By: Dr. Firdous Ahmad Khan
Animal Molecular and Cellular Biology Program
Department of Animal Sciences
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, 32608.
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Artificial Insemination when properly done,
- AI is a powerful technique for breeding cattle and buffaloes. Rapid genetic improvement of the herd can be achieved by using semen from genetically superior sires.
- Transmission of venereal diseases is reduced, therefore, improving reproductive efficiency.
- Farmers can get more female calves by using sexed semen, which is advantageous for dairy enterprises.
Common problems
Reduced pregnancy rates
Dairy farmers in India often complain about reduced pregnancy rates to AI. Here are some of the causes that could be responsible for this problem:
- Incorrect timing of insemination: A vast majority of farmers in India rely on visual observation of estrus symptoms for determining the time of insemination. Therefore, proper education and training of farm staff is important in order to ensure proper detection of estrus. Estrus detection is especially difficult in buffaloes due to poor expression of estrus symptoms. Use of teasers or modern estrus detection aids such as pedometers can improve estrus detection a great deal. Alternatively, dairy farmers could adopt estrus synchronization (such as Ovsynch or Progestagen based CIDR or PRID) combined with fixed time AI. Presynchronization, synchronization, and resynchronization approaches are currently being used in developed countries effectively to improve reproductive efficiency.
- Poor semen quality: It should be kept in mind that successful conception is equally dependent on the sperm quality. Semen should, therefore, be handled with utmost care. Proper storage of semen is important. Special attention should be paid towards monitoring of liquid nitrogen levels in the semen storage containers. Thawing is yet another important aspect. If not done properly, pregnancy rates could drop drastically.
- Incorrect technique of insemination: It is important that semen is deposited at a proper position in the reproductive tract and, although no rocket science, it does take some skill to do that. Therefore, dairy farm should always hire trained AI personnel even if that means a little more investment. It should be remembered that breeding has a great bearing on the overall economics of a farm.
Disease transmission
Whereas AI can reduce transmission of venereal diseases to a great degree when proper hygienic standards are maintained, compromise of these standards at one or more steps of AI can facilitate disease transmission. Since semen is deposited directly in the uterus thereby bypassing vaginal and cervical barriers, greater care should be taken with respect to hygiene. In India, post-insemination uterine infections are not uncommon. Simple precautionary measures like cleaning vulva of the cow and use of sterile sheaths during AI can help reduce uterine infections to a great extent.
Useful tips
- Check the semen quality periodically. It is a huge mistake to take semen quality for granted.
- Use AI gun warmer in cold climate. It helps prevent cold shock to sperms after the semen is thawed. Cold shock reduces motility of the sperms drastically and can result in poor conception rates.
- If you are using visual method of heat detection, remember that the most reliable symptom is “the animal stands to be mounted”. Just because an animal is bellowing or mounting other cows doesn’t mean it is in estrus. Pay special attention to nature of the mucus discharge (color, consistency, odor etc.).
- Use a sterile AI sheath and don’t let it touch your hands, perineum of the cow, or any other object because it might get contaminated and when you perform AI, the contamination will be introduced directly into the uterus.
- Use disposable paper towels for cleaning the vulva before AI.