Table Of ContentARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
IN FARM ANIMALS
Edited by Milad Manafi
Artificial Insemination in Farm Animals
Edited by Milad Manafi
Published by InTech
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First published June, 2011
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Artificial Insemination in Farm Animals, Edited by Milad Manafi
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Contents
Preface IX
Chapter 1 Artificial Insemination: Current and Future Trends 1
Jane M. Morrell
Chapter 2 Artificial Insemination at Fixed Time in Bufalloes 15
Gustavo Ángel Crudeli and Rodolfo Luzbel de la Sota
Chapter 3 Artificial Insemination of Sheep – Possibilities,
Realities and Techniques at the Farm Level 27
Sándor Kukovics, Erzsébet Gyökér,
Tímea Németh and Elemér Gergátz
Chapter 4 Artificial Insemination in Dogs 51
Rita Payan-Carreira, Sónia Miranda and Wojciech Niżański
Chapter 5 Artificial Insemination in Pigs 79
Maes Dominiek, López Rodríguez Alfonso, Rijsselaere Tom,
Vyt Philip and Van Soom Ann
Chapter 6 Artificial Insemination in Swine 95
Eduardo Paulino da Costa, Aurea Helena Assis da Costa,
Gustavo Guerino Macedo and Emílio César Martins Pereira
Chapter 7 Sperm Preparation Techniques for
Artificial Insemination - Comparison of
Sperm Washing, Swim Up, and
Density Gradient Centrifugation Methods 115
Ilaria Natali
Chapter 8 Effect of Vitamin E on
the Development of Testis in Sheep 123
Hailing Luo, Suyun Ge, Dubing Yue, Leyan Yan,
Xu Xu, Kun Liu and Fei Yuan
VI Contents
Chapter 9 Evaluation of a New Method and
Diagnostic Test in Semen Analysis 131
Petra Zrimšek
Chapter 10 Particularities of Bovine Artificial Insemination 153
Antônio Nelson Lima da Costa, Airton Alencar de Araujo
and José Valmir Feitosa
Chapter 11 Management Factors Affecting Fertility in Sheep 167
Pilar Santolaria, Inmaculada Palacin and Jesús Yániz
Chapter 12 Effect of Cryopreservation on
Sperm Quality and Fertility 191
Alemayehu Lemma
Chapter 13 Effect of Fatty Acids on Reproductive
Performance of Ruminants 217
José Herrera-Camacho, Alejandra Soberano-Martínez,
Karlos Edmundo Orozco Durán, Carlos Aguilar-Pérez
and Juan Carlos Ku-Vera
Chapter 14 Mechanical and Pharmacologic Applications
of Artificial Insemination in Ewes 243
Faruk Aral, Füsun Temamoğulları and Semra Sezen Aral
Chapter 15 Relationship Between IFN- Production by
Bovines Embryos Derived Ex Vivo and
Completely Produced In Vitro 255
Jorge Alberto Neira, Daniel Tainturier,
René L’Haridon and Jacques Martal
Chapter 16 Reproductive Endocrinology Diseases: Hormone
Replacement and Therapy for Peri/Menopause 269
Zoe Roupa, Greta Wozniak, Konstantinos Tsipras
and Penelope Sotiropoulou
Preface
As we look back over the millennium, it is difficult to imagine man’s evolution in the
absence of domesticated livestock. Likewise, domesticated animals are so dependent
upon man that in his absence their very existence would be jeopardized to the point
where they would not thrive and some would fail to survive. Artificial insemination
(AI) - one of the most important techniques ever devised for the genetic improvement
of farm animals - is a widely used tool for livestock breeding and management
programs and is a process by which sperm are collected from the male, processed,
stored and artificially introduced into the female reproductive tract for the purpose of
conception. A male animal produces millions of sperms daily. Theoretically, it can
inseminate females regularly and produce several offsprings.
Artificial insemination is used instead of natural mating for reproduction purposes.
This is when a male animal, for example, a bull, is kept with a herd of cows and
‘covers’ (copulates with) them when they are ready to mate (in oestrus) so the bull’s
semen fertilizes the cow’s eggs to produce calves. Fertilization can take place away
from the bull and the two animals do not even meet! Although AI (in the form of
intrauterine insemination) is not frequently used in human patients, it is the most
commonly used method of breeding food production animals in developed countries,
with more than 90% pigs and almost the same proportion of dairy cattle bred by this
method in the European Union and North America. In the actual procedure used,
semen is obtained from a male animal and, after being diluted, is deep-frozen, after
which it can be stored for long periods of time without losing its fertility. For use, the
semen is thawed and then introduced into the genital tract of a female animal.
The first successful experiment with artificial insemination in animals was performed
by an Italian physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani, who in 1780, while investigating animal
reproduction, developed a technique for artificial insemination in dogs. This approach
was refined in the 1930s in Russia, and the subsequent development of methods for
the cryopreservation (preservation through freezing) of semen led to the widespread
use of AI in animals.
There are many advantages to artificial insemination (AI) in domesticated and zoo
animals, such as smaller chance of injury to either partner during the mating process,
X Preface
less stress to the female, who is often the one that has to be transported to and from
the home of the male, but one should keep in the mind that the system of reproduction
is perfect, including artificial insemination. The chief priority of artificial insemination
is that the desirable characteristics of a bull or other male livestock animal can be
passed on more quickly and to more progeny than if that animal is mated with females
in a natural fashion. Ten thousand or more calves are produced annually from a single
bull through the use of artificial insemination.
Artificial insemination has been most widely used for breeding dairy cattle and pigs
and has made bulls of high genetic merit available to all. It has been used to facilitate
the reproductive success and conservation of threatened or endangered animals.
Although AI (in the form of intrauterine insemination) is not frequently used in
human patients, it is the most commonly used method of breeding food production
animals in developed countries, with more than 90% pigs and almost the same
proportion of dairy cattle bred by this method in the European Union and North
America. Examples of wild animals that have been successfully impregnated through
artificial insemination include big cats (e.g., the tiger, the puma, the cheetah, and the
clouded leopard), the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) and the onager (Equus
onager).
This book contains under one cover 16 chapters of concise, up-to-date information on
artificial insemination. AI in buffalos, ewes, pigs, swine, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs
will be detailed in different chapters. Cryopreservation effect on sperm quality and
fertility, new method and diagnostic test in semen analysis, management factors
affecting fertility after cervical insemination, factors of non-infectious nature affecting
the fertility, fatty acids effects on reproductive performance of ruminants,
particularities of bovine artificial insemination, sperm preparation techniques and
reproductive endocrinology diseases will be described in these chapters.
The purpose of this book is to provide, as both a college text book and a reference
source, a comprehensive text that contains current information on artificial
insemination. This book is not a presentation of concepts of artificial insemination with
an extensive list of references, but rather a consensus of important information with
key references to allow the reader to further explore the artificial insemination field.
This book will deal with the use of artificial insemination (AI) in animals, currently
and in the future, with particular emphasis on comparative aspects between species.
This book will explain the advantages and disadvantages of using AI, the various
methodologies used in different species, and how AI can be used to improve
reproductive efficiency in farm animals.
I hope this book will be used worldwide as a college textbook and authoritative
reference book for research and extension specialists, AI practitioners, teachers and
students.
