artificial insemination of farm animals

347 Pages·2013·9.63 MB·English

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
OF FARM ANIMALS
CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN VI. BARTLETT, Ph.D., Professor of Dairy Husbandry, Rut
gers University, and Dairy Husbandman, New Jersey State
Agricultural EXPfriment Station
VICTOR BERLINER, Ph.D., formerly Professor of Animal Hus
bandry, Mississippi State College of Agriculture
JOSEPH EDWARDS, D.Sc., Cambridge University, Chairman, Pro
duction Division, Milk Marketing Board, England
J. A. HENDERSON, D.V.M., Head, Dept. of Clinical Medicine,
Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, Ontario
P. M.Sc., Profes~or of Poultry' Husbandry, Mas
FRED JEFFREY,
sachusetts State College
ELLIS P. LEONARD, B.S., ,D.V.M., Professor and Head, Depart
ment of Therapeutics and Small Animal Diseases, Director
of Small Animal Clinic, Cornell University
J. PERRY, B.Sc., M.A., Extension Professor of Dairy Hus
ENOS
bandry, Rutgers University
RALPH P. REECE, Ph.D., Professor of Dairy Husbandry, Rutgers
University, and Research Specialist, New Jersey State
Agricultural Experiment Station
CLAIR E. TERRILL, Ph.D., Animal Husbandman, UUlted States
Sheep Experiment Station and Western Sheep Breeding
Laboratory, Dubois, Idaho
The
Artificial Insemination
"-
of Farm Animals
ENOS J. PERRY, Editor
JOHN W. BARTLETT . JOSEPH EDWARDS
CLAIR E. TERRILL . VICTOR BERLINER
FRED P. JEFFREY· ELLIS P. LEONARD
J. A. HENDERSON . RALPH P. REECE
SECONb REVISED EDITION
New Brunswick
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
1955
COPYRIGHT 1945 AND 1947 BY THE TRUSTEES OF
RUTGERS COLLEGE IN NEW JERSEY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIRST PRINTING, APRIL, 1945
SECOND PRINTING, OCTOBER, 1945
THIRD PRINTING, JUNE, 1946
REVISED EDITION, JUNE, 1947
SECOND REVISED EDITION, NOVEMBER, 1952
SECOND PRINTING, SECOND REVISED EDITION, FEBRUARY, 1955
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
CONllENTS
1 HISTORICAL 3
ENOS J. PERRY
2 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS 9
ENOS J. PERRY
3 THE ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION 13
JOSEPH EDWARDS
4 THE ROLE OF HORMONES IN REPRODUCTION 30
RALPH P. REECE-
5 GENERAL INFORMATION 65
ENOS J. PERRY
6 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY AND
QUANTITY OF SEMEN 87
ENOS J. PERRY
7 CATTLE , 103
ENOS J. PERRY
8 SHEEP AND GOATS 143
CLAIR E. TERRILL
9 HORSES AND JACKSTOCK 169
VICTOR BERLINER
lO BIRDS 197
FRED P. JEFFREY
11 SWINE 210
ENOS J. PERRY
12 DOGS 216
ELLIS P. LEONARD
VI Contents
13 WE MUST BREED BETTER LIVESTOCK 224
JOI;IN W. BARTLETT
14 SYSTEMS OF BREEDING 243
JOHN W. BARTLETT
15 SELECTION OF. SIRES 261
JOHN W. BARTLETT
16 ARTIFICIAL BJ-lEEDING ORGANIZATIONS 280
ENOS J. PERRY
17 THE SHIPPING ,OF SEMEN 307
ENOS J. PERRY
18 DISEASE IN RELATION TO ARTIFICIAL IN-
SEMINATION 312
J. A. HENDERSON
19 FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF SIRES 323
JOHN W. BARTLETT
INDEX 335
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
OF FARM ANIMALS

Chapter
~
,
HISTORICAL
ENOS J. PERRY
THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH in..artificial insemination of do
rpestic animals was conducted by the Italian physiologist.
L., Spallanzani, in 1780. He had attained success with several
amphibious animals when he decided to experiment on vivip
arous species, using the dog first. Dogs were confined in Spal
lanzani's house, and after a lapse of twenty days the bitch mani
fested obvious signs of being in heat. Then with semen at body
temperature she was artificially inseminated, the semen being
deposited directly into the uterus with a pOinted syringe. Sixty
two days folloWing insemination the bitch gave birth to three
pups, all of which resembled not only the mother but also the
dog from which the semen had been taken. In 1782 Spallan
z~'s experiment was successfully repeated by P. Bossi ancl
checked by Professor Branchi. These experiments proved, the
feasibility of inducing pregnancy by artificial insemination,
with the resultant birth of normal offspring.
Spallanzani further discovered that the fertilizing power of
semen resided in the sperm carried by the spermatic fluid.
When the semen was filtered, the liquid that passed through
was sterile, but the residue on the filter was high in fertilizing
capacity. His discoveries gave rise to intensive investigations
of the sex cells and the physiology of fertilization, but these
studies did not, as one might have expected, stimulate any fur
ther developments in artificial insemination for a long time. In
fact, it was not until the latter part of the ninete~nth century
that new experiments were undertaken both in Europe and
America. Concerning research, W. Heape, of England, reported
that a dog breeder, Everett Millais, between 1884 and 1896 art i-
3
4 . The Artificial Insemination of Farm Animals
ficially insemipated a total of nineteen bitches, of which fifteen
produced young. Heape wrote that in the light of this work it
appears that ·artificial insemination is easy, that conception is
as readily induced in that way as by normal coitus, and that
a single ejaculation serves several bitches. He claimed that the
method could be llsed to cross different dog breeds whose natu
ral mating is impossible because of difference in size, and sug
gested the plan as a means of studying genetic and telegonic
factors. Heape also referred to research with mares, in which
the object was to overcome sterility. Pearson, professor of vet
erinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote to
Heape, statin that he and some other veterinarians had been
successfu in the artificial inseminati n 0 mares on anum er
of arms.
In Europe, Plbnnis had artificially inseminated a bitch in
1876, an undertaking repeated by Albrecht in 1894 to investi
gate problems in telegony, which at that time held the un
divided attention of breeders of domestic animals. Artificial in
st_mination was first used in European horse breeding in 1890
when the French veterinarian Repiguet advised its use as a
~ of overcoming sterility ~ In the studs of several European
countries the percentage_ pf'conceptions obtained was very low,
so investigations for the purpose of improving this condition
were then begun. IIofessor~offman of Stuttgart recommended
th~use of s~plementary artificial insemination follOWing natu
ral mating. He wrote: "In any rationally conducted horse breed
ing attempt it is necessary, as soon after copulation as possible,
to introduce the sperm present directly into the uterus throug~
the uterus orifice." He gave a detailed description of his tech
niques and the instruments necessary. After the stallion covered
the mare, the semen depOSited in the vagina was collected from
a depression in the lower vaginal wall with the aid of a specu
lum and spoon. The semen was then sucked up with a special
syringe, diluted with cow's milk, and injected into the uterus.
He ,contended that the transference of semen to other mares
was not a matter of practical importance, and left studies in tha~
field to others. In Denmark during this same period Sand and