Week 4
Well everyone, this week has been hectic to say the least! Apparently missing almost an entire week of school puts you a little ways behind. However, I managed to complete another week of my project. My goal this week was to learn how artificial insemination is used to breed the eggs that we superovulated the cow to obtain. While I mostly worked on this in bits and pieces, I still was able to get a good comparison between regular artificial insemination, and how it relates to an embryo transfer.
The most important things to consider at this point in the process is what semen you want to use. The whole objective of this process is to get genetically superior offspring, so it would make sense to choose a bull that upholds the characteristics you desire. While other semen may be cheaper, a higher quality will yield better results for your operation. Artificial insemination is preformed after estrus or standing heat is observed. Because there will be more eggs to fertilize, the cow is usually inseminated at 12, 24, and sometimes even 36 hours. For a quick overview of this process, the semen is loaded into an AI gun and is gently inserted into the vagina and just through the cervix. Once the tip is in the uterus, the plunger is pushed and the sperm is released.
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| AI gun used for breeding |
The biggest thing I wanted to do this week was to compare this process to regular artificial insemination. The first thing I found was that you superovulate the cow and then breed her in this process. Normally, you bring the cow into heat and breed her, then she ovulates. In order to clear this up I called a friend of mine, Whisper Kelly. She told me that although you superovulate the cow, she doesn't ovulate at that time. She is only preparing to ovulate more than one egg. She will come into heat, and ovulate just like normal. The second difference I found was that the cow is bred more than once. Even though a straw of semen has a over 100 million sperm, I guess that isn't enough.
Next week I will be looking into the step I am most excited for. I hope to cover the actual flushing of the embryos. I am hoping to make it out to Fort Keogh for this because it is something that I think will be a little more in depth than the rest of my other steps. Anyways, I'll keep you posted!
Sounds like quite the project you have been working on! I like the way you compare and contrast embryo transfer and Artificial Insemination. Which is a better method for large groups of cattle? Is one way more efficient than the other? Which method produces more successful births? This has been extremely interesting and I applaud you for taking on such a different project. For some of the other students in the class following your blog, I think it might be helpful if you included definitions of embryo transfer and Artificial Insemination, or maybe a link where we can learn along with you. Keep up the good work and let us know what you learn at Fort Keogh!
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty cool project you are working on. My parents might be in need of someone like you. They are thinking about getting a cow artificially inseminated then sell the calf, so as to be able to classify our property as a small farm business for tax reasons. I don't know the definition to all the words you used as I am not very ranchy at all. The process behind artificial insemination is interesting and is a lot more complicated than I thought it could be. Good luck on your project.
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