heiferplus/bullplus

[red]

Since we've had several disscussions on the, I thought I'd post a piece from Cattlevisions
for more info go to:
http://www.cattlevisions.com/bullplus
http://www.cattlevisions.com/heiferplus

HEIFERPLUS™ PRODUCT DETAILS 


HEIFERPLUS in a new semen sexing agent. Simple to use, everything you need for sexing a single straw of frozen bull semen is contained within the vial. Semen is thawed as usual and then mixed in the HEIFERPLUS vial. Incubate for 20 minutes and the sexed semen is ready for insemination.

How does it work? The sexing process "stimulates" the motility of the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm while "slowing" the motility of the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm. When inseminated, the female sperm arrive at the point of fertilization (ovum) before the male sperm. The result is more ova fertilized by the X-bearing sperm... producing more heifer calves.

Are pregnancy rates affected? Our research team and the experience of cattle producers using HEIFERPLUS have shown that pregnancy rates are excellent using this product. Many producers are reporting an 5-10% increase in conception rates!

Handling Instructions: Protect from light, heat, and moisture during storage and transport. We recommend transporting the product in a cool, insulated container.

Storage: Store in refrigerator (5°C) for up to 1 year. For long-term storage, keep in the freezer (at or below -20°C) until use.

Expiration date: HEIFERPLUS is a biopharmaceutical agent that is warranted from expiration for at least 2 years from date of manufacture. Improper handling or storage will void this warrant.



BULLPLUS™ PRODUCT DETAILS


BULLPLUS in a new semen sexing kit. Sexing of semen will never be easier. Everything needed for sexing a single straw of semen is freeze-dried in the mixing vial. It can be used with any bull or any frozen semen you already have in the tank. Semen is thawed as usual and mixed in the BULLPLUS vial. Incubate for 20 minutes and the sexed semen is ready for insemination.

How does it work? BULLPLUS works by "accelerating" the motility of only the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm while "reducing" the motility of the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm. As a result, the male sperm arrive at the point of fertilization ahead of the female sperm. More ovum are then fertilized by the male sperm resulting in a higher percentage of males calves. There is no need to sort sperm mechanically; the gender-biased sperm are sorted in the reproductive tract of the cow.

Are pregnancy rates affected? Conception rates are excellent using BULLPLUS. Many producers are reporting improved conception rates!

Handling: Keep away from heat, moisture, and bright sunlight. We recommend transporting in a cool, insulated carton.

Storage conditions: Store in refrigerator (5°C) for up to 1 year. For long-term storage, keep in the freezer (at or below -20°C) until use.

Expiration Date: This product is a biopharmaceutical agent that is warranted from expiration for 2 years from the date of manufacture. Improper handling and storage will void this warrant.

 

[Cowboy]

Well, I promised I would reply to this topic once we had flushed a cow to Hfr PLus treated semen. The results -- with only one cow done so far -- and a Low LIne donor that was flushed many times prior to this in several places, was not good.

The donor had been done once by me here -- she produced 4 eggs and were all good, not tons of numbers, but they were all number one's and we froze them all.

This flush today, with a slightly higher dose rate, produced 9 eggs. Semen was evaluated prior to treatment and I gave it about a 60-70% live rate -- good semen on initial inspection.

I treated the semen the reccomended way -- incubated it for 20 minutes (My 1st reaction to that was bad -- today's semen in a nut shell is already challenged from several of the more prominent places!), then reloaded the straws. About 90% of the solution was able to be recovered from the vial, but was enough to not cause a problem there.

Went to the cow as normal, used 2 units of the treated semen. On recovery today -- "ALL" the eggs were unfertile -- and for those that know me, that NEVER happens here. To say I was irritated would be less than adequate -- the true level of irrititation at this result CAN NOT be publicly printed! Nuf said there.

I am going to do several more shortly -- on some new and already seasoned donors, so I will leave the final judement for another day. One cow is not enough of a test to see the whole picture, but initially -- I am not impressed. I guess time will tell, and I sincerely hope ALL of you have better luck than we just did today. This is a very important little cow, sure she may need bred as she is getting stale, but still -- to go from 100% to 0% percent doesn't set well with me. It costs the same to flush her with 4 good ones as it did to get 9  bad ones -- sorry to say.

