HGG Community Forums

Somebody asked me some questions about egg breeding, and I went overboard on answering and decided to make a forum post so you can all use it and add/correct anything that needs it!


Eggs and Embryos 101:

First off, lab breeding does get expensive. I'll try to lay out all the prices in here. Also this is the Premium Upgrade stuff, I know with a Basic you have access to some of this, but I have no real idea what because I've never tried lab breeding with a basic upgrade.

Pulling gives you a single egg and doesn't finish the mare off for the season. Her page will still say 0 foals this year, and you can pull another egg or flush her in five days. You can breed them immediately after, though, you don't have to wait five days for that. Same goes for using them as a surrogate, though presumably you wouldn't want to do that with a mare you're pulling eggs from. Pulling an egg costs 3k
It's the second option on the Collect Eggs page, and has this description:
"Your Mares
You have fill in number here total collectible mares. You can collect an egg from a mares for 3000 hb's. Each egg can produce one foal once it is used to create an embryo."

Flushing gives you 8-14 eggs and does count her as bred for the year. Her foal count will go up to one. Flushing costs 30k (it was a lot more, 120k I think, until recently)
It's the first option on the Collect Eggs page, and has this description:
"Mass Egg Flush
To flush a large number of eggs select your mare from the drop down list. Each mass egg flush costs 30,000 hbs and will result in between 8 and 14 eggs in a single go. This will result in the mare being unable to be pulled or bred for the rest of the season."

You can pull or flush eggs any time, not just in breeding season. I flushed mares on the 31st last month, and started pulling them again on the first (it wouldn't let me do anything in the morning, but I could by afternoon). If you start pulling eggs on the first and then pull every five days til the end of the month, then flush, you can get a lot of eggs. I think you max out at six pulls and a flush, so you could get up to 20 eggs a season, if I'm counting right.


Once you have eggs, they will show up in the same list as straws on your Sell Straw/Egg page.

Then you can go to the Create Embryo page, and there's two options on there. The first one says this:
"Create an AI Embryo
Welcome to the ABSL's embryo transfer laboratory. This facility impregnates a mare using a straw. The resulting fertilized embryo is then harvested and placed in cold storage for implantation in for the future. This process costs 5,000 hb's. Additional fees will be charged during implantation and foaling."
I've never used it before, so I just tried it out. It looks like it basically combines pulling an egg and creating an embryo into one step, so if you're planning to add a straw make an embryo right away, you can skip a step. The cost is the same as if you did them separately. If you pull eggs you can store and sell them as eggs, whereas embryos are already the straw and egg combined. The mare I just did this with popped to the bottom of the list on the egg pull drop down menu with (5 days) after her name, which is the same thing that happens if you pull an egg and means they can be pulled again or flushed in five days, or bred or used as a surrogate immediately.

The second option is the one you use with already pulled eggs:
"Create an Embryo From Egg
Welcome to the ABSL's embryo creation laboratory. This facility takes a previously collected egg and combines it with a straw to create a test tube embryo. This embryo can then be implanted into a surrogate mare during breeding season. It costs 2,000hbs to create a test tube embryo. Additional fees will be charged during implantation and foaling."
You pick the egg and straw you want from the drop down menus and it creates the embryo and sticks it in your freezer.


Once your eggs are embryos, it's time to implant. During the breeding season you can implant an embryo into a surrogate mare. This counts the surrogate mare as bred for the season, so you have to use mares you don't plan to breed otherwise. I have a bunch of pointed creates that sit in the barn and show twice a week and act as surrogates, doing double duty.
You go to the Implant Embryos page, which says this:
"Implant Embryo
Welcome to the ABSL embryo implantation lab. For 4000 hb's you can implant an embryo into one of your mares."
You pick the embryo you want from one drop down list and the surrogate mare from another and create your foal, which then gets deposited in your primary barn like when you hand breed.

And Ta-Da! You have a lab baby.


Some points to keep in mind:

Once a mare is pulled, she can be pulled again or flushed in five days, or bred or used as a surrogate immediately.
The same applies to creating an AI embryo, rather than pulling and then creating a test tube embryo.

Once a mare is flushed, bred, or used as a surrogate, she is done for the season.

This gets spendy. Here's a breakdown of the cost of one lab baby when you own both parents.
500 hbs to pull the straw
and then A:
3,000 hbs to pull the egg and
2,000 hbs to combine egg and straw and create an embryo
or B:
5,000 hbs to create an AI embryo
which totals the same and has the same outcome, you just add in the straw and get an embryo immediately. Then:
4,000 hbs to implant in a surrogate mare.
So your total is 9,500 hbs per foal.

Flushing results in some price variances as opposed to pulling, so here's that:
If you get 8 eggs, the cost divides out to 3,750 hbs per egg, which is more than a pull
9 eggs = 3,334 hbs per egg, which is slightly more than a pull
10 eggs = 3,000 hbs per egg, so that's the point where it evens out with pulls
11 eggs = 2,727 hbs per egg
12 eggs = 2,500 hbs per egg
13 eggs = 2,308 hbs per egg
14 eggs = 2,143 hbs per egg

And obviously if you're buying the straws and eggs from someone else you have to add in that cost.


Okay, if anybody has anything to add or correct, please comment!