How to improve horse fecundity?

Horses are herbivores. Tamed by humans 4000 years ago, horses were the main driving force of agricultural production, transportation and military activities in ancient times. There are more than 200 breeds of horses in the world. With the development of productive forces, the improvement of the level of science and technology and the invention and wide application of power machinery, horses play a smaller and smaller role in real life. Horses are mainly used for equestrian sports and the production of dairy meat, and the amount of feeding is greatly reduced. However, in some developing countries and regions, horses are still mainly used for service, and are an important source of service, and the staple food of horses is grass. Today, the editor will show you how to improve the breeding skills of horses.

Strengthen seed selection

Fecundity is greatly affected by genetic factors, and the reproductive performance of different varieties and individuals is also different. In particular, the male horse has a great impact on the offspring, so the selection of male and female horses with high fecundity is the premise to improve the reproduction rate of horses. For the selection of mares, attention should be paid to the morning and evening of sexual maturity, estrus arrangement, foal interval, conception ability and lactation performance under normal feeding conditions. In the selection of stallions, attention should be paid to the genetic performance, physique and appearance, reproductive history and reproductive performance of stallions, and attention should be paid to the examination of general physiological status, reproductive organs (texture and size of testicles and epididymis, sperm excretion ducts, function of accessory gonads), semen quality (sperm motility, density, sperm morphology) and reproductive diseases.

Increase the number of mares

The mare is the basis of the multiplication of the herd. the more the number of mares in the herd, the faster the multiplication of the herd. Therefore, the rapid development of large-scale horse industry is the most effective way to improve the rate of horse reproduction.

Scientific feeding and management

Strengthening feeding and management, especially in estrus and breeding season, is the material basis to ensure normal estrus and ovulation of mares. Lack of nutrition will make the mare thin, endocrine activity affected, sexual function decreased, reproductive function disorder, often no estrus, quiet estrus, estrus does not ovulate, the number of ovulation decreased; stallions show poor semen quality, decreased libido and so on.

Do well estrus identification and timely mating

Under normal circumstances, the eggs just excreted have strong vitality and are highly energized. Generally speaking, the closer the time between insemination or natural mating and ovulation, the higher the conception rate. This requires the identification of the mare's estrus as accurate as possible in order to achieve timely insemination. The estrus identification of the mare usually focuses on rectal examination on the basis of external observation. Rectal examination according to the existence, size, texture and other changes of the follicle, grasp the degree of follicular development and ovulation time to determine the most appropriate time of insemination. In recent years, the implementation of rectal insemination combined with touch follicular development has reached about 60% of the estrus conception rate.

Abide by the operating rules and adopt the new technology of popularizing reproduction

The popularization of artificial insemination technology, especially the application of frozen semen, has greatly improved the production level of horses with the utilization value of breeding male animals. In the process of promoting artificial insemination technology, we must abide by the operating rules, from estrus identification, cleaning and disinfection instruments, semen collection, semen treatment, freezing, preservation and insemination, is a set of very meticulous and rigorous operation, all links are closely related. Poor mastery of any link can lead to mismatch and infertility. In order to improve the fecundity of horses, suitable and mature new reproductive techniques are gradually applied, such as estrus synchronization, embryo transfer, superovulation, controlled delivery, induced estrus, sex control, gene introduction, artificial fertilization, embryo cryopreservation and preservation. The correct use of reproductive hormones can restore the normal reproductive function of mares suffering from reproductive disorders, so as to maintain and improve their fecundity.

Early pregnancy diagnosis to prevent mismatch.

Through early pregnancy diagnosis, we can determine whether the mare is pregnant as soon as possible and treat it differently. For mares that have been confirmed to be pregnant, fetal protection should be strengthened to make the fetus develop normally and prevent mismatch in estrus after pregnancy. For non-pregnant mares, we should carefully and timely find out the reasons, take corresponding measures, seize the opportunity to make up, and reduce empty time.

Reduce embryo death and miscarriage

The scope of this issue is wide and complex, and there are many factors affecting it. An early embryo that has not yet formed a fetus dies once it stops developing in the womb of a mare and is generally absorbed by the uterus, and some are excreted with estrus or urination. Because the disappearance and excretion of embryos are not easy to find, it is called recessive abortion. The average abortion rate of horses is about 10%, and most miscarriages occur around 5 months of pregnancy. In this period, to avoid sudden changes in feeding conditions, a reasonable amount of service or exercise is an effective preventive measure. It has been suggested that subcutaneous implantation of 300 mg of progesterone after 120 days of pregnancy may also be effective in preventing miscarriage.