Egg Production and Fertility Following Various Methods of Insemination in Japanese Quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica)

Abstract

A modification of the method of Burrows & Quinn (1939) was successfully used to collect semen from male Japanese quail, and females were artificially inseminated by intravaginal, intraperitoneal and intrauterine routes. Others were mated naturally. Semen from antibiotic-fed males, diluted with quail-egg albumin containing antibiotics, and deposited in the uterus (shell gland) by means of a hypodermic needle passed through the egg contained therein, fertilized more than 75 % of the females for a mean duration of 4\m=.\6 days. This procedure also resulted in excellent egg production and caused no mortality. In contrast, the other methods of artificial insemination resulted in much lower fertility and egg production and, in some cases, heavy mortality.

Active Immunity Induced and Spermatogenesis Suppressed by Testicular Antigen in the Male Japanese Quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica)

“…Possibly more important is the observation that no semen could be collected from nine of the twenty-six males in that group; whereas it was possible to obtain semen from eleven out of twelve birds in the group injected intramuscularly and from all males in the other lots, both treated and control. Sperm density values agree well with those reported by Wentworth & Mellen (1963). Methylene-bluereduction times were extremely variable, as indicated by the large standard deviations.…”

“…Semen was obtained as described previously (Wentworth & Mellen, 1963), and semen volume, sperm concentration and methylene-blue-reduction-time (mbrt) were determined before the males were killed. The following modi¬ fication of the usual mbrt procedures (Beck & Salisbury, 1943;Bogdonoff & Shaffner, 1954) was used to estimate semen quality: 1-38 mg of crystalline méthylène blue was dissolved in 100 ml of albumin diluent (Xumsai, 1959;Wentworth & Mellen, 1963) instead of egg yolk.…”

“…The following modi¬ fication of the usual mbrt procedures (Beck & Salisbury, 1943;Bogdonoff & Shaffner, 1954) was used to estimate semen quality: 1-38 mg of crystalline méthylène blue was dissolved in 100 ml of albumin diluent (Xumsai, 1959;Wentworth & Mellen, 1963) instead of egg yolk. After the spermatozoan concentration had been determined, the semen was extended with albumin diluent so that each 0-1 ml contained approximately 40 million spermatozoa.…”

“…In tests with normal females, the successful method of intrauterine artificial insemination detailed previously was used in all but the first experiment; and duration of fertility was also determined as previously described (Wentworth & Mellen, 1963).…”

Reproduction in Nondomestic Birds: Physiology, Semen Collection, Artificial Insemination and Cryopreservation

“…With modi®cations, this procedure has been used to collect semen from ducks, peacocks, ®nches, canaries (Bonadonna, 1939;A.F. Leighton, personal communication), pigeons and doves (Owen, 1941), waterfowl (Johnson, 1954;Pingel, 1972;Skinner, 1974), pheasants (Smyth, 1968;Durrant and Burch, 1991;Durrant et al, 1995;, quail (Wentworth and Mellen, 1963), falcons Weaver and Cade, 1985), hawks (Corten,l973), cranes (Gee, 1969, unpublished;Archibald, 1974), curassows and turkeys (G.A. Greenwell et al, personal communication), condors (Gee, unpublished) cassowaries (Pickett, personal communication) and ostrich (Irons et al, 1996).…”