Artificial breeding of the domestic fowl : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Animal Science at Massey Universit

Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and

private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

the permission of the Author.

ARTIFI CIAL BREEDING OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL

A the s i s pre s ented i n par t ial fulfilment of t he requirement s for t h e degree of MASTER OF AGRI CULTURAL S_{C I EN}C E i n Ani mal S c i ence

at Mass ey Univer sity .

WALTER RUMBALL 1 967

A C

K

N 0 W 1 E D G E M E N T S

I acknowledge wit h gratitude t he assistanc e from Mr M.R. Pat c hell for his supe rvision of t his thesis .

Thanks are also du e to the Poul try Research C entre staff; in partic ular Miss P . Hopkirk for experimental help and Mr J. Haw es for care of t he sto ck.

Presentation of the t hesis was made possible with welc ome

co -op erat�.o n from the Massey University library and c entral pho t o graphic unit, pho to graphic assistance from Mr D. Laing, and t he c omp et ent

typing of Mrs P. Pat c hell .

Chapter

1

2

3

4

5

TABLE OF OJNTENTS.

Page

INTRODUCTION

1

REVIEW OF FDULTRY REPRODUCTION

1.1

^M.ALE _ANATOMY AND PHYSIOWGY

3 1.2

^FEMALE ANATOMY ltND PHYSIOLOGY

6

1

e3

RESEMBLJilWE OF AVIAN lJID BOVINE REffiODUCTION

9

SEMEN PRODUCTION AND RELEASE REVIEW

2.1

SPERMld'OZOA PRODUCTION

2. 2

^SEMEN RELEASE .AND CO ^{LLE CTIO} IT

2.3

SEMEN OJMFOSI TION AND EV.ALUi.j_'IOl'T RESEARCH

2.4

^MATERIALS

2.5

^METHODS

2.6

EXPERII'.lliNTS

2. 7

DISCUSS ION

SUGir STORAGE REVIEW

3. 1

INTRO DU CTIO N

3• 2

SEMEN CH.A.fl.ACTERISTI CS

3• 3

DILUTING SEMEN FOR STORAGE

3. 4

J.::AGRO ^EilVIRO NMENT .AL INFLUENCES RES El ill. ^CH

3• 5

^MATERIALS AND ^METHODS

3.6

EXPER.IMENl'S

3• 7

DISCUSSION

ARTIFICIAL IHSill!IN.ATION .AND F:E!R.TILITY REVIEW

4• 1

.ARTIFI CI.AL INSEMINJl..TION

4e 2

^FERTILITY

RESEARCH

4.3

^MATERIALS AND ^METHODS

4.4

EXPERIMENTS 4e

5

D ISCUSSION OJNCLUSIONS

APPEr..fDICES B IBLIO _GR.AIHY

14 20 21 25 29 32 53

72 75 78 82 85 86 100

109 112 118 120 135

144

Plate

1

2 3 4 5 6 8 7

9

10

11

Figure

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9

10 1 1 12 13

•

LIST OF PLATES

Cockerel cages.

Semen collection and insemination equipment.

The second phase of semen collection.

Collecting semen from the copulatory tiss ue.

Spermatozoa stained in nigrosin-eosin dye.

Fresh spermatozoa stained in nile blue dye.

Insemination in cage with a syringe.

Insemination outside cage with a syringe.

Insemination in cage with a micropipette.

Dissected utero-vaginal region of fowl.

Infundibulal and utero-vaginal glands.

LIST OF FIGURES

Reproductive organs of the cockerel and bull.

Reproductive organs of the pullet and ^cow.

Morp[tology of the fowl spermatozoa.

Seasonal effects on semen production.

Cockerel semen exhaustion.

Semen collection techniques.

Nutritional effects on semen prod uction.

Hour of collection and semen release.

Spermatozoa counting methods.

Semen storage.

Dilution effect on the persistence of fertility.

