Working with semen and embryo records

**As a reminder, the semen area will be available on all plans, but the embryo area will only be available on registered plans.

Check Account Settings to ensure the visibility of Semen and Embryo Inventories

Users will first need to be sure the Show Semen Inventory and Show Embryo Inventory is turned on (checkmark showing in checkbox) at My Account > Account Settings > Cattle Records > Cattle Record Areas > place the checkmark as needed to show each area > scroll to the bottom to click on Update Account.

Once activated, semen and embryos may be found by clicking on the Cattle Tab > select the Semen or Embryo button

Create a tank for frozen semen and embryo storage

If you don't already have a tank set up, click on either Semen or Embryos > New Tank > give it a name with options to state its location or add comments > Create Tank.  You can have one tank with both semen and embryos in it.  It will show in both the semen and embryo sections.

Adding semen inventory records

Select the Semen button > select the New Semen Record button > you can now add the details for the new semen.  The Sire is the only required field as that will then link this straw to his individual record.

You may also view semen on a particular bull's individual record under the semen tab.  The individual bull record area is also where you would mark semen as sold.  Selling Semen and Embryos

If semen is purchased and the bull is not in your herd, you will need to create the bull animal record, make him a Reference status bull, in order for the bull to be shown as a sire of his calves in your herd.

If a semen straw was noted to be in a tank and is then used or sold, you will then have to manually subtract that straw from the tank to keep your semen straw count accurate.  Click on the Semen button > select the appropriate sire or tank (you can edit from either place) > select the tank or the bull > click the green link for Collection Code/Bull > Edit > update the number of Units > Update Semen.

Recording an individual Embryo

Start at the donor cow's individual record page. Click the Embryo tab > scroll to the bottom of the page > click New Embryo > complete the data entry as fully as possible > Create Embryo.  This will be the method used if you only have a few single embryos to add.  

Note: While you are able to create an individual embryo record, we do recommend using the flush option described below to create embryos in bulk noting them as either transferred to a recipient cow or frozen and stored in a tank.

Recording flush records for the donor cow and creating embryos in bulk

Click the donor’s Embryo tab > click on New Flush. 

Complete the information on the Add New Flush screen as fully as possible. Note: While it is not a required field, entering a number in either the Transferred and/or the Frozen entry line will determine how many embryos you are able to bulk create on the following screen.

After clicking on Create Flush another page will appear allowing you to record/bulk create the embryos. 

As you create embryos, Embryo Number refers to the individual identification number assigned to the embryo at the time of collection and is used to identify each individual embryo. The embryo number will help you with identification when creating a breeding record for a recipient cow or in the Embryos tab area of Tanks in the case of frozen embryos or under the Embryo area on a donor cow's Breeding tab. It is NOT a total count of the embryos that have those matching characteristics.

Embryo Transfer Breeding - Individual basis

When Embryo Transfer Breeding is done on an individual basis, the steps to putting an Embryo into a recipient cow must be done as shown above when the donor cow is flushed and embryos are created or later as a breeding from that recipient cow's individual record. 

Go to the recipient cow's individual page. Here you can either click Add New Activity OR the Breeding tab then click New Breeding > Method = Embryo Transfer > Complete the rest of the fields as needed (Breeding Date is required).  

The Embryo field is a drop-down that displays all the embryo numbers currently created in your account.  Once you select the correct embryo and click Create Breeding, that embryo will no longer be available for use in another cow nor will it be visible as a frozen Embryo in an embryo tank.

Using Group Update to Move embryos to another tank, transfer to multiple recips, sell or delete embryos

Select  your Embryo button from the Cattle Tab > Go to the tank where your embryos are located > select the embryos that were transferred and then click on Update Selected Embryos

The group update menu will appear and you will be able to select what function you would like to perform with those selected embryos. 

Watch a short How-To video