Artificial insemination: a technological tool to support livestock enterprises

in Project HOPE3 years ago (edited)
Dear readers, in the cattle companies, within the management of the bovine herd that must be carried out in an efficient way is the reproduction, generally natural reproduction is used, which requires the presence of a bull that provides the male gametes or spermatozoa, which when fused with the ovum of the cow, fertilization occurs to produce a calf, which ensures the growth of the herd and also the lactation periods for milk production.

Insemination of a crossbred cow

Design by @amestyj, with images of his property.

In the above described, it can be seen how the natural process of fertilization of cattle is, but for some time a technological tool known by all as artificial insemination has been used in cattle companies, which among its advantages is the effectiveness of fertilization, to improve the genetic condition of the animal and in some parts such as Venezuela to reduce costs, since the acquisition of bulls is currently uphill because it is more expensive than the implementation of artificial insemination.

According to Koeslag (2005) and other authors, artificial insemination is a technique that consists of depositing semen in the cow's reproductive tract without using the bull. This technique is generally performed between 8 to 10 hours after the animal's estrus begins, for which there must be a synchronization of the estrous cycle. Artificial insemination requires special equipment, frozen semen, and a person trained in its handling.

There is the technique of insemination with pills and straws, the most used in the southern area of Lake Maracaibo is with straws, which is a small plastic cylinder with a volume of 0.25 to 0.59 ml, which contains the diluted semen dose. To conserve the semen contained in the straws, a liquid nitrogen thermos is used, which should be inside a wooden box and the intermediate spaces should be filled with some material such as foam rubber to protect it from shocks. To measure the nitrogen level, a black painted rod is used, which is introduced into the thermos up to the bottom, after approximately 30 seconds, it is removed and read observing the part that is snowed, when the wood marks a range of 14 cm or less, the nitrogen is immediately recharged.

Thermos with liquid nitrogen for the storage of semen straws.

Design by @amestyj, with images of his property.

Among the advantages that the use of this technology can have in livestock companies are the following:

- With a single ejaculate, several animals can be inseminated, while with natural mating, approximately 1 bull for every 25 cows is used.

- It is easy to move the material to be used, which makes it more economical to transport semen than the bull.

- Semen can be preserved for many years.

These are some of the advantages that insemination can have in livestock companies, which translates into an improvement of the herd and also in a better cost-benefit ratio. Although it is a technological tool that has been in the market for several years, it is still essential to achieve great productive benefits.

Bibliographic references
Koeslag, J. (2005). Dairy cattle. Editions trilla



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Greetings dear @amestyj

"There is the technique of insemination with pills and straws, the most used in the southern area of Lake Maracaibo is with straws", even though there is much controversy about its effectiveness, in this area it has shown to be very effective. Thank you for sharing this great article of descriptive and scientific value.

Greetings to the family, blessings to the children.

Greetings my dear friend @lupafilotaxia, as you say there may be a lot of controversy regarding its effectiveness, but everything depends on having an excellent synchronization of the animal's estrus for the method to be effective, otherwise we would be spending money without any benefit.

See you later my friend, have a great weekend.

Undoubtedly, it is a technique that has given good results but has become more and more expensive. I remember that the Coches brothers started this technique with their company Bull Semen, I do not know if it still exists, but at that time the costs were low, according to a friend of mine the difference between this and the bulls is getting smaller and smaller and sometimes it is even more expensive. @tipu curate 2

Hello my dear friend, artificial insemination today in Venezuela is booming in the area south of Lake Maracaibo, some colleagues point out that it is due to the high cost of bulls, therefore, they are training the staff that are in the production units to ensure that the method achieves the effectiveness that is required. If I know the bull semen company very well known and successful, I think it still works.

Thank you very much for your valuable comment, have a great weekend.

At least you can reduce the cost with the method for the farmers.

Hello my dear @chesatochi, in Venezuela in particular they are looking at it as a viable alternative, taking into account that the costs for the acquisition of bulls have risen a lot. Apart from that, it allows you in an efficient way to improve the genetic potential of the future herd.

So long, have a great weekend.

Greetings @amestyj, artificial insemination helps producers improve the genetics of their herd which ultimately translates into higher meat or milk production.

Thanks for this post.

Greetings my dear friend @carlir, you are absolutely right insemination helps to improve the genetics of the herds present in the production units, it is a technology that has been in the market for a long time and is still in force. thank you for your contribution, which strengthens the publication.

See you later, have a great weekend.