to prepare and store good quality frozen semen for dispatch from storage centres as required.
In order to enquire about semen collection at MERC for either frozen semen or chilled semen select the appropriate online form from this website and submit it then contact Andrew or Sheridan. All bookings are made in advance of collection week and orders are confirmed by phone contact with Andrew 0429 329 097.
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Collection Fees. (Inclusive of G.S.T.).
Semen collection, processing & extension (by prior arrangement only) $395
Overnight freight $ quoted depending on delivery address.
Semen Freezing normally works out between $100 & $250 per dose of semen once all costs are considered and is very dependant on the stallions ejaculate characteristics.
Navigate to the MERC Fees document to see a full breakdown of fees & inclusions
Mare Insemination Process
The equine insemination process involves timing the delivery of the semen to the mare’s uterine horn adjacent her oviduct to coincide with the best time to maximise conception. Whether it is a natural service (Stallion serving the mare) or insemination with chilled or frozen semen, the same principles apply.
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Mares are prepared by monitoring their ovarian cycle through their “heat” or oestrus period. During this time, they grow and eventually ovulate a follicle from their ovary. The ovum released at ovulation is then fertilised by semen in the mare’s oviduct to form the embryo.
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Mid North Coast Equine Reproduction Centre (MERC) aims to maximise the success of each insemination or natural service by managing the mare’s cycle and the insemination time to best suit the particular needs of the breeding program of an individual mare.
MERC also offers breeding services for mares that have been problem breeders. These mares are admitted and examined, and specific programs are put in place to correct problems and improve fertility.
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Booking & Fees
Mare owners need to select their stallion and book in with MERC by using the online mare booking form. After this is done, Andrew will take care of the rest. He manages the mare, organises freight and collection of semen, inseminates the mare at the appropriate time, and checks that the mare ends her cycle in the best possible shape to conceive. The follow-up pregnancy scans at 16 and 45 days are also organised for you and are all part of a set fee for breeding the mare.
Routine Breeding Fees (Inclusive of GST) include all scans, ovulatory drugs, insemination, post-insemination treatments and pregnancy scans. Prices do not vary with the number of scans or drugs used in a cycle but are set so our clients know what to budget for prior to the commencement of their breeding program. Additional costs for a mare owner which are external to MERC are semen collection and semen freight, depending on their breeding contracts.
Insemination - $800 per cycle. (Chilled, Frozen, or Fresh Semen or preparation for natural service) Includes GST.
Agistment - $25 per day, per mare. $40 per day for individual pens (when available)
Problem mares – prices vary depending on assessment.
Navigate to the MERC Fees tab to see a full breakdown of fees and inclusions.
Equine Embryo Transfer Programs
Equine embryo transfer programs have become extremely popular in recent years. The ability to breed offspring from a mare in a single season while still allowing the mare to continue in her performance area provides mare owners with genetic security. ET at Mid North Coast Equine Reproduction Centre (MERC) has now developed to become an affordable option for mare owners to consider in their breeding plans and avoids having to wait until retirement to start the next generation.
Mares programmed for embryo transfer are bred according to the owner's requests by insemination or natural service. This is the exact same process as for those mares that are carrying their own progeny, except that the recipient herd is monitored according to the donor mare’s cycle to help select possible recipient or carrier mares.
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Approximately seven days after ovulation, the donor mare has her uterus “flushed” to recover the embryo. The embryo is then categorised, washed and prepared for transfer in the MERC laboratory before being transferred to a recipient mare that has been selected specifically for that embryo. In some programs, cryopreservation or freezing of that embryo may be preferred to fresh transfer.
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The recipient mare is then scanned weekly until she is 42 days pregnant, at which time she is leased to the embryo owner until she weans the foal. She is then returned to MERC to rejoin the recipient herd.
The donor mare can be bred multiple times in a season, with some mares capable of producing an embryo every two weeks.
Mare owners have the option of breeding several times to the same stallion or of using a variety of stallions to produce a range of progeny in the same season. This allows the mare owner to guarantee the bloodlines of the mare, not having to wait until the mare finishes competition or performance in order to carry a foal.
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Embryo Transfer Program Fees
Embryo Transfer Programs are charged step by step through the breed cycle.
It is $800 to breed the mare, $660 to flush the mare, $550 to transfer an embryo and $3,740 to lease a recipient mare. (All prices include G.S.T.). Donor mare agistment is $25 per day.
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Options include preparation of a clients own recip $550 per cycle & cryopreservation of an embryo $440.
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The first 35 days of agistment for the recipient, including weekly pregnancy scans, are included.
A deposit of $5,000 is payable before commencement of the program.
Navigate to the MERC Fees tab to see a full breakdown of fees and inclusions.
Booking & Fees
Mare owners need to select their stallion and book in with MERC by using the online mare booking form. After this is done, Andrew will take care of the rest. He manages the mare, organises freight and collection of semen, inseminates the mare at the appropriate time, and checks that the mare ends her cycle in the best possible shape to conceive. The follow-up pregnancy scans at 16 and 45 days are also organised for you and are all part of a set fee for breeding the mare.
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You can view a full breakdown of fees and inclusions on our MERC Fees page.
