Artificial insemination of rabbits is a frequently discussed topic at various scientific meetings and forums among rabbit breeders. There is a reasonable opinion that it is not recommended to use the method of unnatural fertilization of rabbits. We will try to explain all the pros and cons below.
- Bastards in the wild
- Female insemination methods
- Artificial mating stages
- Summarize
Artificial insemination of rabbits
Thanks to a number of studies, an answer has been found to the question that torments many rabbit breeders, is it worth using artificial insemination of rabbits for such quickly maturing and prolific animals. The answer is yes, of course!
natural rabbits
By observing rational breeding technology, you can achieve good results in this matter – up to 8 times per year, while the number of rabbits born ranges from 7 to 9. This is possible due to the unique ability to combine the lactation period In addition to this, females retain 70-80% of the young rabbits in the offspring and as a result, the yield of “commodity” rabbits will be 40-50 carcasses per year.
Do not underestimate the environmental factors that affect activity and predisposition of rabbits to mating NIJ and nurturing rabbits. It is also customary to consider seasonality in the issue of getting okrol.Bunnies and rabbits enter an active fever from December to May, then the mating hunt decreases, and in October and November it can disappear altogether, so some amateur rabbit breeders lose arriving to breed this animal species. It is during this period that it is advisable to turn to unnatural insemination of rabbits.
Fertilization methods for females
In addition to the traditional method, you can resort to the method of artificial insemination of rabbits. In order to have a good offspring, it is necessary to ensure the presence of the right number of males. With natural mating, 10 females contain 1-2 males, and on breeding farms for 200 animals, up to 40 breeding individuals. Among this number, only a few will become honorary producers with a high level of fertility.
Not all males favorably affect the productivity of offspring, which significantly reduces the genetic potential of the herd, therefore, the services of the best males are resorted to as often as this is possible, while creating a shortage of the latter. The zootechnical method will help reduce the shortage of the best producers, allowing you to inseminate females without a partner, that is, by artificial means. This method will increase the number of animals with valuable economic traits and in a short time will check the producers on the quality of the offspring.
Fertilization method for females
Seed (sperm) is collected from strong healthy males with a fleshy constitution and active sexual reflexes. Biomaterial from one male can fertilize up to 50 queens. This will help reduce the number of males for insemination.
To increase the fecundity of selected producers, it is necessary to improve the diet and living conditions. Thanks to the use of this method of fertilization, the fertility of rabbits will be 89%, and the number of rabbits will be 6-9 individuals.
The technological cycle lasts no more than 30 minutes, it takes up to 3 minutes for one uterus. Four hands can be fertilized up to 70 females per call. The advantage of synthetic insemination in rabbits is that unused sperm can be frozen. This process will allow delivering seed to other regions.
Stages of artificial mating
Fertilization of the rabbit by introducing sperm into the uterus using a special kit can be divided into 3 stages:
- taking the biomaterial from the male;
- examining the biomaterial;
- introducing the biomaterial directly into the female uterus.
For selection The material on the male uses special devices: a fur rabbit glove or the female herself for excitation and an artificial vagina for collecting material.After sperm enters the catheter of the vagina, it is either diluted or frozen with liquid nitrogen.
This insemination is carried out according to the uterine cervical type, which includes the introduction of sperm into the cervix, which creates more favorable conditions for the survival of sperm .
Ovulation in a female is caused by mating with a sterile male. Next, place it on a special table in the coccyx position down. Diluted furatsilin applied to a cotton swab is used to treat the genitals of the animal.
Artificial insemination process
Seed is collected in a syringe with a score of at least 6 points and a sperm level of about 5-10 million. If the sperm is diluted just 3 ml will be needed. If it is frozen sperm at a temperature above 38 ° C and with a score of 3 s over 4 million active sperm or stored at 0 ° C for 5-6 hours, 4 ml.
Next, the syringe is injected into the genital tract 12-14 cm, with the other hand holding the labia, pointing down, and then, bending it (syringe) at 45 ° C, the male biomaterial is introduced. Flexion of the syringe is necessary due to the fact that female rabbits have a two-horned uterus, which prevents sperm from entering directly into the cervix. Not later than 2 hours it is necessary to introduce a rabbit hormonal drug to the rabbit to improve hunting and the likelihood of mating.
To summarize
In practice, it is clear that most rabbit breeding farms in Europe and the CIS countries are increasingly resorting to an artificial method. This allows you to develop the genetic core of males with high rates. Over 25 centers for the artificial insemination of rabbits have been created in the territory of the European Union, serving as a supplier of genetic material for the rabbit producer farm, which has become a kind of “sperm bank.”
Designed to help small breeders Wasting money and time for the maintenance of their own genetic nucleus, such a “firm” has helped solve the problem of many for years. The farm can spend money saved on developing or improving animal welfare conditions.
