Artificial insemination in poultry

AI

1. Artificial Insemination (AI) in Poultry  

2. Definition Introducing male germ cells (Spermatozoa) into the female reproductive tract by mechanical is known as AI More popular in turkeys and Broiler breeders because of their heavy body weight and broad breast.

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF POULTRY SEMEN Semen production – 16 weeks 22-24 weeks of age are used for semen collection. natural colour of semen is white or pearly white. Heavy breed male - 0.75 to 1 ml light breed male - 0.4 to 0.6 ml of semen

4. AI well developed in cattle. no standard technique is available to store poultry semen for a long period. semen diluents at 1 : 2 ratio. One cock – 5-10 hens

5. A male can be used thrice in a week for semen collection with a gap of one day. Although every day semen collection will not change the fertilizing capacity but the volume of semen will be low. Semen consists of spermatozoa and seminal plasma. Fowl semen is generally highly concentrated (3 to 8 billion spermatozoa per ml for broiler fowl).

6. Equipment Required glass or plastic test tube for collecting semen from the male. hypodermic syringe with 0.1 ml graduations. a rubber connection (bicycle valve rubber). and a 0.5 cm external diameter glass inseminating tube 9 cm in length. Large flask to hold water at 18 C to 20 C range for short time holding of semen.

7. Equipments

8. STEPS IN A.I semen collection semen dilution and insemination.

9. Semen collection Chicken, turkeys, guinea fowl, quail can be done by abdominal massage method. Invented by Burrows and Quinn in 1935 and 1937.

10. Handling of hen In left hand both the legs of hen are gasped and cloaca is inverted and then with the help of syringe 0.1ml of semen is deposited in vagina.

11. Semen evaluation To acces the fertilizability of spermatozoa & also to fix dilution rate to ensure AI. Color: must be pearly white yellow --- faecal contamination brownish red – presence of RBC Good semen is white in color , thick, and has a pH of 7.3-7.8

12. Semen concentration It is assesed by either automatic counter ( spermatocrit ) or by the transmittence ( spectrometris ). To count live & dead sperms : flourecent technique. To acces spermatozoa integrity: by staining technique ( eosine negrosine )

13. Dilution   Temperature : 1 to 2 Oc Dilution ratio : 1:2 or 1:4 Dose of insemination : 0.03-0.05 ml or 20-25 million sperms/dose Frequency of AI : Once or twice in a week  The semen may be diluted with a solution known as modified Ringer's solution . The composition of this solution is as follows: Sodium chloride 68 grams Potassium chloride 17.33 grams Calcium chloride 6.4 2 grams Magnesium sulphate 2.50 grams Sodium bicarbonate 24.50 grams Distilled water 10 000 cc

14. Placement of semen Semen is inseminated with the syringe or AI pippette inserted 3cm depth in chicken & 6cm in length in turkey in the vaginal opening. It is highly desirable that AI is performed with in 30 mins of collection of semen. Time of AI – 2 to 4 Pm