U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1988

Comments

Published in J. Reprod. Fert. (1988) 83, 873-877

Abstract

The onset of egg production (mean 18 · 3 days after the onset of photostimulation) and the rate of egg production (flock averaged 4 · 9 eggs per bird per week for the first 8 weeks of egg production) were not affected by 5 days of twice daily oviduct eversion ('venting') in the pre-laying period when compared to unvented controls. After the onset of photostimulation, pre-laying hens were inseminated twice daily on Days 12 to 16 with 3 μl semen containing 15 × 106 spermatozoa, and compared with groups of hens inseminated once daily on Days 15 and 16 with 15 μl semen containing 75 × 106 spermatozoa or 41 μl semen containing 200 × 106 spermatozoa. Fertility remained high for the first 5 weeks ofegg production. However, by Week 6 the fertility of the hens receiving frequent low doses of semen dropped significantly below that of the others, which suggests that multiple inseminations with a low semen volume containing relatively low numbers of spermatozoa does not lead to an increase in the efficacy of sperm transport and storage in the oviduct.

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