Author:
Paul Taylor
Taylor Llamas, Bozeman, Montana, United States

Date of Publication:
unknown

Publication:
Taylor Llamas

Excerpt:
In the summer of 1998 a man named Bob Godke phoned our ranch in Montana. He said he had heard we knew how to do embryo transfer in the South American camelids. Godke, it turned out, was Dr. Robert Godke, Professor of Reproductive Physiology at LSU and world famous authority on advanced reproduction techniques. He was in Montana for a fly fishing holiday and decided to track down the rumor he heard at a meeting of the International Embryo Transfer Society (of which he is a past President).

Godke came to the Taylor Ranch for an afternoon of conversation which led to demonstrations and eventually to a full-blown cooperative project between LSU and the Taylors. He was quick to admit that he simply had not believed reports that an unpublished layman llama breeder, without any formal training in advanced reproduction, was doing embryo transfer in llamas with a high rate of success. Nobody else in the world had recorded more than a few successful embryo transfers in the lamas (less than 10 in total) and we were claiming more than one hundred live births.

The success of our llama embryo transfer program is due to a team effort. My wife, Sally, does most of the actual palpations, ultrasound scans and embryo flushes and transfers while I assist and take notes. Bob Godke realized the importance of this and began to refer to Sally as my “secret weapon". Teamwork, at least two people working closely together to manage the animals, do the technical work and keep accurate records, is essential for successful embryo transfer in camelids. Luckily for me, Sally enjoys this work and is very good at it.

Read the rest of the article: http://taylorllamas.com/ReproStory.html