Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Monitoring fertility cycle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-26
2001-03-06
Hindenburg, Max (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Monitoring fertility cycle
C119S453000, C119S455000, C119S472000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196975
ABSTRACT:
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING ESTRUS IN SWINE
The present invention relates to the field of animal husbandry and in particular, relates to a moveable cart suitable for use in a hog rearing operation and to improvements in such operations and methods associated therewith.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In hog rearing operations, it has become essential to maximize the reproductive capacity of the sows. Originally, many hog raising operations simply relied on letting nature take its course with impregnation of the sow by the male hog. However, with larger operations, it became necessary to increase the reliability and accordingly, artificial insemination has been widely practised.
In order for artificial insemination to work efficiently and economically, it is necessary to administer the semen at the time when estrus is occurring. Typically, semen is administered between 1 and 4 times during estrus in predetermined spaced apart time intervals.
It has been proposed in the art to use instrumentation to attempt to determine estrus. Typically, there have been proposed various types of temperature sensors and probes insertable into the vaginal canal for detecting either an increase in temperature or increase in current flow through the mucous. Although these methods do work, they are both time and labour intensive and increase the risk of mortality through contamination, infection, etc.
More traditionally, the techniques employed on the modem day farm is to circulate a male hog down a row of cages containing the sows.
Despite all the advances in the art, typically the impregnation success ratio (i.e. the number of sows successfully impregnated) is in the area of between 75% to 85%. While these rates represent a vast improvement over older success rates, it is obviously desirable to further increase the rate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the artificial insemination of sows.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a moveable cart which may be used in a hog rearing operation to assist in determining estrus and improving the success rate of artificial insemination.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moveable cart suitable for use on a hog farm, the moveable cart comprising a base, the base having wheels mounted thereon; at least one wall extending upwardly from the base; means associated with the at least one wall for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart; and at least one opening in the at least one wall sized to permit a snout of a hog to at least partially extend therethrough.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process of determining estrus in sows, each sow being enclosed in one of an aligned row of cages wherein the heads of all sows are aligned at one end of the cages, the improvement comprising the step of placing a male hog in a moveable cart, the cart having an opening in a side wall thereof, and moving the cart along the one end of the cages while permitting the male hog to have snout to snout contact with a sow.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process of artificial insemination of a sow wherein a plurality of sows are each enclosed in an individual cage, the cages being aligned, and wherein the heads of all sows are aligned at one end of the cages, the improvement comprising the step of placing a male hog in a moveable cart, the cart having an opening in a side wall thereof, and moving the cart along the one end of the cages, and permitting the male hog to have snout to snout contact with the sow during the step of artificial insemination.
The moveable cart of the present invention may take several forms. The cart may be formed as a single unitary cart of a rectangular configuration although, in a preferred embodiment, the cart is formed of two sections which are hingedly connected together. This arrangement is advantageous for movement in close quarters wherein one of the hinged connections may be undone such that the cart may move around a corner in a very short radius.
The cart is preferably motor driven although a hand pushed cart incorporating the features of the present invention could also be employed. The cart is preferably driven by an electric motor of a suitable voltage which in turn may be powered by a suitable non-explosive rechargeable battery. Alternatively, a 120 volt AC connection could be employed. Preferably, the cart is capable of being driven in both directions and even more preferably, is capable of being remotely controlled.
One of the advantageous features of the present invention is the provision of means to prevent the male hog from lying down in the cage. Such means may conveniently comprise a member extending underneath the hog to prevent such occurrences. Such a member may extend either transversely or longitudinally of the cart.
Preferably, the cart includes means for obstructing the vision from one end and one side thereof. Such an arrangement is advantageous in that the male hog can then only focus on a single cage containing a single sow. Preferably, the panels are removable and may be placed on either side/end of the cart.
Similarly, the cart is designed to permit snout to snout contact between the male hog and the sow. To do so, the space between the bars may be sufficient to permit such snout to snout contact or in a preferred embodiment, a portion of the wall is designed with removable bars such that the access opening may be enlarged or diminished as appropriate.
The cart is made of suitable materials to preferably be resistant to corrosion and to ensure proper sanitation.
One particular arrangement of the cart calls for centrally mounted wheels which permits the shortest turning radius for the cart. Preferably, such wheels are pneumatic and the air pressure may be varied depending on the load. Thus, additional support wheels at the corners of the moveable cart may be provided and the centre pneumatic wheels would have the pressure adjusted, depending upon the load, such that the cart is level.
In the improvement in the process of determining estrus, the cart may be moved past the heads of sows which are in aligned cages. At the same time, a worker placed at the rear of the sows can manoeuver the cart and using conventional techniques, determine whether the sow is entering estrus. It has been found that permitting the snout to snout contact assists in the determining of estrus.
Similarly, during the process of artificial insemination, the manoeuvring of the cart to each sow which is undergoing artificial insemination to permit snout to snout contact has been found to be extremely beneficial. It has been found that in so doing, success rates in artificial insemination have been as high as 95% compared to traditional figures of 85% or less.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3785344 (1974-01-01), Patterson
patent: 4171682 (1979-10-01), Merino et al.
patent: 4533008 (1985-08-01), Ostermann
patent: 5113793 (1992-05-01), Leader et al.
patent: 5653194 (1997-08-01), Guy
Labrecque Germain
Labrecque Robert
Fincham Eric
Hindenburg Max
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