A comparison of two methods of artifical breeding in sheep

Abstract

A test at Trangie Experiment Station in 1958 compared two techniques afartificial breeding of Merino ewes; technique A incorporating practices generally used in Australia and technique E based on central European practices. The techniques differed in methods of detection of oestrus, collection of semen, number of inseminations within one oestrus, and type of inseminating equipment. Paddock teasing (A) using raddled vasectomised rams proved more efficient for detecting ewes in oestrus than yard teasing (E). Semen collected in the artificial vagina was about twice as dense as the semen collected by electro-ejaculation. Volume and motility were similar in both methods. There was a 25 per cent higher conception rate in elves inseminated with technique E. This was partly offset by the lower efficiency of detection of oestrus, giving a nett advantage in lambing rate of 16 pm cent of ewes joined in favour of the European technique. Most of this difference is attributed to the better quality semen obtained with the artificial vagina.