A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE EMBRYO-FETAL DEVELOPMENT IN RABBITS AFTER ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

Objectives: Artificial insemination (AI) is the introduction of spermatozoa into a female's uterus or cervix for the purpose of achieving pregnancy. It is a fertility treatment for humans, in animal breeding and embryo-fetal developmental studies. This study investigated the embryo-fetal development in the rabbit via artificial insemination by evaluating the litter size, reproductive data and external morphological abnormalities after insemination. Methods: Ten adult female and three male rabbits weighing 1.8 kg and 2 kg, respectively were used. Group A served as the natural mating, while Group B served as the AI group, and the males served as semen donors. On day 28 of gestation, does were subjected to caesarean section. The ovaries and uteri were removed and examined for the number of corpora lutea and the status of all implantation. Results: Results showed a significant increase in fetal weight, total fetal number, total resorption sites, number of implantation and total number of live foetuses (p 0.05). A conception rate of 100% was observed in Group A compared to Group B with 80% conception rate. External examination carried out on the foetuses revealed no external abnormalities in both groups. Conclusion: The results of this study show the clear advantages in the use of rabbits for AI in terms of embryo-fetal developmental studies. Keywords: artificial insemination; caesarean section; embryo-fetal development