The Effect of Post‐ovulatory Insemination on the Subsequent Embryonic Loss, Oestrous Cycle Length and Vaginal Discharge in Sows

Abstract

The aim of present study was to study the effect of post-ovulatory insemination on the subsequent embryonic loss, oestrous cycle length and vaginal discharge in sows. Ten Large White multiparous sows were divided into two groups. Group A sows were inseminated once at 15 h after ovulation. Thereafter, they were ovariohysterectomized on day 11 (n = 5, first day of standing oestrus = day 1) and flushed for recovery of embryos. Group B sows were also inseminated once at 15 h after ovulation. They were further observed for return to oestrus and vaginal discharge (n = 5) after insemination. The endometrium tissues were biopsied from sows with vaginal discharge, embedded with paraffin, stained with haematoxylin and eosin and examined under light microscope. Only two embryos were observed in one of four sows from group A. All embryos had a spherical shape but differed in size (range 1-2 mm). In group B, only one sow had a regular return to oestrus (i.e. on day 23) and another sow had an irregular return to oestrus (i.e. on day 27). The other two sows in this group had shown vaginal discharge on days 20 and 38 after standing oestrus. For the number of leucocytes in the endometrium of sows with vaginal discharge, a large number of lymphocytes and plasma cells were observed in the connective tissue of the subepithelial layer. In conclusion, post-ovulatory insemination resulted in early embryonic loss, a subsequent prolonged oestrus interval and also vaginal discharge (i.e. endometritis) in sows.

The development of a model for artificial insemination by backyard pig farmers in Thailand

“…It is recommended that a fertilization rate correlated positively when the insemination took place between 0 and 24 h before ovulation (Soede et al 1995;Steverink et al 1997). Late insemination caused a drop in FR (Rozeboom et al 1997;Kaeoket et al 2005). The reproductive performance obtained in the study was comparable to those obtained from our previous studies where AI was performed by our technicians (Am-in 2005;Am-in et al 2010) or the data in commercial farms as shown by Suriyasomboon et al (2006).…”

“…Because males and senior people in rural areas were mainly responsible for agriculture and farming (Jitapunkul et al 2001), they were more familiar with back pressure tests for heat detection and catheter insertion than others (Techakumphu et al 2008). Heat detection is the most important factor for successful AI because it marks the accurate period of insemination which affects sows' reproductive performance (Banbury 1965;Soede et al 1995;Kaeoket et al 2005). In our study, we found that heat detection is a major cause of failure of insemination and conception in the pigs of backyard farmers; more education on this subject is required.…”

Artificial insemination in pigs today

“…Optimal fertility is reported with insemination occurring 12 hours before ovulation in competitive fertilization tests [104], and within 24 hours before ovulation with a single AI for fertilization rate and numbers of embryos [99], and farrowing rate and litter size [105,106]. Inseminations occurring too early or too late during estrus and in relation to ovulation can reduce fertility [92], and occurring too late in estrus can even increase embryo loss and cause endometritis [107].…”

A preliminary study on using autologous and heterologous boar sperm supernatant from freezing processes as post-thawing solution: its effect on sperm motility

“…Sperm ejaculated from boars was collected by using the gloved-hand technique (Kaeoket et al , 2005(Kaeoket et al , 2010d. During collection, the semen was filtered through gauze, and only sperm-rich fractions were collected.…”