FAQ FOR BREEDING IN DAIRY FARMING
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN CATTLE AND BUFFALOES
Q.1 :
What is the importance of Artificial Insemination (AI)?
A :AI is the technique in which semen is collected from the superior bulls and introduced into female reproductive tract at proper time with the help of instruments. The major advantage of AI over natural mating is that it permits the dairy farmer to use top proven sires for genetic improvement of his herd and control of venereal diseases. AI is also of tremendous value in making optimal use of different sires and enables dairy farmer to breed individual cows to selected sires according to their breeding goal.
Q.2 :What should be the weight and age of cows and buffalo heifers at the time of AI?
A :The weight and age of cow heifer should be 15-18 months and 275-300 Kg and that of buffalo heifers should be 26-30 months, 300-325 Kg at the time of first AI.
Q.3 :How the animals can be detected in heat?
A :The animals should be watched carefully for heat symptoms for half an hour atleast in the morning (5-7 AM) and evening (between 8-10 PM). The common heat symptoms in dairy animals are mounting behavior, mucus discharge from genitalia, restlessness, swelling of vulva, loss of appetite, bellowing, frequent urination and fall in milk yield.
Q.4 :How the quality of semen can be assured?
A :Quality semen should be procured from the well established breeding centers and stored properly in liquid nitrogen containers. These containers should be regularly watched for gas level. The semen should be thawed at 30-35oC for 30 sec just before loading to AI gun and insemination. Loaded gun should be protected from direct sun light and hygienic conditions should be maintained during AI.
Q.5 :What is the ideal time of AI?
A :As a thumb rule, animals coming in heat in the morning should be inseminated in the same evening and those coming in heat in the evening should be inseminated in the next morning. The animals remaining in heat for 24-36 hour should be inseminated 12-18 hrs after the onset of heat symptoms at least two times at an interval of 12 hrs apart.
Q.6 :What is the ideal time for animal to get pregnant after calving?
A :Following parturition the cow or buffalo should conceive between 80-100 days to maintain the calving interval of nearly one year.
Q.7 :What is the ideal time for pregnancy diagnosis after insemination?
A :The inseminated cow or buffalo not showing heat symptoms should be examined for pregnancy diagnosis two months after the AI.
BREEDING SOLUTIONS
Conception failure or infertility
Q.1 :
Why a cow/buffalo fails to get pregnant after repeated services/inseminations?
A :
This could be due to:
Uterine infections
Hormonal aberrations
Nutritional deficiencies
Wrong time of AI and use of poor quality semen
Q.2 :
Why some cows show heat symptom for 5-6 days?
A :
This could be due to hormonal imbalance leading to delayed ovulation or formation of follicular cyst on the ovary. To diagnose the condition, the animal needs to be examined by veterinarian for status of genital organs particularly ovaries. Ultrasonography of ovaries and hormonal analysis of blood is also carried to diagnosis the condition and to decide line of treatment.
Q.3 :
Why a cow/buffalo is not cured for dirty discharge even after intrauterine medications?
A :
The cervico-vaginal mucus discharge of that animal should be tested for microbial isolation and drug sensitivity test. Depending upon the report, the treatment should be done.
Q.4 :
What is the relation of post service bleeding & conception?
A :
This type of bleeding is normal physiological in some of crossbred cows and is known as metestral bleeding. There is no relationship between metestral bleeding and conception failure. Rather this is a positive sign indicating that the animal has ovulated. The animal needs to be examined thoroughly to find the exact cause of conception failure.
Q.5 :
What are the causes of abortions in cattle & buffalo?
A :
Abortion can occur in dairy animals due to following causes:
Deficiency of progesterone in early gestation.
Bacterial, viral and protozoan infections e.g. Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, Vibriosis, IBR– IPV, Trichomoniasis.
Feeding of toxic plants and fungus infested feed.
High fever.
Injury to the abdomen.
Misuse of drugs/hormones.
Infected animal should be segregated and handled separately away from the healthy animals.
Q.6 :
What is anestrus?
A :
It is the inability of the animal to show signs of heat due to inactive ovaries. It can be of different types like true anestrus, summer anestrus, postpartum anestrus and silent heat
Q.7 :
What are the main causes of anestrus?
A :
The different causes of anestrus are poor nutrition, hormonal imbalance, infectious diseases, anatomical defects, lactation, suckling and poor management.
Q.8 :
Why do some animals fail to come into heat for long period after parturition?
A :
This problem is more common in high yielding animals because a lot of energy is required for the parturition process as well as production after delivery. So animal looses weight. Therefore, good management through proper nutrition is required to meet the energy status of the animal and restore the reproductive performance of high yielding dairy animals.
Q.9 :
Why dairy animals especially buffaloes do not show estrus in summer season?
A :
The main reason is due to heat stress and lack of green fodder availability. Farmers are advised to reduce stress by keeping animals in shady areas especially under trees, providing fans/coolers and clean drinking water facilities in the shed. Provision of green fodder (Hay/silage can be used as an alternative in summer months) and allowing the animals for wallowing in ponds especially to buffaloes are also helpful to reduce the effect of summer stress.
Q.10 :
In certain buffaloes some mucus discharge is observed however, no prominent signs of
A :
In this condition the animal has functional ovaries, comes in heat regularly but it does not show the external behavioral signs of heat. Animal is usually cyclic and the owner should go for mating of their animals. Farmers are also advised to keep a close observation on the affected animals.
Q.11 :
Should hormonal therapy be used for onset of estrus?
A :
Hormones are effective only if the nutrition is balanced. Therefore, farmers are advised to check the nutrition of their animals regularly, before giving any other treatment. The hormonal treatment should always be administered in consultation with veterinary doctor.
Q.12 :
Most buffalo heifers do not come in estrus at less than 3 years of age?
A :
Generally such animals have a poor body weight. Normal body weight should be around 275 300 kg in case of buffalo heifers for onset of estrus. Therefore, feed good balanced diet as well as go for deworming of animals in order to have early onset of estrus.
Reference-On Request
