North Queensland Specialist Equine Service offers a wide range of equine reproduction services including pre-breeding examinations of mares and stallions, semen collection, artificial insemination and North Queensland’s only equine embryo transfer service.
Mare Services
- Artificial insemination (AI) with chilled or frozen semen gives you access to stallions from overseas as well as Australia wide. An added benefit is breeding your mare close to home in a safe well managed environment.
- Prebreeding or fertility examinations should be carried out on any mare with a history of reproductive problems. Indentifying the cause of poor fertility allows you to make an informed decision about breeding your mare.
- Embryo transfer offers you the option to continue competing a young mare while rearing her foal. Embryos can be chilled and transported for short periods in a similar manner to chilled semen. They can also be frozen for longer term storage or till a suitable donor becomes available.
- Hystereoscopic and low dose insemination. Small doses of semen, usually frozen, can be inseminated directly onto the oviductal papilla, potentially increasing the number of pregnancies from a single dose of semen. Hystereoscopic examination is also used to assess uterine adhesions, scarring and masses affecting the mares fertility.
- Uterine biopsy and cytology allow evaluation of the health of the endometrium, the uterine lining, and indentification of changes affecting the mare’s fertility.
- Pregnant mare management. Mares with a history of aborting or delivering a sick immature foal are candidates for intensive management. A series of regular ultrasound examinations and hormonal tests are carried out to monitor the health of the uterus, placenta and unborn foal. If necessary treatment can be carried out to increase the chances of delivering a healthy foal.
Stallion Services
- Semen collection and evaluation. Semen may be collected for evaluation of fertility, artificial insemination either on site or for transport as chilled semen.
- Stallion training for collection with an artificial vagina and on a phantom mount. Many stallions can be collected safely on a teaser mare but a phantom mount allows increased safety and versatility as an on heat mare isn’t necessary.
- Semen freezing. Stallion semen can be collected and frozen for storage, transport and future use. Sperm survival after freezing and thawing varies considerably between stallions so a collection and test freeze is carried out first to assess “freezeability”.
