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Modern Captive Breeding -
Part II ..continued |
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ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION Semen Collection. The two methods of obtaining semen are by
manually stripping a male or by an imprinted male copulating on a human
voluntarily. With regard to the technique needed to strip a
male raptor, there are written descriptions, but you should certainly aim to
see it done by an experienced breeder. The quantity of semen given will vary
not only from different birds, but also between each stripping session from
the same bird. Although the stress involved in being caught up and manually
handled is kept to a minimum, most males will only stay in breeding condition
if stripped every couple of days or so. For an imprinted male who voluntarily
copulates with its human mate there is no stress involved. Our voluntary
males donate semen at least twice daily for up to two months. To give you an
example of what one of these males is capable of, during the past breeding
season, a three-year-old white jerkin that voluntarily produced semen for the
first time this year, managed to fertilise forty-five eggs for us. This is by
no means a record, but when you realise that up to forty percent of his semen
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not used, it gives you a good idea of what a
good voluntary donating male is capable of. We do not have space here to go into any depth
on the techniques used to produce a male voluntary donor, but in very basic
terms it involves interaction with the imprint male on a daily basis to
establish a strong bond between human and bird. The human "partner"
mimics breeding behaviour of a female of the same species of the male.
Typically this involves the human partner copying as far as possible the
breeding display behaviour of the female by making bobbing movements of the
upper body and or hand, and by making noises which simulate the breeding call
of the female. This has to continue until the bird reaches sexual maturity
and maintained for as long as semen is needed from that particular bird. When the breeding season arrives, the males
are encouraged to copulate and deposit semen onto a hat, glove or pad of a
suitable size and shape to suit the male. This is designed and made of a
suitable material to ensure collection of all or most of the seuieu
deposited. You will find that the quality of semen produced by different
males varies enormously. Some males produce excellent for many years, but
variations are possible even in the best producers. Most breeders, to assess
quality, use microscopic examination of semen. It is important to note here
the importance of having some back up in any breeding project, |
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which relies on semen collection by stripping
or voluntary donation. If you have several females, but only one male who
produces semen, then you are risking all on one shot. The answer is either to
have a team of males or to make arrangements with a fellow breeder to provide
"mutual insurance". This is a real issue and even projects with a
number of males can find themselves short of semen at particular times of the
season. This tends to happen in particular at the start of the season. There
is nothing that will drive you up the wall faster than having two or three
females begin laying but no semen to inseminate. Voluntary A.I. with imprinted
female raptors. The use of voluntary Al with imprinted female
raptors has grown enormously in recent years. Although its use has mainly
been with falcons and to a lesser degree golden eagles, some success with
accipiters is now being achieved, particularly with goshawks. Apart from
being the most stress free (for human and bird) approach, voluntary AI can be
a highly productive method of propagation. To achieve this desirable state of
affairs, the breeder must be prepared to put in a substantial amount of time
with the female imprinted raptor from an early stage in the bird's
development. This is necessary to give the best possible chance of
establishing the strong pair bond between human and bird required to make
voluntary insemination possible. Generally speaking the
earlier the proc |
