Conference paper
INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION, TRANSCERVICAL INSEMINATION AND EMBRYO TRANSFER FOR PRACTICAL BREED IMPROVEMENT IN SMALL RUMINANTS
W.A.C. McKelvey
; The Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh,Scotland
G. Simm
; The Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh,Scotland
Abstract
The development of laparoscopic intrauterine insemination for sheep has been essential for the implementation of national Sire Reference Schemes in the UK. This technology has developed contemporaneously with ultrasonic scanning techniques for in vivo assessment of carcass characteristics in sheep, and with the application of BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) techniques for the accurate estimation of genetic merit. Together these techniques offer the real possibility of accelerating the rate of improvement in genetic merit for economically important characteristics in the terminal sire breeds of sheep. However,laparoscopy is an invasive procedure and future progress relies on the development of alternative, non-invasive insemination procedures. Embryo transfer has the potential to accelerate response to selection by increasing selection intensities and reducing generation intervals in females. The response may be enhanced further by embryo splitting. However, in sheep, results remain unpredictable due to the great variation in superovulatory responses of donor animals; responses in goats are less variable. This variation in response has an effect on genetic gain and especially inbreeding.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
164435
URI
Publication date:
24.6.1996.
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