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Modern Captive Breeding -
Part II ..continued |
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ess of imprinting begins the better. We like
to start with our female imprinted falcons from ten days of age and daily
interaction with the `human partner' continues from that point. To be
successful, the human must have fully or very largely assumed the role of the
male bird. The technique used to produce an imprinted female who will stand
for voluntary insemination is similar in many ways to that used to produce a
male semen donor. Again pressures of space do not allow me to go into any
greater depth on the techniques used. In general terms the whole process can
be divided into three stages - the first stage is the initial hand rearing
and imprinting. - The second stage is from fledging through to the birds
first breeding season. Many breeders find that flying the bird for falconry
is a very productive procedure, as the bird is handled daily and the close
bond between falconer and bird that is established is the perfect catalyst
for this type of breeding. The other approach is to keep the female imprint
in a pen and visit her several times daily to reinforce the bond and ensure
that no fear response toward its human mate is allowed to occur. The third stage is the breeding season itself.
In the majority of cases the female will lead you through the whole process
and start soliciting copulation as you enter the breeding chamber. It is not
unusual for the female to start soliciting for the first time, after laying
one or two eggs during her first egg-laying season. It should be noted that if either of the first
two stages are not fulfilled, then the last stage will not occur.
When you have |
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reached the point where the female will allow
you to place your hand on her back while she presents herself for copulation
then you can feel confident that the imprinting process has been effective enough to make voluntary AI a
success. |
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When things go well it is possible to produce
many fertile eggs from the same female. It is not unusual to be able to
produce ten or more eggs from one female falcon and to achieve 100 percent fertility. |
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Voluntary AI is generally only achieved with
`human imprinted' individuals. However raptor breeders know of many
exceptions to this rule. For example, a few raptors, which have come
into falconry from the wild, as adults, have been known to exhibit exactly
the same behaviour towards the falconer as captive bred imprints. This leads
us to ask m questions as to how much we really know about the psychological
side of imprinting. There are several theories but that will have to wait for
a later article. Involuntary AI Involuntary AI is an approach normally used
when the other two methods are not going right for reason. It might be that
you have a pair intended for natural breeding but over several years,
although eggs have been produced none have been fertile. In this case
involuntary insemination of the female can
transform a totally unsuccessful I project into a very successful one.
The other situation where involuntary AI is used is where a female imprint
intended for voluntary insemination, refuses to stand correctly. In this case
the use of involuntary AI can produce success rates almost as high as that
achieved by the voluntary imprint. Skill in carrying out involuntary
insemination is something, which takes some time to acquire and master, and
even then some people will always be better than others. It is essential that
you see it done by an experienced practitioner before attempting it. It is
also true to say that the more inseminations you do the better you are likely
to become. Views on precisely the right technique vary even amongst the most
experienced breeders, but most manage to achieve a high level of
fertilisation. Timing is a crucial factor as it is preferable to inseminate
the female within two hours of her laying, so constant observation is
required. |
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Article and pictures courtesy of International
Falconer Magazine |
