Why Timing Is Key On Successful Artificial Insemination On Cows

The technique of inseminating a cow is a skill requiring adequate knowledge, experience and patience. Improper AI techniques can negate all other efforts to obtain conception.

Semen must be deposited within the tract of the cow at the best location and at the best time to obtain acceptable conception rates. Early methods of AI involved deposition of the semen in the vagina, as would occur in natural mating.

Those methods are not satisfactory. Fertility is low and greater numbers of sperm are required. Another method which gained popularity was the “speculum” method. This method is easily learned, but proper cleaning and sterilizing of the equipment is necessary, making it more impractical to inseminate than with the rectovaginal technique which is the most widely used AI method today.

In the recto-vaginal technique a sterile, disposable catheter containing the thawed semen is inserted into the vagina and then guided into the cervix by means of a gloved hand in the rectum.

The inseminating catheter is passed through the spiral folds of the cow’s cervix into the uterus.

Part of the semen is deposited just inside the uterus and the remainder in the cervix as the catheter is withdrawn. Expulsion of the semen should be accomplished slowly and deliberately to avoid excessive sperm losses in the catheter.

The body of the uterus is short; therefore, care should be taken not to penetrate too deeply which might cause physical injury. In animals previously inseminated, the catheter should not be forced through the cervix since pregnancy is a possibility. Since research data show little variation in conception rates when semen is placed in the cervix, uterine body or uterine horns, some people recommend incomplete penetration of the cervical canal and deposition of semen in the cervix.

The recto-vaginal technique is more difficult to learn and practice is essential for acceptable proficiency but the advantages make this method of insemination more desirable than other known methods. With practice, the skillful technician soon learns to thread the cervix over the catheter with ease. If disposable catheters are used and proper sanitation measures are followed, there is little chance of infection being carried from one cow to another.

A frequent question concerning AI is: What time during estrus should cows be bred for greatest chance of conception? Since estrus may last from 10 to 25 hours there is considerable latitude in possible time of insemination. Much research work has been conducted on this subject.

Controlled investigations were conducted by Trim Berger and Davis at Nebraska in 1943. These and other studies show that conception rate is lower when cows are bred prior to mid estrus or later than 6 hours after cessation of estrus (standing heat in this case). Maximal conception is obtained when cows are inseminated between mid estrus and the end of standing estrus, with good results up to 6 hours after estrus.

Success in insemination timing is dependent upon a good heat detection program. In large herds, this means assigning individual responsibility for heat detection and a continued education program for labor. A successful heat detection program and subsequent proper timing of insemination will pay dividends in increasing reproductive efficiency.

The best time for artificial insemination occurs in the last part of heat. It is therefore recommended that cows observed to be on heat in the morning are inseminated in the afternoon and cows detected on heat in the afternoon be inseminated on the morning of the following day.

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