Evaluation of artificial insemination techniques on fertility in laying hens.
The effects of depth of intravaginal insemination of two subsequent semen ejaculates from Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Light Sussex (LS) cockerels on fertility and embryonic mortality of eggs from RIR hens were investigated. Intravaginal insemination to a depth of 3.5 cm resulted in significantly higher fertility than shallow insemination to .5 cm (74.0 vs. 62.3%). Although not statistically significant, fertilizing capacity of first ejaculate of semen collected from either RIR or LS males was greater than the second ejaculate (71.4 vs. 64.9%).
D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000502:physiology; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*