Well, there you have it -- this product will most likely be a very good thing for A-Iing your cows, but I am not sold on it so far from a donor standpoint! Call me old fashioned if you will, but I am darn sure fussy -- and set in my ways.

Will keep you all posted as things go forward!

Terry

 

[rmbcows]

Here is an article I found that was NOT published by the makers of this product.  Don't think I'll be using it in the near future....

http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=RDv20n1Ab260

 

[Cowboy]

After reading the article above, my opinion is now even worse. The bottom line of the article presented, was that there was no significant difference in hfrs produced form the treated semen. They indicated that superovulated dairy cows DID produce good embryos, so that is a plus. Meybe my deal today was atypical, and this little cow just needs to have a calf after 9 flushes over the last 2 years  (2 done here)

They do talk to us if we can listen, and I mentioned to them that it would not be long before she needs bred after the first flush. I am still shocked at the result however, I felt the semen was of good quality -- and I did look at it under the scope before and after treatment.

Question being -- how can they (Makers) advertise a significant increase in hfr p regnancies and not have it be so?? The article clearly showed the exact opposite! The untreated control group actually have MORE female pregnancies than the treated ones did. This would not be funny if it happened here to me, I would expect the results to at least be close to what is being advertised. Confused????

Talked to the owners of the cow, and they agree -  they won't experiment with any more of thier Low Lines until more evidence is generated around the industry!

I am all ears people -- if and when you get pregnancies from this treatment -- let us hear about them, do some unltrasound work at the 55-60 day level and let's see how the hfr ratio looks. Today -- ANY extra cost with little result is too much to pay -- another 12 dollars per  unit ( About 18 dollars per pregnancy) is to much if it does not yield the desired results.

Best of luck to all who uses it -- the jury is still out!

Terry

 

[red]

here is some info from www.cattle.com One of my best sources of up to date information.

260 EFFECTIVENESS OF A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE POST-THAW BOVINE SEMEN SEXING KIT IN BOTH MULTIPLE-AND SINGLE-OVULATING COWS

E. Curry, S. L. Pratt, D. Lapin and J. R. Gibbons

Abstract

Currently, there is no inexpensive method for commercially separating X- and Y-bearing bovine sperm cells. Because dairy heifer calves are significantly more valuable than bull calves, a reliable method of swaying the bovine sex ratio in favor of females is desirable in the dairy industry. The objective of these experiments was to determine the efficacy of a commercially available post-thaw semen sexing kit, HeiferPlus™ (Emlab Genetics, Arcola, IL, USA), which claims to sway the bovine sex ratio in favor of female calves. Three trials included the insemination of hyperstimulated cows with control or HeiferPlus (HP)-treated semen, nonsurgical embryo collection on Day 7, and a novel combined PCR/Southern blot assay to determine sex. Overall, 271 embryos were collected and a sex was assigned to 265 of them. Chi-square analysis showed that the control group produced a significantly higher proportion (P < 0.005) of female embryos than the HP group (65.0% and 43.0%, respectively). There was no difference in the proportion of transferable versus degenerate embryos, and ANOVA showed no difference in the number of ovulations, embryos, and unfertilized oocytes collected in the control versus the HP groups. Another trial involved the artificial insemination of cows synchronized via OvSynch® (ABS Global, Deforest, WI, USA) followed by fetal sexing via ultrasonography between Days 55 and 58. Of the 152 cows inseminated, 51.3% were pregnant at Day 35. Of the cows inseminated with HP-treated semen, 54.5% became pregnant and 48.0% of the controls were pregnant. HP-treated cows resulted in 54.8% male (23/42) and 45.2% female (19/42) fetuses. Control cows had 52.8% male (19/36) and 47.2% female (17/36) fetuses at 58 days of gestation. Calving records confirmed the ultrasound sexing data and showed that three controls and one HP calf died after 58 days of gestation, and one control and one HP calf died within 2 weeks following birth. Chi-square analysis showed no significant difference in the sex ratio. Semen from six bulls was used in this trial, and pregnancy rates among bulls did not differ (P > 0.05). Computer-assisted semen analysis showed no significant difference in motility or progressive forward motility of control versus HP-treated sperm in any of the bulls. Results of these studies indicated that the HeiferPlus semen sexing kit did not sway the sex ratio in favor of females in either multiple- or single-ovulating cows. In the hyperstimulated cows, the control group actually produced a significantly higher proportion of female embryos than the HP group. No differences in embryo production or embryo grade were observed. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of semen incubation or manipulation on the sex ratio of cattle.

