Farming emus means breeding emus. And Irek Malecki of the University of Western Australia thinks that the results could be improved with a bit of artificial insemination. But it’s easier said than done, as detailed in this amusing video.
Artificially inseminating females would mean emu farmers could use fewer males. It would mean that farmers could more easily select and breed for traits they want in their flock. It would also save them money, since they could keep more females and fewer males.
So Malecki has spent years developing techniques to get female emus to hold still for the inseminating, and more importantly, get males to give up semen in an artificial cloaca. But he still needs to be prepared to deal with the birds’ natural mating behaviors–which involve a lot of pecking at critical moments.
Who knew that trying to artificially inseminate emus could be pure comedy gold?
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