Setting new AI

standards – part 1

Developments in feeding

Absolute Technology:

setting new standards in AI

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Reprnted from — ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE — December 2004/January 2005

Absolute Technology:setting new standards inartificial insemination

For the most part, deep AI hasbeen a pet of veterinarians and ahandful of specialized breeders,”says Mark Anderson, inventor ofthe new rods and consultant ofAbsolute Swine Insemination CoLLC (ASIC).

“ASIC is changing all that throughthe introduction of the ‘AbsoluteSwine Insemination System’, a trulynovel approach that anyone can use,offering promise to bring today’sefficiencies and profits to new highs!What was once consideredimpossible for most farms; is nowbecoming a reality at many Asian,US, European, and Canadian farmsthat are pioneering this innovativenew approach. What we arereferring to is weaning 25-30 pigsper year, per sow!”

Safe And Easy

So, what makes the ASICtechnology different? For one thing,it is safer and easier to use.

At first glance, the new deep AI catheters developed by MarkAnderson, look similar to other AI catheters. A closer look however,will show some interestingdifferences.

Unlike other traditionalcatheters, AbsoluteSOW and

AbsoluteGILT are made of flexibleplastic with a foam tip, inside ofwhich is balloon-like latexmembrane that turns itself insideout when semen is squeezed intothe rod. The AbsoluteSOW, is pinkin color and has a 6.5-inch(16.5cm) membrane; while theAbsoluteGILT, is purple in color,and has a 4.5-inch (11.5cm)membrane allowing for morecomplete penetration to the uterus.

“Both membranes are designed tocreate a pathway traversing theentire length of your animal’scervix, where once they havedeployed, they are configured toautomatically open inside theuterus of your animal to leavebehind a full dose of semen directlyin the uterus where it will have themost effect,” notes Anderson.

During insemination, thecatheters are pushed to the animal’scervical opening. When the semenis introduced, the latex membraneweaves its way into the cervicalcanal. Because of the membrane’sflexibility, it follows the naturalpathway of the pig’s reproductivetract, eventually ending inside theuterus where the semen isdeposited. This flexibility makes thecatheter safe and easy to use.

Anderson points out that withconventional deep AI catheters,there is a real danger of damagingthe pig’s reproductive tract andinjuring the animal, especially if theinsemination is done by someonenot specially trained for AI.

“Other deep AI or trans-cervicalcatheters have a smaller straightor semi-rigid catheter inside whichis pushed into the uterus whenthe semen is squeezed in,” he said.

“And these rod inside a rodcatheters are not flexible, unlikethe latex membranes in our rods.The industry calls the othercatheters ‘poke and hopes’because after poking in thecatheters, you hope that theanimals get pregnant and thatthey are not injured during theprocess.”

This could lead to litter loss,sterility, even death of the animal.The Absolute catheters haveanother plus factor.

There has been little change in artificialinsemination technology since it wasintroduced over 40 years ago. ISA Q. TANreports that recently however, a newcompany has come up with a system thatits inventor promises will change thestandards of artificial insemination.

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Mark Anderson, inventor of theAbsoluteSOW and AbsoluteGILT andconsultant of ASIC.

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Reprnted from — ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE — December 2004/January 2005

“All catheters, when pushed intothe vagina to the cervix, will collectthe muck and bacteria that thecervix is designed to keep out of theuterus,” explains Anderson.

“And with other deep AIcatheters, if you’re successful ingetting through the cervix to theuterus, the first thing that is pushedin when the semen is squeezed fromthe bottle would be the plug ofmuck and bacteria that has beencollected at the tip of the rod. Thecervix is meant to keep all theseout.

“However, with our catheter,while it too collects the muck andbacteria at the tip; when themembrane goes forward as thesemen is squeezed in, the plug ofmuck in the end is thrown out tothe side at the beginning of thecervix. So there is still the entirelength of the cervix to act as a filterand the only thing that goes intothe uterus is the clean tip of themembrane and the semen.”

