Artificial insemination: Scientific basis and practical application in poultry
Artificial insemination (AI) in vitro had been pioneered by Russian scientist V.P. Vrassky (1855) and later has been developed and advanced by I.I. Ivanov. The latter has been the first who inseminated hens artificially with the sperm obtained from the seminal ducts of slaughtered cocks (1902). AI found a widespread application in poultry after the development of the technique of intravital sperm collection from cocks via stimulation by abdominal massage (1935); this technique was later extended to other poultry species. At present AI is used for the breeding of poultry with significant sexual dimorphism of the bodyweight (turkey), low efficiency of natural mating resulting in poor egg fertility (broiler chicken), monogamous sexual behavior (geese); for hybridization of poultry including interspecies hybridization; for the development of new poultry genotypes and conservation of the existing ones; for conservation and reproduction of rare and endangered wild avian species.