Upon arriving at the Lazy
L Ranch in Livingston, AL, all determine our
donor,
Kattie,
should be flushed immediately after lunch
since she bred late, late in the evening.
Three of Jeff Latham's donors would be flushed
first.
The first doe produced 26 embryos. Shortly
thereafter was when we learned of a possibility
we had not considered: not all the recipients
would work! If the recipient had not come into
estrus at the same time (approximately) as the
donor, her system would not accept the fertilized
egg. We also learned we should have had a "tease"
buck in with our recipients to determine when
they came into heat. (If no "tease"
buck available, we should have had our bucks
in a pen near the recipients to stimulate them.)
Following are the steps of the flush procedure:
1. The donor doe is given a shot in the neck
to put her to sleep. It takes a few minutes
for the drug to take effect.
2. Once the donor becomes woozy, two or three
strong individuals lift her onto a gurney and
strap down her legs.
3. Her stomach is shaved (with a number 10
blade). As the stomach is being shaved, the
hair is being sucked into the vacuum to insure
no stray hairs are left to contaminate the surgical
area.
4. Once the doe's stomach is shaved, the area
must be washed three times in an iodine/benadine
solution.
5. She is now ready for surgery. The donor
doe is wheeled into the surgical theater, then
her gurney is locked into position with her
back feet in the air and her head hanging down
to the floor.
6. The embryologist, John Edwards (one
of only 8 goat embryologists in the US),
makes two small holes approximately 3 inches
below her udders. He pumps air into one
of the holes to enable him to get a clear
sight. He then puts a tiny lighted scope
in the hole closest to him and shines a
tiny light into the second hole. This enables
him to have a clear view of the embryos.
7. In Kattie's case, the embryologist was able
to spot 10 embryos. Success!!
8. The next step was to make a one-inch slit
so he could totally remove her fallopian tubes.
The tiny amount of blood caused by the slit
is stopped with a piece of sterile gauze.
9. John inserts a tube with a clear chemical
solution into the tip of the right fallopian
tube and carefully flushes the embryos into
a bowl with the same solution that his very
capable assistance (Jackie, his wife) is holding.
He then flushes the other side.
10. Jackie takes the solution with the embryos
to the microscope and analyses them for viability.
(In this case, only 8 of the 11 collected embryos
were usable for transplant. One was not formed
and the other two were not fertilized.)
11. John, in the meantime, returns the fallopian
tubes to their original position.
12. Next he stitches the inter layer of skin
(4 stitches) then, with Jackie's assistance,
he stitches the outer skin with 4 additional
stitches.
13. The donor is removed from the operating
room, given 10 cc of penicillin G and her incisions
are sprayed liberally with iodine. She also
receives a shot (1 cc) of lutylase.
14. The donor is removed from the gurney, awakened,
and moved into a recovery pen.
15. While the doe is being moved to recovery,
the first recipient (after being sedated, shaved,
and sanitized) is wheeled into surgery –
the preparation procedure identical to that
of the donor. As with the donor, a hole is made
to check to see if she has been in heat within
the appropriate time period. If estrus is not
immediately apparent, a second hole is made
so the embryologist can move the tubes for a
better look for the little red spot that indicates
she has been in recent estrus. (In our case,
the first two recipients didn't work, and we
were beginning to get really worried. Fortunately
the next four recipients were properly synchronized
with the donor.)
16. Once a correctly synchronized recipient
is identified, a small incision is made.
17. Jackie carefully puts two embryos into
a special syringe that John then uses to insert
into the right fallopian tube of the recipient.
Both embryos (or in the case of some of the
earlier procedures three embryos) go into the
same side.
18. The recipient is then sutured, taken out
of the surgical room and moved to the recovery
pen after getting her incisions sprayed with
iodine and getting a shot of penicillin. As
one recipient is being removed, the next is
moved into surgery – an assembly line
operation.
Prior to going to Livingston, we made out an
order that we would use our recipient does depending
on how many embryos Kattie produced. At the
bottom of the list were two does we had borrowed
from Damon for the occasion. Next from the bottom
were two fullbloods (Faith and Louise). Fifth
from the bottom of our list was the doe (Corina)
who had gotten sick shortly after we inserted
her CIDR; she had never seemed to fully recover.
Tops on our list were the two does (Eileen and
Holly) we had purchased specifically to use
as recipients. Xenia (a 15/16 doe), Matilda
(a 7/8 doe), Dot (a 7/8 doe), and Koko (a 15/16
doe) rounded out the top six; these are does
we have grown – all excellent mothers!
After Eileen and Holly didn't work, we used
Xenia, Matilda, Dot, and Koko for Kattie's eight
embryos. Jeff, by this time, was running short
of recipients; so we agreed to let him use our
remaining five does. The first one that went
in was Corina, and she didn't work. But the
last four were properly synchronized and are
currently carrying the embryos out of Hilltop
Mercedes and Jeff's buck, Trouble.
We had been told in advance that the donor,
Kattie, would have to remain at the Lazy L for
at least two weeks to recover. Jarring as a
result of a bumpy road could easily cause her
stitches to rupture. Since Jeff had the room,
we elected to leave our recipients at the Lazy
L for a couple weeks too. (Originally we were
going to load them onto the trailer as soon
as the procedure was completed and allow them
to recover on the 5-hour trip back to Tennessee.)
Leaving the does will allow them a better opportunity
to "settle."
Only three goats, Eileen, Holly, and Corina
made the trip back to Tennessee.
Embryo
Transfer – (UNINTENDED STEP 5) The
Adventure of the Runaway Goats