The catheters are also easy to use.The traditional AI insemination will

To prove and confirm the newtechnology, ASIC and its Philippine JointVenture Absolute Swine InseminationProducts Inc (ASIP) recently begananother farm trial in the Philippines inconjunction with RH and BrooksideFarms, both owned by Mr Robert Ho, inTarlac province and invited Asian PorkMagazine to observe the process. A totalreview of conception, farrowing results,and total born and live born results willbe presented in a future issue of themagazine.

Both facilities received instructions,protocols, and personal hands-on trainingfrom Anderson, Dr Glenn Zabala, and Dr Jo Ann Hachuela, ASIP’s newestaddition to the Philippine’s team ofexperts. To prove the success is not onlyachievable, but also repeatable, ASIP andits team inseminated 100% of the trialanimals in the two locations for one weekbeginning September 28, 2004.

Following this period, both RH andBrookside AI technicians began a 50%breeding program using the Absolutetechnology and timing protocols at bothfarms. The other 50% of the farms’animals will be used as a control groupand bred using their traditional methods,catheters, and timing.

Asian Pork Magazine is monitoring theevaluation as it proceeds so this controlgroup will act as a comparison of thegains or losses in efficiencies. It will alsohelp determine if disease or poor semenquality enters the test groups at anyphase, and where adjustments might beneeded.

Conception results will be presented inthe next issue of Asian Pork Magazine.

Proving the technology

Above: Dr Jo Ann Hachuela of ASIP.

Top of page: Brookside Farmsfacility, Tarlac province, Philippines.

Below: Dr Glenn Zabala (left) with a group of on-farm trainees and thenew AbsoluteSOW and AbsoluteGILTcatheters.

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Reprnted from — ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE — December 2004/January 2005

have the boar in front of the sow,sometimes, sandbags placed on topof her and another technician tomassage the animal to simulate herfor contractions. The Ab rods aredifferent: they require no boar infront, no stimulation and manytimes the sows are inseminatedduring the heat cycle when she islying down.

Rather than inseminating rightaway after inserting the rods,Anderson said waiting a few minutesallows the animals to relax, makingit easier to squeeze the semen intothe rod and deploy the membrane.

“You don’t really waste any time,what you do is insert a catheter intoone sow and then go on and insertcatheters to the next several animals.Then go back to the first sow, whichwould’ve already had the time torelax and ready to be inseminated.You could actually inseminate thesow in less than one minute.

“Of course there are someproblem animals, especially thegilts, whose cervix is extremelytight; When this happens, leave thecatheter inside her, remove thesemen container and move onto thenext animal. Go back to the

problematic animal after a fewminutes and repeat the processagain. You must be very careful notto break the rod’s lock in the cervix,otherwise the insemination will fail,you will get backflow wasting thesemen.”

Changing protocols

The current practice inconventional AI is to inseminategilts immediately when the firststanding heat is observed and thesows 12 hours after the firststanding heat is observed. Thefollow up insemination is done afteranother 12 hours. This is becausethe semen is deposited only in thecervix and it would take up to 6-7hours for the semen to travelthrough the cervical canal into theuterus.

With the Absolute technology,because the semen is depositeddirectly into the uterus, a change intiming protocols is necessary. DrGlenn Zabala of Absolute SwineInsemination Philippines (ASIP)explains.

“With our ‘Squeeze and Please’technology, we breed duringrefractory heat. So when we breed,

there is no boar present and nostimulation like back patting is doneto the sow or the gilt. The firstinsemination for gilts is done up to12 hours after the first standing heat,and for the sows, the schedule is 24-36 hours after the first standing heatis observed. Then the second dose isserved 8-12 hours later depending onthe work schedule ot the farm.

“Evaluations show the firstinsemination must be done prior tothe expected ovulation time, inorder to effectively reach thematured eggs when they arereleased from the oviducts into theuterine horns. In sows, ovulationhappens during the last third of theheat cycle; usually about 40 hoursafter the true onset of standing heatin the animal.