Semen dilution and dose for insemination.

Persistence of fertility af'ter one insemination.

Page Facing

26 28 29 30 56 76

119 119

125

141 142

Page .After

5

9

40 24 50 58 58 68 7 1

92

126 1.38 140

Experiment

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 1 0 11 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7

LIST OF EXPERIMENTS

Nut r i t ional effec t s on semen volume . Pre-c o l l e c t ion li ght s t i mulation.

Age and seasonal i nfluen c e s o n s e men pro du c t i o n . Gene t i c vari at ions i n semen pro duc t ion .

Hour of c o l l e c tion and s emen relea se . Semen c o l l e c t i on t e c hnique s .

F r e quent s emen c o l l e c t i ons .

S perma t o zoa d ens i ty est i mat ion metho ds .

Fer t i l i s ing c apac i ty of stored semen . S emen dilut ion fo r storage in v i t ro . S e men dilution for s torage in vitro .

T e mp era tur e and di lut ion effe c t s on stored semen . Diluents for semen storage in v i t ro .

Diluent s a t var i e d r a t e s for s t o r e d semen.

A ddi tion of fruc t o s e aft er storage in vi t ro . Effe c t s of c l oacal transudat e on undi lut e d s e men. S t oring qual i t i es of s e men fro m ye arl ing c o ck s .

Page

33 35 36 39 43 45 4 8 5 1

87 89 9 1 92 93 94 95 98 98

1 8 Evaluation of diluents for inseminat ion. 1 21 19 Evalua t i on of di luents fo r insemination . 122 20 Eval ua t ion of di lu ent s at two di l u t ion rat es . 1 2 2 21 Evaluat ion of di luents at four dilution rat e s . 1 22 22 T hree do s e s by t hree dilut ion rates w i t h mi lk . 1 23 23 T hree do s e s by two di lution rat e s w i t h milk . 1 25 24 Two do ses by three di lution rat es w i t h buffer . 1 26 25 T hree do ses by t wo dilut ion rat e s w i t h milk . 127

26 Four dilut ion rates w i t h mi lk . 1 28

27 I nsemina t i ng a cons t an t number of spermat o zo a . 1 29 28 Duration of fert i l i ty aft e r one insemina t i o n . 1 30

29 Repeat abi l i t y of ferti l i t y . 1 3 1

30 C ent rifugat ion on s permato zoa fert i l i sing p o t e n t i aL1 3 2

3 1 Pre-inseminat ion t raining . 1 33

32 M e t hods of de tec t i ng fertile eggs . 1 34

* * * * • • * *

I

N

T

R 0 D U

C T I

^{0 N.}

Topic.

Artificial breeding is an interception of natural mating procedure , by the collection of semen

and

its retent ion in vitro before deposition

in

the female genital tract.

Semen is

u

s

u

ally collected after an

indu ced ejac ulation

into a

suit able receptacle , from the eng<D:'ged copulatory <D:'gan

sit uated

in the cloaca

of'

t

h

e male fowl.

When

removed from their first natural environment in the male genital tract

and

retained l!! vitro , precautions are needed to preserve spermatozoa function. This is the most artificial phase and the one to which most research has been directed

in

an attempt to extend semen storace time.

Insemination

is

the final phase of semen transfer

and

the

techniq ues

for depositing semen in the female genital tract , parallel those

use d

for other spe cies.

A

st

udy

of artificial breeding in the domestic fonl is presented in this thesis .

Scope of Research.

Three phases of artificial breeding were investigated; semen production and release , semen storage , and artificial

insemination.

Semen production was concerned with the ability of cockerels to produce adequate functional spermatozoa. The physiological characteristics of production were measured by age at sexual maturit,y; increase and persistence of spermatozoa output; semen quality traits such as spermatozoa concentration

and

the percentage of normal live spermatozoa; and the response to imposed

environmental treatments. Semen release was more concerned with the