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Successful use of artificial insemination in the production of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa)

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Abstract

This paper reports the first successful artificial insemination (AI) of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa), the fertility rate achieved, and the length of time sperm cells can survive inside the oviduct (i.e., the post-AI fertile period). Semen from 20 mature males was collected by massage and pooled for use in single intravaginal inseminations (20 μL of fresh, undiluted semen) of eight females (15 × 106 sperm/female). The latter’s eggs were then collected for 4 weeks, and the fertilizing capacity of the sperm used in the preceding AIs was determined by observing the development of the blastoderm. The duration of the post-AI fertile period was determined by subjecting fertilized eggs to the SP-holes assay. A second experiment was then performed to measure the percentage of viable embryos at 20 days of incubation (30 %) and hatchability (40 %). The mean fertility rate was 34.5 ± 11.7 % and the SP-holes value 17.3 ± 4.3. The mean duration of the post-AI fertile period was 3 weeks. In conclusion, the present work reports the first ever birth of partridge chicks following AI and shows that this procedure may be of use in the conservation of this species.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by INIA grant RZ2012-00013-C02. F.M.K. Abouelezz was the recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship (STF/Cycle4/No. 6402) provided by the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF-EGYPT) of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The authors thank the Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía (Junta de Andalucía, Spain) for providing the animals used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Reproduction, INIA, Madrid, Spain

    F. M. K. Abouelezz, C. Castaño, A. Toledano-Díaz, M. C. Esteso, A. López-Sebastián & J. Santiago-Moreno

  2. Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Asyut, Egypt

    F. M. K. Abouelezz

  3. Department of Animal Breeding, INIA, Madrid, Spain

    S. G. Dávila, M. G. Gil, O. Torres Cuenca & J. L. Campo

  4. INRA 0085 UMR PRC INRA-CNRS-University François Rabelais-Haras Nationaux, Nouzilly, France

    E. Blesbois

Authors
  1. F. M. K. Abouelezz
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  2. C. Castaño
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  3. A. Toledano-Díaz
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  4. M. C. Esteso
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  5. A. López-Sebastián
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  6. S. G. Dávila
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  7. M. G. Gil
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  8. O. Torres Cuenca
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  9. J. L. Campo
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  10. E. Blesbois
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  11. J. Santiago-Moreno
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Santiago-Moreno.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Gortázar

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Abouelezz, F.M.K., Castaño, C., Toledano-Díaz, A. et al. Successful use of artificial insemination in the production of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa). Eur J Wildl Res 61, 645–647 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0929-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0929-1

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