Finding an Embryo on the Embryo Management Screen

Created by Jarrett Woodall, Modified on Fri, 17 Jul at 9:48 AM by Jarrett Woodall

Finding an Embryo on the Embryo Management Screen

The Embryo Management screen organizes embryos in two views: Embryo Inventory and Flush Records. If an embryo is not appearing, the most common cause is the active status filter. This article explains how to locate any embryo regardless of its status.

Navigating to Embryo Management

From the main menu, go to Reproduction.
Select Embryo Management.
The screen opens on the Embryo Inventory view by default.

The Status Filter (Most Common Reason an Embryo Is Missing)

The Embryo Inventory view defaults to showing only embryos with a status of In Storage. If you are looking for an embryo that has already been transferred to a recipient or marked as discarded, it will not appear until you change the filter.

In the Embryo Inventory view, locate the Status drop-down near the top of the list.
Change the filter to match what you are looking for:
- All — Shows every embryo regardless of status. Use this when you are not sure of the embryo’s current status.
- In Storage — (Default) Only embryos currently held in a semen tank.
- Transferred — Embryos that have been transferred to a recipient animal.
- Discarded — Embryos that have been marked as discarded.
The list refreshes automatically after you change the filter.

Finding an Embryo via Flush Records

If you know which flush the embryo came from, the Flush Records view is a quick way to narrow your search. Each flush record shows a count of how many embryos from that flush are currently in storage.

Click Flush Records in the top-right toggle.
Locate the flush by its Flush Date, Donor, or Sire.
The In Storage column shows how many embryos from that flush are still available. If the count is 0, all embryos from that flush have been transferred or discarded.
To see those embryos, switch back to Embryo Inventory, set the Status filter to All or the appropriate status, and look for rows matching the donor and sire from that flush.

How Embryos Are Identified in the List

Because embryos do not have individual ear tags, they are identified by the details inherited from their flush record:

Donor — The ear tag and name of the donor female.
Sire — The ear tag and name of the sire used in the flush.
Grade — IETS quality grade (1–4).
Stage — Development stage at time of collection.
Type — Embryo type (e.g., fresh, frozen).
Tank Location — The semen tank and location where the embryo is stored.

Troubleshooting — Embryo Still Not Found

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
Embryo is not in the list at all	Status filter is hiding it	Set the Status filter to All
Embryo shows as Transferred but no breeding record was created	Transfer was completed and a breeding record was automatically generated	Check the recipient animal’s breeding records for an ET breeding entry
Flush record shows 0 In Storage but no embryos appear as Transferred or Discarded	Embryos may not have been individually recorded after the flush	Check whether embryo records were added under Record Flush; if not, add them manually
Embryo is missing entirely after a transfer	The embryo was deleted rather than transferred	Review the flush record — a deleted embryo cannot be recovered

Tips

Use All as your default filter when auditing embryo inventory to ensure nothing is overlooked.
A transferred embryo will have a corresponding breeding record on the recipient animal with the method set to Embryo Transfer (ET).
Each embryo record is linked to exactly one flush. The flush record is the best starting point when you know the donor and sire but cannot find a specific embryo.