“Meanwhile, sperms normally canlast from 24-48 hours, or an averageof 36 hours in the reproductive tractof the female animal. Since Ab rodsdeposit the semen directly into theuterus, these factors compel us tochange normal breeding schedulesby waiting 24-36 hours for the firstservice on sows. Because of the gilt’sshorter heat cycle, the inseminationis done sooner.”

Across the page: !

A catheter locked into a sow as itawaits insemination.

A Brookside Farm AI technician tries his hand at inseminating with the AbsoluteSOW catheter.

Gilts with the rods locked into thecervix relax while awaitinginsemination.

Trainees practice the correctprocedure using the AbsoluteGILTcatheter.

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Reprnted from — ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE — December 2004/January 2005

Dr Zabala emphasised theimportance of following their timingprotocols, because it allows thesemen to be in the uterus at thetime when ovulation of the sow orgilt is at its peak. This would meanhigher chances of pregnancy. Onthe other hand, by not followingthe correct timing protocol, there isa very high likelihood that thesystem will fail or at the very least,the results will be less thanexpected.

Meanwhile, Dra. Jo Ann Hachuelaof ASIP points out a major factor insuccessful breeding using theirtechnology is proper heat detection.

“Proper heat detection is criticalbecause this will give you thecorrect starting point for yourinsemination. Otherwise, either youwon’t be able to inseminate at all,or the results would be less thanoptimal and you’ll get lowpregnancies, lower farrowing ratesand smaller litter sizes.”

Over the last two years, ASIC hasconducted farm trials around theworld and the results have beenimpressive. Many farms havereported that their pregnancypercentages have shot up to at least

" Top, left to right, across the page:

Mark Anderson of ASIC inserts anAbsoluteSOW catheter on a relaxed sow.

Dr Glenn Zabala of ASIP checks onthe catheter’s lock on the sow’sreproductive tract.

Anderson bends the catheter slightlyto let gravity do its work as hesqueezes in the remaining semen inthe bottle. It is important you do notjust pull up on the catheter to changeits angle, since this will result inbreaking the lock in the cervix andcreate backflow.

The catheter is slowly pulled out of the sow after the semen is completelydeposited into the uterus.

95%, while litter sizes have gone upby as much as 1-2 piglets.

“In the farms that haveimplemented the technology, we’vebeen able to achieve these results,”reports Anderson.

“With this technology, farms areactually able to lower costs and atthe same time increase profits.”

Despite the successfulinsemination using their technologyhowever, Anderson advises againstcutting the doses in half to savemoney.

“We strongly recommend usingfull doses, and inseminating twice.The smaller amount of semen isharder to squeeze properly, and thesmaller amount of sperm may resultin slightly fewer pregnancies andslightly smaller litters. Even smalllosses, such as one less pig gettingpregnant, or one less pig per litterwill cost you more in profit atmarket time than yourcomparatively small savings insemen cost.”

Taking leaps

After barely two years in themarket, the Absolute catheters havemade leaps and bounds. They are

now sold in more than 20countries, and the list is growing.

Meanwhile, Anderson reports thattrials and evaluations continue tobe conducted in farms around theworld, and the results coming incontinue to prove that theirtechnology can work wonders.

“You must understand, of course,that all results will depend upon anumber of factors. As you alreadyknow, the type of animals and theirgenetics, the accuracy ofdetermining heat, the quality of thesemen, the expertness of thetechnicians, the living conditions,feed, general health and even theseason of the year all play a part indetermining both pregnancies andlitter sizes.”

If the results of their studies areany indication, then the Absolutetechnology may be breakingbarriers in the world pig industry.With pig farmers the world oversearching for ways to continueincreasing efficiency andprofitability, the new Absolutecatheters may certainly be worthmore than a just passing glance. !