Poultry

Artificial insemination in farm animals

Artificial insemination (AI) is the introduction of male reproductive cells into the female reproductive tract by an artificial means. A.I. is primarily an economical measure in that fewer bulls are required and maximum use can be made of the best sire.

Advantages of A.I

AI has the following advantages
1. Increases the usefulness of superior sire to an extra-ordinary degree
  
  The germplasm of the superior sire can be used for insemination to several cows at the same time.
2. The services of superior sire are greatly extended by A.I.
  
  It reduces the cost of transport of the sire and saves time along with
  dissemination of superior germplasm to several dams simultaneously.
3. Reduces the management of herd sire/bull
  
  The breeder does not need to maintain a herd sire and thus can avoid the botherations accompanied with the management of bull. It helps to regulate the breeding programme and the space between successive calving without unnecessarily prolonging the dry period.
4. AI avoids inbreeding
  
  The dairyman does not have the problem of searching and purchasing a new herd sire every two years to avoid in-breeding.
5. Overcomes the difficulty of size and weight
  
  AI bypasses the obstacles of size and weight faced by several breeders during cross between dam and sire of desired genetic characteristics.
6. Increase rate of conception
  
  AI has found to have higher conception rate than the normal breeding. Moreover, there is no animal transport so AI can be performed anytime as per the oestrus cycle of the dam.
7. Outstanding animals located apart can be mated
  
  There is no animal transport required in AI, so AI can be performed anytime as per the oestrus cycle of the dam.
8. Helps in better record keeping
  
  In a dairy farm, it is much easy to keep proper records of AI than normal breeding due to its time saving procedure and much convenient process than normal breeding.
9. Old heavy and injured sires can be used with advantages
  
  Several old sires of heavy body weight but superior germplasm which cannot be transported, have an added advantage of their germplasm collection for AI service.
Limitation of A.I.
1. Requires well trained operations and special equipments
  
  AI needs well trained personnels/ field veterinarians along with AI gun for conducting the task.
2. Necessitates the knowledge of structure and function of reproduction on the part of the operator
  
  The person conducting AI must have thorough knowledge of the anatomy of female reproductive tract of cow for the correct deposition of semen inside the uterus.
3. Market of bull reduces while that for the superior germ plasm is increased
  
  TAI being an easy and convenient process, the market demand of bull reduces.
4. Selection of sire should be very rigid in all respect
  
  The selection of sire for the desired traits should be done by a breeding expert as the germplasm of the selected bull will be distributed to several dams at the same time and the same bull will be used for future breeding as well.