Detailed Explanation of Turkey Artificial Insemination Techniques

Semen Collection 

    The massage method is the most commonly used semen collection method, and it is safe, simple, and easy to master.  
    Semen collection by the massage method requires 3 people working together. 1 person is the main semen collector, and the other 2 are assistants,  responsible for restraining the male turkey and holding the semen collection cup to collect the semen. The semen collector sits on a long wooden bench (the bench is about 1.2 m long, 0.35 m wide, and 0.4 m high), with both legs straddling the two sides of the wooden bench. The bench surface is tightly wrapped with a soft material such as soft cloth or burlap to prevent scraping the skin of the turkey's chest. The semen collector and the restrainer each hold the male turkey's waist and both legs respectively and place its chest on the wooden bench, with both legs hanging down naturally. After the male turkey is secured, the semen collector uses the left hand to lift the base of the male turkey's tail, and the right hand to gently massage the tail, with both hands working together 3 to 4 times, then the right hand pushes and massages several times from the back toward the base of the tail. At this time, the male turkey's reproductive protuberance rhythmically protrudes outward with force. At this point, the semen collector's right thumb and the other 4  fingers are separated to clamp both sides of the anal ring, forming a squeezing action, and the left hand is placed on the male turkey's abdomen to induce reflexive erection, and the semen is expelled along the longitudinal groove between the two sides of the reproductive folds. At this time, the semen should be quickly collected into the semen collection cup.  

Insemination 
1. Preparation for insemination of female turkeys: Before insemination, a certain amount of semen is divided into each insemination tube,  containing 0.025 to 0.03 mL of semen, or the semen is directly injected into the female turkey's vagina with a glass pipette,  which can also achieve the same effect.  If insemination is done with a graduated glass pipette, two people are needed to work together. The person whoeverts the cloaca holds the female turkey's two legs (shanks) upside down with the right hand, with the head downward, the tail upward, and the chest clamped inward between the knees of the person everting the cloaca, and applies a certain pressure to the female turkey's left abdomen with the left leg, so that the cloaca opens and the oviduct opening on the upper left side is everted.  

2. Insemination depth: The vaginal part of the female turkey has a “V-shaped bend about 8 to 10 cm long,  and the junction between the uterus and the vagina also has a relatively strong sphincter. Therefore, in production, the shallow oviduct insemination method should be used, with a depth of 2 cm being appropriate, which can achieve very good results.  

3. Insemination dose and insemination frequency: The insemination dose and insemination frequency should be determined according to semen quality. If sperm motility is high and density is high, the insemination dose can be smaller, and insemination can be done after dilution. If undiluted semen is used for insemination, the dose is  0.025 mL, but in production the actual insemination dose generally exceeds 0.025 mL. Turkey semen has a relatively high sperm density,  generally reaching 7 billion to 8 billion sperm per mL, so the number of effective sperm inseminated each time is about 70 million to 90 million or 100 million. When the laying rate of the turkey flock reaches 5%, the first insemination begins, then the second insemination is carried out on the  4th day, and thereafter insemination is carried out once a week. As turkeys age, egg production and fertilization rate both decline,  so in the late laying period of female turkeys (after 18 weeks of laying), the insemination frequency should be increased to maintain a relatively high fertilization rate.  
    4. Insemination time: The insemination time for female turkeys should be after laying, that is, 3 to 4 p.m. Experiments have shown that  inseminating female turkeys that have a hard-shelled egg in the oviduct results in a low fertilization rate.