Hatchability improvement in mulards based on selection of viable pronuclei carriers at artificial insemination

Present state and possible solutions are discussed for the problem of hatchability improvement in mulards, interspecies hybrids of Muscovy and domestic ducks. Different techniques of semen collection from Muscovy males were studied: manual massage and temporal placement of female in a cage with a male with subsequent semen collection into an artificial vagina. It was found that the latter technique improves ejaculate volume and sperm cell motility resulting in 5 % improvement of mulard egg fertility. Recommended sperm concentration is ca. 150 million per dose; semen should be introduced into the oviduct to the depth of 4 cm. Thus, effective way of collecting sperm in musk drakes was shown for the first time. Also, we studied an influence of the breed and the line on the hatchability of mulards and the expediency of selecting carriers of genetically compatible pronuclei to increase the output of hybrid young animals when crossing musk and domestic ducks. In the crosses, the parents were musk drakes, cross Jubilee, lines Y1, Y2 and Y3 characterized by good meat qualities, and house ducks of the Bashkir color breed (high egg-laying line BC2) and the Peking breed (high fertile line А4). Trials aimed at the investigation of the effects of genetic breeds and lines on the efficiency of hybridization showed the absence of significant differences in the hatch of mulards between different genetic combinations. However, mulards from Muscovy males (line Y1, cross Yubileynyi) and Pekin females (line A4, cross Agidel 34) had 4.5-7.2 % (Р £ 0.05-0.01) higher live bodyweight at slaughter as compared to other studied combinations. Here, a new method for selection of carriers of genetically compatible pronuclei without any violation of their genomic integrity was designed and experimentally tested. The method involves artificial insemination with a mixture of highly active semen of alien species and low-active semen of the native species (2:1). Carriers of livable pronuclei identified by this method improved the hatch of mulards by 20.5 % (Р £ 0.001) compared to randomly taken individuals from the breeding flock. Heritability coefficient (from mothers to daughters) of mulard egg hatchability of 27 % evidences that hatchability in mulards can be improved via the selection of compatible families together with evaluation of parents on the basis of the productive performance in mulards.