Importance of oviduct relaxation in artificial insemination of turkeys

This experiment was designed to determine whether or not relaxation of the turkey oviduct prior to the release of the semen was necessary for optimal fertilization to occur with artificial insemination. A total of 96 large type turkey caged laying hens were inseminated with 0.025 ml. of pooled semen near the area of the uterovaginal junction while the oviduct was still everted or after pressure on the hen was released and the oviduct returned to its non-everted position with the insemination tube in place. The difference in fertility of 9% between the non-everted (87.4%) and everted (78.5%) group was significant (P less than 0.01). The embryonic mortality of the non-everted group (10.6%) was significantly lower (P less than 0.01) than in the everted group (13.2%).