Artificial Insemination

1. Artificial Insemination

2. What is artificial insemination? • Has anyone ever seen artificial insemination being performed? • Who does artificial insemination? Can anyone do it? • Do you think it’s easy to learn how to AI?

3. Artificial Insemination • Artificial insemination (AI) is used in some situations, such as with dairy and beef cows, horses, swine, and others. • Artificial insemination involves placing semen collected from a male in the female reproductive tract using equipment designed for the purpose. • AI is a key management tool for producers that allows them to have greater choices in selecting beneficial traits for improved genetic performance.

4. How is artificial insemination performed? • Properly inseminating animals artificially is a very precise science. • A series of steps must be carefully conducted to ensure that fertilization occurs. • Non-fertilization will yield in financial losses. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stvnGYcKz60

6. Overview of Artificial Insemination. • Semen must be collected. • Detection of estrus is key. • Timing of insemination varies between species. • Restrain the animal. • Assemble the equipment. • Placement and method of insemination vary between species.

7. Collection of Semen • An artificial vagina (AV) is used with bulls, stallions, boars, bucks (rabbits), and rams to collect the semen. Stallion AV

8. Collection of Semen (cont.) • An artificial vagina is about 10-14 inches long for bulls and about 2.5 inches across. • The outside of the tube is hard with a soft rubbery lining inside. • Warm water is placed between these two linings.

9. Collection of Semen (cont.) Artificial Vagina used for cattle.

10. Collection of Semen (cont.) • A dummy or other animal is used for the male to mount. • The penis is then directed into the artificial vagina and the semen is collected. • Some animals require the use of an electro-ejaculator.

11. Holstein Bull Semen Collection • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HWS-61ZI8g4 • Boar Semen Collection • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Eh-G_pF6cb0

12. Collection of Semen (cont.) • One ejaculation from a bull contains about 5cc of semen; this is enough to breed about 500 cows. • A stallion will produce enough to breed only about 17 mares in one ejaculation.

13. Collection of Semen (cont.) • The semen is evaluated after being collected to ensure good quality. • It is then cooled slowly. • The sperm will die if they are cooled quickly. • Extenders such as egg yolk, antibacterial agents, and other material to add volume to the semen are added.

14. Collection of the Semen (cont.) • Cattle semen for example, can be stored at 41oF (5oC) for about one week or it is stored at –320oF (-196oC) in liquid nitrogen. • It can later be thawed for use. • Semen frozen in liquid nitrogen can last up to 40 years. • Liquid nitrogen tanks are used to transport semen and for storage on the farm.

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stvnGYcKz60

16. Equipment and Supplies • Liquid nitrogen tank to store the semen straws. • Straw of semen • Straw tweezers • Sterile lubricant (non-spermicidal) to put on the plastic sleeve and/or the animal’s vulva.

17. Equipment and Supplies (cont.) • Insemination gun to hold the straw and maneuver it through the cervix • Thaw box to thaw the straw of semen • Paper towels to keep the area clean, especially the animal.

18. Equipment and Supplies (cont.) • Scissors to cut the end of the straw just prior to insemination • Thermometer to measure the temperature of the water bath • Plastic glove or sleeve to put on the inseminator’s arms • Cover sheath

19. Placement for Artificial Insemination

20. Recto-Vaginal method of insemination in cows. • Carefully remove the straw of semen from the liquid nitrogen tank using the tweezers. • All semen must be thawed before use. • Usually a straw is placed in a warm water bath (95-98oF or 33-34oC) • Thaw the straw following the recommendations from the company where the semen was purchased.

21. Recto-Vaginal method of insemination in cows. (cont.) • Using a paper towel dry the straw thoroughly. • Pull the plunger on the inseminating gun back about 4-6 inches. • Insert the straw and cut the end off. • Place the cover sheath over the end of the gun and secure. • Hold the inseminating gun either in your mouth or have someone else hold it for you.

22. Recto-Vaginal method of insemination in cows. (cont.) • Lubricate the glove with the non-spermicidal lubricant. • Insert the gloved arm into the vulva and clean out the rectum. • Clean the vulva with the paper towels. • Locate the cervix. • Using the other hand carefully insert the inseminating gun upward into the vulva to avoid injury.

23. Recto-Vaginal method of insemination in cows. (cont.) • Slide the inseminating gun through the cervix. • Deposit the semen into the uterus by pushing the plunger. • Slowly remove the inseminating gun. • Record the breeding information.

24. Recto-Vaginal method of insemination in cows. (cont.) Proper placement of insemination gun to deposit semen in the body of the uterus

26. What are the advantages of AI? • Maximum use is made of outstanding sires. • Semen can be used after the sire has died or can be shipped anywhere in the world. • Uniformity of offspring is increased. • Certain physical handicaps to mating may be overcome. • Sire cost can be reduced.

27. What are the advantages of AI? • Danger and cost of keeping a sire is eliminated. • Cost and delays involved in using infertile sires are reduced. • Better health is maintained. • Breeding herd records are improved. • Profits are increased. • Pride of ownership is increased.

28. What are some limitations with AI? • Skilled technicians are required. • Physiological principles must be followed. • Sire market may be limited. • Diseases may be spread. • May be subject to certain abuses. • May accentuate the damage of a poor sire. • Artificial breeding organizations require large investments of capital and competent management.

29. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? • Producers now have the ability to use sexed semen. • Sexed semen is semen that contains only all male or all female sperm. • There is only about a 90% chance that the preferred sex will be produced and te ocst of the semen is much higher.

30. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Estrous synchronization is commonly used especially in the cattle and sheep industries. • Estrous synchronization is when producers manipulate the cycles of animals to bring a group into heat at the same time. • This can be used to ensure the detection of heat uniform calving or lambing time, and uniform breeding time.

31. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Estrous Synchronization (cont.) • Several different drugs can be used and the timing of shots varies. • Generally, prostaglandin, progestin, or both are used. • Prostaglandin causes progesterone production to stop; this causes estrus to occur. • Progestin keeps progesterone levels high so that the animal stays in diestrus for a longer period of time.

32. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Estrous Synchronization (cont.) • Sheep breeders use controlled internal drug releasers (CIDR) to synchronize ewes. • The CIDR is placed into the vagina and then removed. • This causes them to cycle and can help fertilization to occur during a time of the year when they are not normally cycling.

33. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • When an animal with outstanding genetics is found, a process known as embryo transfer (ET) can be used. • With ET, the donor is superovulated; a large number of eggs are released due to the application of certain drugs. • Fertilization occurs and the fertilized eggs are harvested either surgically or non-surgically.

34. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Embryo Transfer (cont.) • The embryos are then transferred to a recipient or surrogate mother where the embryo develops. • The surrogate mother is usually of less value than the donor. • Embryos can also be frozen in liquid nitrogen for implantation later, but this is generally not as successful.

35. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Cloning is one of the newest reproductive management tools available. • Through cloning multiple exact genetic copies of an animal are produced. • Scientists can clone animals by letting the embryo develop to the 32 cell stage and then split the cells apart. • This is similar to how identical twins are created in nature.

36. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Cloning (cont.) • Scientists can also take a cell from an adult animal and produce a new cloned offspring. • This was the process that was used to create Dolly the sheep. • Scientists have also created cattle by taking primordial germ cells during the development of the fetus.

37. What new technologies are being utilized to manage the reproductive success of animals? (cont.) • Genetic Engineering is the manipulation of the genes of an organism by adding, removing, or modifying the DNA.