Quail AI

[Susan Skylark]

Sorry, this is not a post about a robotic brain for our little feathered friends though that might be nice, nor is it about some bird name Al, instead let’s talk quail artificial insemination, back in the day an AI technician wasn’t a computer guy! Has anybody tried it? Success? It doesn’t look difficult, at worst you’ll get infertile eggs which I’m already getting from my Blau hen that hates males, but she’s my only Blau bird and I’d like to get a few more before I cull her for attitude. I’ve done dogs and horses, I should be able to do a bird.

 

[FatherFalcon]

Due to the size of my current quail line, I have done assisted insemination. The roo has trouble mounting so in order to get the eggs fertilized, I do a very quick foam transfer with a very clean tool or finger. There is a hen hold-down method I saw done in Kuwait. It involves holding down the hen and assisting the balance of the roo.
Also, I did have fair success with the hatching of eggs that lay in the timeline of the assisted inseminations. I'd say that after 5 days the eggs started not being fertile if I didn't "help"...
You should try it out and see what happens...!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Has got to be easier than collecting stallions or inseminating large female dogs (get to hold the female upside down for ten minutes afterward, try that with a Great Dane!).

 

[FatherFalcon]

How is the progress with AI? Did you give it a go?
A person from the Appalachia (HBillie) told me just to clean your finger and do it fast...

 

[Susan Skylark]

Not sure if/when it will happen, we have some upcoming summer plans and my hatching schedule has to take a backseat, I’ll let you know how it goes if it does!