ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

=Artificial Insemination= Artificial Insemination(AI) of cattle helps achieve a higher breeding rates. It can also help overcome the need for a herd bull or maximise the reproductive output of a single bull with desired traits / alleles [image:http://i.imgur.com/3Ae7IrJ.png] Cows go into heat once every ~21 days. There are physiological, behavioral and physical signs of estrus. E.g. female cows mount each other. Twelve (12) hours after estrus is when females should be artificially inseminated. This time period is when the female ovulates. [image:http://i.imgur.com/T8iJw0x.png] Semen is stored frozen in small sealed plastic straws within a canister of liquid nitrogen. The desired straw must carefully be removed with tweezers without letting the others thaw. The selected semen sample can then be thawed in a water bath at 34-35 degrees. [image:http://i.imgur.com/cctZx9i.png] The straw is dried and the end is cut. An insemination gun is warmed and the semen is loaded. [image:http://i.imgur.com/sDaiiyg.png] Faeces are removed from the anal canal and the surface of the vagina (vulva) is cleaned. [image:http://i.imgur.com/JMnRUdR.png] A technician inserts their arm in the rectum so that the y can guide the insemination gun through the reproductive tract. The insemination gun is carefully guided through the cervix. [image:http://i.imgur.com/MKRoqLh.png] The semen is then deposited in the uterus. Ensuring semen is deposited in the correct location greatly increases the chances of pregnancy.