Artifitial Insemination

Shawn Breneman

Animal Science Seminar

March 11, 2004

INTRODUCTION

The development and usage of artificial insemination (AI) has come a long way since it was first done successfully in 1784 when an inseminated dog whelped three pups 62 days later. (Foote., 2002) The usage of AI technologies is swine has been around since the early 1900s when Ivanov, a Russian scientist began conducting research on the subject. (Foote., 2002) But it was not until the 1980s when widespread commercial applications began to be seen. (Gadea., 2003) Today on most commercial swine farms literally 100 percent of sows being serviced are being done so artificially. With such a large portion of production relying on good conception and farrowing rates, it is important to know the proper time to inseminate your animals. With proper timing of insemination relative to ovulation, conception and farrowing rates will be optimized to increase productivity and profitability on the farm.

DISCUSSION

Nissen et al. conducted a trial using 143 multiparous crossbred sows that were on average weaned in groups of 20 per week. The sows were separated into groups of 2 to 4 animals and were in constant contact with a teaser boar. Previous litter sizes were 13.4+3.1 [5-22]. After the first signs of estrus were detected all sows were scanned every 6 hours using transrectal ultrasonography to inspect the ovaries for follicles, CLs and any abnormalities. Sows were then randomly selected to be inseminated at different intervals ranging from 36h before ovulation up to 12h after ovulation.