Doses of gonadotropins (eCG and hCG), superovulation and embryo collection in alpacas

© 1999 Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. All rights reserved. Research on the effect of different doses of gonadotropins on superovulation in Huacaya alpacas is reported. Adult estral females (3-6 years old) with ovarian folicles less than 7 mm in diameter, as ascertained by ultrasonography, were utilized . The treatments were: Tl) n=6; day O: ECG, 750 iu, im; day 5: hCG, 750 iu, mi, T2) n=6; day O: e CG, 500 iu, im; day 5: hCG, 750 iu, im and T3) n = 6; day O: ECG, 750 iu, mi ; day 5: hCG, 1000 iu, im. In each of these treatments, the hormones were injected at 07:00 hours and on day 5, the females were mated twice by intact males, at 07:00 and 17 :OO. Confirmation of ovulation and embryo collection was done by mid-ventral laparotomy, carried out as follows: A) in T1 and T2, 50% of the females were done on day 7 and the remainder on day 8 post-injection of hCG and B) in T3, all females were done on day 3, after hCG injection. The number of ovulations in T3 (12.6 ± 1.8) was significantly higher (p<.10) than in T2 (6.0± 2.8) but it did not differ from results of T1 (6.8 ±2.6) (p>.10). Embryos were collected only from females in T3 (311126). Doses of 500 and 750 ECG iu and 750 hCG iu effectively induced superovulation in alpacas, but the embryo collection method must be imporved in arder to increase the recovery rate.