ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN QUAIL AND THE PRODUCTION OF CHICKEN-QUAIL HYBRIDS

Intra-uterine insemination produces better fertility than intra-vaginal insemination when breeding quail by artificial insemination (Wentworth & Mellen, 1963; Ogasawara & Huang, 1963). Insemination is best accomplished when an egg is present in the uterus. Wentworth & Mellen (1963) passed a needle through the postero-dorsal wall of the cloaca, the uterus wall and the egg, and injected semen into the anterior region of the uterus. Antibiotics were added to the food and to a semen diluent to prevent serious infection of the females by E. coli. Ogasawara & Huang (1963) expelled the egg from the uterus before depositing the semen therein. Good fertility was obtained without the use of antibiotics and infection ofhens was not reported. The present communication reports a simple yet successful method of artificial insemination of quail without expelling the egg from the uterus. It was developed in an attempt to produce chicken-quail hybrids with the semen ofBrown Leghorns. Japanese quail aged between 2 and 7 months were maintained in individual cages and fed a turkey starter ration. Automatically controlled lights provided a 14-hr day. Brown Leghorn males of the Breeding line (Blyth & Sang, 1960)