Back to: Animal Husbandry SS 3
Welcome to today’s class!!
We are thrilled to have you in our class!!
In today’s Animal Husbandry’s class, we will be learning about Artificial Insemination.
Artificial Insemination
When you hear about artificial Insemination, you should think about artificial first before insemination. After that, you can combine your knowledge of what each means.
Artificial insemination is the process of collecting sperm cells from a male animal and manually depositing them into the reproductive tract of a female.
From this definition, it is clear that it is possible for a female animal to have babies without the male animal coming close. Because artificial Insemination will give room for sperm cells from a male animal to be deposited into the reproductive tract of a female.
During natural breeding, a male will deposit much more semen than is theoretically needed to produce a pregnancy. In addition, natural breeding is physically stressful. Both of these factors limit the number of natural mating a male can make. However, collected semen can be diluted and extended to create hundreds of doses from a single ejaculate. Also, semen can be easily transported; allowing multiple females in different geographical locations to be inseminated simultaneously, and semen can be stored for long periods of time, meaning that males can produce offspring long after their natural reproductive lives end.
Because artificial insemination allows males to produce more offspring, fewer males are needed. Therefore, one can choose only the few best males for use as parents, increasing the selection intensity. Furthermore, because males can have more offspring, their offspring can be used in a progeny test program to more accurately evaluate the genetic value of the male.
Natural mating allows for the transfer of venereal diseases between males and females. Some pathogens can be transmitted in semen through artificial insemination, but the collection process allows for the screening of disease agents. Collected semen is also routinely checked for quality, which can help avoid problems associated with male infertility.Artificial insemination has some potential drawbacks, however, that must be considered. First, it can be more laborious. Male animals instinctively detect the females that are in the correct status for conception. With artificial insemination the detection work falls on the responsibility of the farmer. Poor detection results in decreased rates of fertility. Also, increasing the number of offspring per male has selective advantages only if the best males can be accurately determined. Otherwise this process only decreases the genetic variability in a population. Increasing the number of offspring per male always reduces the gene pool. The benefits of more intense selection must be balanced against the negative effects of decreased variation.
In summary, individual farmers can use artificial insemination to increase the genetic pool with which his or her animals can be mated, potentially decreasing effects of inbreeding.
Evaluation
Explain what you understand by Artificial Insemination
Reading Assignment
What is the difference between breeding and Artificial Insemination
Weekend Assignment
Highlight the usefulness of Artificial Insemination
We hope you enjoyed today’s class. In our next class, we will be learning about Electro-ejaculation.
Let us know your thoughts and questions in the comment section, and we will attend to them as fast as we can.
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