RESEARCH ON THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION WITH FRESHLY DILUTED AND FROZEN SEMEN IN EWES DURING NATURAL ESTROUS

Abstract

In the context of the development and expansion of the sheep farming system, the main concern of sheep breeders has become the achivement of controlled reproduction and the practice of artificial insemination with semen from breeder rams. The study is carried out in a farm of 550 Merino de Palas sheep in Constanța county, the owner aiming to improve the quality of the wool fiber. After about 3 weeks from the beginning of the mounting campaign, when the ewes in estrous were detected twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, the ewes came out to the mounting in a group due to the male effect. This was the moment when we started the double artificial insemination campaign, approximately 10 hours apart, on natural estrous, with semen from 2 Australian Merino rams - UK import, aged 5 and 6 years. Thus, 308 ewes were artificially inseminated, respectively 226 ewes with freshly diluted semen and 82 ewes with frozen semen. After these 14 days, the two males were used for the natural mounting of 64 ewes in natural estrous, during the next 14 days, these being the control group. After the artificial insemination, a calving rate of 64.86 - 67.95% was obtained when inseminating with freshly diluted semen, 40.24% when inseminating with frozen semen and 72 - 76.92% after natural mounting of ewes from the control group.