A Study on Optimum Interval between Inseminations in Artificial Insemination

닭의 인공수정에 있어서 적정주입간격에 관한 연구

This experiment was carried out to determine the optimum interval between inseminations in artifical insemination of hens. Two hundred and forty hens of Hisex commercial stock at 25 weeks of age and 20 cocks of the Rhode Island Red at 40 weeks of age were used for the experiment, and a total of 6,784 eggs were obtained. The intervals between inseminations compared in this study were: 3 days (T1), 5 days (T2), and 7 days(T3). Mixed raw semen was inseminated and the semen does was 0.03ml per insemination per hen. The inseminations were conducted at 15:00 at each time. The total number of insemination performed was 9 for the T1, 6 for the T2 and 5 for the T3, and eggs were collected over a period of 31 days, 32 days and 35 dyas, respectively. The average egg production of the hens during the experiment was 85.9% and the average temperature during the experiment was around 30$^{\circ}C$. The average sperm count was 3.69 billion per ml. The results obtained in this experiment can be summarized as follows: The fertility over the entire experimental period bythe treatment was 91.7% for the T1, 84.4% for the T2, and 75.2% for the T3. The difference between T1 and T3 in fertility was significant at 5% level. The average fertility on the second, third and fourth day after the insemination in the T2 and T3 was maintained at a relatively high level, but it tended to decline rapidly from the fifth day after the insemination. The average fertility for one week after the last insemination was 88.8% for the T1, 88.8% for the T2 and 78.6% for the T3, and none of the differences among the treatments were statistically significant. On the basis of the results from this study, it is recommended to adjust the insemination intervals within the range from the 3 to 5 days in order to maintain a highest level of fertility in the hens at an early stage of egg production as in the case of the hens used in this experiment. An insemination interval of 3 days is recommended, especially at an initial stage of insemination. For the hens with a low fertility, shortening, of the insemination interval to 3 or 2 days is desirable.