My ET center uses exceptional high quality recips. We are paying $1500 for recips when they are 90 days pregnant, but they keep them free until their calves are weaned in the fall. They contract females from several top commercial herds, that are 4-6 years old. The embryos are implanted and they are maintained there until fall when the calves are weaned. The ones I got last fall arrived here 6 weeks before they calved, and they were in excellent condition.
I have found that a rule of thumb is the better the recip.. the better the ET calf. Sometimes there are exceptions but I have found it doesn't usually pay to skimp on the recips you buy. If you decide to sell them at a later date, they are usually easier to sell and for more money than if they were just ordinary cows. I usually use my own cows for most of my recips, but have been buying some in the past few years. When we started to get serious about ET, I purchased a set of 45 Maine/Angus heifer calves from a reputation ranch.We maintained them until they had all had their second calves. Then I did when through a selection process and I cut 20 off the bottom and sold them. I kept the best 25 and used them for recips. They were good enough females that if they did not hold the embryo, they were good enough to produce some show steers and heifers. Many of the steers and heifers we sold in our internet club calf sales came from these females... which were also our recip base herd.
