Genetics Company Can Help Determine Gender When Breeding

Genetics Company Can Help Determine Gender When Breeding LIVESTOCK Health Mix some HeiferPlus from EMLAB Genetics with thawed bull semen when doing artificial insemination AI and you can expect 80 percent females when calves are born Go with BullPlus and that same percentage of calves will be bulls Similar results can be expected with sexing agents developed for horses hogs dogs sheep goats and even deer “Our technology works very well in horses ” says Tim Williams EMLAB Genetics “FillyPlus and ColtPlus are available for use in both frozen and fresh semen ” Apart from the thoroughbred industry which doesn’t allow AI the sexing agents have been very well accepted in the horse industry Which product is used depends on the individual breeder explains Williams “A purebred breeder tends to want females to sell to other breeders ” he says “We have one customer with a rare breed who wants only females ” Dairy industry customers tend to reflect the moods of the market adds Williams “Right now everyone wants heifers so we are selling a lot of HeiferPlus ” Dairy industry journalist Pete Hardin describes Williams a cellular geneticist as having pioneered embryo transfer technologies including freezing sexing and cloning of embryos Hardin recently provided a detailed look at EMLAB and Williams in the November 2023 issue of The Milkweed Hardin described how Williams stumbled on his sexing agents while working in Australia on in vitro fertilization “He discovered the solution of reagents with which he was treating the embryos was yielding significantly more female embryos ” wrote Hardin “One day I started removing things from the composition of reagents and discovered it produced only males ” recalls Williams “The element I removed was a catalyst for the reaction High levels tipped it toward females and low levels pushed it toward males ” It took Williams about 10 years of research to understand how it worked He says he’s still learning about the process today Acceptance of the technology has been slow according to Williams When he first brought out HeiferPlus and BullPlus people didn’t believe it could work “When people tried it they believed in it ” he says A growing segment of the business is custom semen collectors They deal mostly with beef producers who have a prize bull that’s getting old “They don’t want to lose the genetics ” explains Williams EMLAB is more than just sexing agents The company specializes in AI embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization technology for multiple livestock species Williams currently does business on five continents working with a wide variety of species from alpaca to zebu EMLAB sells its sexing agents and pregnancy tests online Prices vary by species and use whether with fresh or frozen semen or with a pre-freeze collection Contact: FARM SHOW Followup EMLAB Genetics 201 Circle Dr Arcola Ill 61910 ph 708-442-3964; order@emlabgenetics com; www emlabgenetics com

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