- LIC: Artificial breeding - The process from semen collection and quality control to detecting ovulating cows to artificially inseminating the cow.
Advantages for Artifical breeding(AI)
- increased efficiency of bull usage
- increased potential of genetic selection
- increased safety for animals and farmers
- Decreased costs
- Reduced animal disease transmission
Disadvantages for AI
- more labor intentive
- detection of correct status for conception is responsibility of farmer not bull
- risk of failure in transport and storage
- reduces gene pool in a herd level, nationally
- un thawing
- poor AI technician (human error)
Collecting Semen from bulls
Semen is collected from a bull using a teaser animal (usually a steer or another bull) and an artificial vagina.
| Semen should be evaluated grossly for abnormal appearance. The presence of small "clots" or blood can indicate such conditions as seminal vesiculitis. |
| Parameter | Normal Values |
|---|---|
| Ejaculate volume | 5 ml (range 1-15 ml) |
| Sperm concentration | 1200 million/ml (range 300-2500 million/ml) |
| Total sperm per ejaculate | Typically 4-5 billion |
| Progressive motility | Greater than 30% |
| Morphology | Greater than 70% normal |
Semen is then examined under the microscope for concentration, morphology and motility.
Semen is stored in special tubes called straws,
Which are then stored in liquid nitrogen. (-196 degrees C) This prevents deterioration and biological quality.
Artificially inseminating a cow
No comments:
Post a Comment