Brooke Leidholt

Well, I have some good news! I finally was able to get some hands on experience this week. Whisper Kelly agreed to help me learn about this process. My goal for the week was to learn how to implant an embryo. Although we were unable to make it totally realistic, I found it very helpful. Because it is the wrong time of the year, we could not actually breed a cow. However, we could replicate it for the most part. If you were actually going to implant an embryo, you would wait until the recipient cow was seven days post heat. This allows the embryo to be put into an environment very similar to the one it was extracted from (remember you flush the embryo from the donor cow at seven days). Next, we moved onto something I actually got to take part in. We started by ultrasounding the recipient cow to deermine which ovary has ovulated. Since only one side ovulates each time they come into heat, it is important to implant the embryo on that side, or it will not work. We did not have very good...

This project is flying by! I can't believe we are already six weeks in. My goal for the week was to learn how the embryos are evaluated after they are flushed. This turned out to be a lot less extensive than I had originally thought. My biggest struggle this week was fighting the urge to nap instead of working on my project. I'm blaming it on the Thanksgiving food.  Through my research I found that each embryo is evaluated to determine the quality and level of development after they are flushed from the donor cow. Under a microscope the size, color, and texture of the embryo is examined. They are also looked at on the cellular level. Compactness and regularity are two of the main components evaluated. Based on these observations, the embryos are graded 1-4. One is excellent and four is dead or unviable. Grade one embryos are the prime candidates for freezing, but grade twos are sometimes also used. However, the pregnancy rates are usually lowered if grade two embryos are used....

Well, there seems to be a recurring theme present when it comes to my genius hour. Procrastinating is definitely my weakness. I knew we were going to be in Bozeman this week, so what did I plan to do? Not my blog! So, here I am writing it between competitions. This week I learned about the actual flushing of the embryos. This takes place seven days after the donor cow comes into heat. For ease of understandimg I'm going to simplify things a little. A catheter is inserted just past the opening of the cervix and into the uterus. The end of the catheter outside of the cow has a Y-connector so that there can be both an inflow and outflow. Normal saline solution is added to the uterus and is agitated rectally to stir up the embryos. The fluid is then emptied from the uterus, and the embryos are filtered out. This process is repeated five to ten times to ensure all the embryos have been collected. About one liter of fluid is needed for this process. After they are filtered out, the embr...

Well everyone, this week has been hectic to say the least! Apparently missing almost an entire week of school puts you a little ways behind. However, I managed to complete another week of my project. My goal this week was to learn how artificial insemination is used to breed the eggs that we superovulated the cow to obtain. While I mostly worked on this in bits and pieces, I still was able to get a good comparison between regular artificial insemination, and how it relates to an embryo transfer. The most important things to consider at this point in the process is what semen you want to use. The whole objective of this process is to get genetically superior offspring, so it would make sense to choose a bull that upholds the characteristics you desire. While other semen may be cheaper, a higher quality will yield better results for your operation. Artificial insemination is preformed after estrus or standing heat is observed. Because there will be more eggs to fertilize, the cow is u...

This week I am posting my blog a little early as I will be at the National FFA Convention when they are due. This has thrown me a little off schedule, but I had a long week to make up for it. My goal this week was to explore the superovulation of the donor cow. I didn't quite get to research as in-depth as I wanted, because this step proved to be a lot less complex than I imagined. Superovulation is the process that allows the cow to release multiple eggs at a single estrus. This is induced with a series of shots. Most people give a follicle-stimulating hormone twice daily for four days. On the final day a prostaglandin injection is given that causes ovulation to occur. Most cows yield about four or five transferable eggs. This means that the egg is healthy, undamaged, and bred (later in the process). As cows are repeatedly superovulated, they will have a lower yield. My goal next week is to study the insemination of the eggs. I think this will be interesting because I will be ...

Just as a reminder, I am studying how to flush and implant an embryo in cattle. My goal this week was to determine how donor and recipient cows are chosen for this process. I found it easiest to focus on each separately because different characteristics are needed. The most difficult thing I faced this week was procrastination. As many of you know, I am very good at procrastinating pretty much everything, but I'm hoping this project will help me with that. As for my progress, I started the week by determining what kind of qualities a donor cow would need to posses. The biggest thing I found is that they need to exemplify the characteristics you want in your herd. There are a ton of different things different producers are looking for to improve their operation, and these are just a few examples. If a dairy was looking to improve their milk production, then they would choose donors that are very good milkers. If someone was looking to breed elite show calves, then they would take...

For my genius hour project I am going to learn how to flush and implant an embryo in cows. I chose to research this because I am almost certain that I will be studying Animal Science as I continue my education, and this would only benefit me as I move forward. I also really enjoy all things cattle related, especially reproduction. Lately, I have been hearing more and more about this process, so I decided genius hour would be a great opportunity to learn more about this topic. My first week included a Shark Tank pitch to the class. This was a very short presentation that we completed to begin our genius hour projects. In this introduction we included what we were going to do, why we chose our project, our process, and how we would determine if our projects were a success. I found this to be a cool way to somewhat formally announce what each of us are doing for our project. The most challenging part of this, for me, was creating my process. I was uncertain how to break down everythin...