 

[JSchroeder]

Thanks but that's not actually on my site, it's just a link to the same article posted above.

 

[red]

thanks Jeff.

It was from www.cattletoday.com

Red

 

[Matriarchy Farms]

here is some info from www.cattle.com One of my best sources of up to date information.

260 EFFECTIVENESS OF A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE POST-THAW BOVINE SEMEN SEXING KIT IN BOTH MULTIPLE-AND SINGLE-OVULATING COWS

E. Curry, S. L. Pratt, D. Lapin and J. R. Gibbons

Abstract

Currently, there is no inexpensive method for commercially separating X- and Y-bearing bovine sperm cells. Because dairy heifer calves are significantly more valuable than bull calves, a reliable method of swaying the bovine sex ratio in favor of females is desirable in the dairy industry. The objective of these experiments was to determine the efficacy of a commercially available post-thaw semen sexing kit, HeiferPlus™ (Emlab Genetics, Arcola, IL, USA), which claims to sway the bovine sex ratio in favor of female calves. Three trials included the insemination of hyperstimulated cows with control or HeiferPlus (HP)-treated semen, nonsurgical embryo collection on Day 7, and a novel combined PCR/Southern blot assay to determine sex. Overall, 271 embryos were collected and a sex was assigned to 265 of them. Chi-square analysis showed that the control group produced a significantly higher proportion (P < 0.005) of female embryos than the HP group (65.0% and 43.0%, respectively). There was no difference in the proportion of transferable versus degenerate embryos, and ANOVA showed no difference in the number of ovulations, embryos, and unfertilized oocytes collected in the control versus the HP groups. Another trial involved the artificial insemination of cows synchronized via OvSynch® (ABS Global, Deforest, WI, USA) followed by fetal sexing via ultrasonography between Days 55 and 58. Of the 152 cows inseminated, 51.3% were pregnant at Day 35. Of the cows inseminated with HP-treated semen, 54.5% became pregnant and 48.0% of the controls were pregnant. HP-treated cows resulted in 54.8% male (23/42) and 45.2% female (19/42) fetuses. Control cows had 52.8% male (19/36) and 47.2% female (17/36) fetuses at 58 days of gestation. Calving records confirmed the ultrasound sexing data and showed that three controls and one HP calf died after 58 days of gestation, and one control and one HP calf died within 2 weeks following birth. Chi-square analysis showed no significant difference in the sex ratio. Semen from six bulls was used in this trial, and pregnancy rates among bulls did not differ (P > 0.05). Computer-assisted semen analysis showed no significant difference in motility or progressive forward motility of control versus HP-treated sperm in any of the bulls. Results of these studies indicated that the HeiferPlus semen sexing kit did not sway the sex ratio in favor of females in either multiple- or single-ovulating cows. In the hyperstimulated cows, the control group actually produced a significantly higher proportion of female embryos than the HP group. No differences in embryo production or embryo grade were observed. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of semen incubation or manipulation on the sex ratio of cattle.

Did you see that one of the major trials was funded by ABS? Of course they dont want this product to work, they'll lose money on their investment of the machine that seperates the X and Y sperm cells.

 

[Show Heifer]

I can't remember the article, but on several other boards someone had posted a independant test on this product (maybe a month ago) and they found it not only didn't work, but actually came out the wrong way.

 

[red]

I can't remember the article, but on several other boards someone had posted a independant test on this product (maybe a month ago) and they found it not only didn't work, but actually came out the wrong way.

the link to the article you mentioned is posted above by RMB & I posted the entire article also.

Red