The Collection of Spermatozoa from the Domestic Fowl and Turkey

TLDR

Semen collection in birds is challenging due to their unique genital anatomy, prompting various described methods. Early 20th‑century techniques included abdominal extraction from killed cocks, cloacal collection after mating using a spoon or pipette, and placing a dish between the cock and hen. Ishsikawa (1930) used an artificial cloaca—a membrane bag on a wire frame—to collect semen from the cock.

Abstract

A NUMBER of methods for obtaining semen from the fowl have been described. Because of the peculiar genital anatomy of birds, the process of obtaining semen from them presents a somewhat different problem than that encountered in the mammal. Ivanov (1913) obtained spermatozoa for experimented purposes by killing cocks, opening the abdomen and squeezing the semen from the vas deferens. Payne (1914), Craft, McElroy and Penquite (1926) and Jull and Quinn (1931) obtained spermatozoa by mating a cock to a hen and immediately securing the fluid from the cloaca of the hen; Payne, and Craft and his coworkers using a spoon and Jull and Quinn, a pipette. Amantea (1922) and Dunn (1927) placed a dish between "the two correspondents. "Ishsikawa (1930) used an artificial cloaca consisting of an animal membrane bag on a wire frame. The artificial cloaca was attached to the hen and received the semen from the cock . . .