ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION OPERATIONS IN A STUD FARM.

The work is carried out in a total of five pens on either side equipped with dummy sows. Boars are brought in from the left or the right side of the building, by the other staff members. The collection pens are equipped with 'warming pens', where boars get themselves excited while waiting for their turn. Once the door opens, the boar will mount the dummy. For staff members it is just a relatively quick job to wait for the first – highly contaminated – ejaculate to drop on the floor, after which the semen collector is connected to the boar's penis. For this purpose, five copies of the 'Collectis' are being used – a device by IMV Technologies, made up of an artificial vagina, which can automatically widen and loosen up in order to stimulate the boar's penis. The device also contains a filter. At the other end of the Collectis, a plastic bag is connected, which will catch the filtrated ejaculate, avoiding human interference or bacterial contamination. Once the boar has done his business, he usually automatically retracts and lies down in a corner of the pen. Staff can then easily take the bag, seal it, scan the boar's ear tag and print a sticker with the relevant bar code. Thus the labelled semen is put into a pneumatic tube system and arrives safely in the laboratory. The semen has to be tested whether it matches the quality requirements as set by Cobiporc. This is performed with the Ivos II, Casa, from Hamilton Thorne, which can simultaneously analyse as well as record obtained data. Elements checked include e.g. the morphology (what is the shape of the semen cells?), their motility (how do they move?) and sperm cell concentration. All production data are recorded into eSmile, specific AI centre management software, guaranteeing traceability. Once all is approved, the computer will start a dilution programme. With Cobiporc's own extenders Kobidil+ and D-Max 6, the semen gets diluted so that one ejaculate provides enough for on average 30 bags – again sufficient for 30 artificial insemination sessions on-farm. In this way, although being completely absent, sows are on the mind of each and every individual, both porcine and human. Cobiporc boar stud, Janzé, France: Capacity: 300 boars Breeds: Piétrain/ Duroc-Piétrain Annual output: 530,000 doses Filling machine. Filling semen into bags happens with a machine called GTB 100 V3, which is supplied by French artificial insemination equipment company IMV Technologies, owner of also the Collectis and the eSmile software. The GTB machine was developed in 2009, improved in 2010 and the third generation appeared on the market in 2014, explains Benoît Bouvier, sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Only consisting of composite material, and not having sharp edges, the filling machine is easy to clean and maintain. In addition, the semen can be filled in regular bags of 80 ml, but can also be filled in smaller portions of 40 ml, destined for breeding farms using intra-uterine (deep) insemination. story from (pig progress.)