A STUDY OF THE ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION OF THE DOMESTIC DUCKS AND THE DOMESTIC MUSCOVY DUCKS

Methods of artifical insemination of the domestic ducks (Peking Ducks or South China Ducks) and the domestic muscovy ducks are described in this paper. The methods consist of three processes, collection of semen, dilution, and artificial insemination. Using these methods it is possible to obtain not only fertile eggs from the insemination of ducks of the same species, but also hybrid ducks from the reciprocal crosses of the domestic ducks and the domestic muscovy ducks.Several dilutors were used in the artificial inseminatian experiments. They were: 3-N dilutor, Ringer's solution, normal saline, albumen, yolk-sodium citrate solution and 6% glucose solulion. Among these dilutors tested, the 3-N dilutor was found to be the best.The fertility of South China ducks insemianted with the semen of Peking Ducks diluted to 20 times with 3-N dilutor of pH 7.7 was 55.6% (3 days av.), When the semen were diluted to 25 times, the fertility was 33.5-42.5% (3 days av.), and 28.5% (5 days av.).The fertility of South China Ducks inseminated with the semen of the muscovy ducks diluted to 10 times with 3-N dilutor of pH 7.7 was 42.4% (3 days av.). This was almost the same as the fertility using semen of Peking Ducks diluted to 25 times. This fertility could not be raised even the semen were less diluted.The fertility could not be noticeably raised by using semen kept at 35-38°C. aften colletion during winter. Conversely, too long preservation at such a temperature would decrease the viability of the spermatozoa and thus lowered the fertility. No significant difference was detected in the fertility whether or not there was egg in the uterus during insemination.The optimum pH of the dilutors for the duck semen was 7.2-7.7. Using a mixture of the semen of Peking Ducks (or South China Ducks) and the muscovy ducks for the artificial insemination of South China Ducks, the fertility was higher than that using the semen of the muscovy ducks under the same dilution, but was lower than that using the semen of Peking Ducks or South China Ducks alone.