Artificial Insemination Practices in Cattle Farms of the Chlef Region, Algeria

The development of cattle breeding has always been a priority for Algeria to meet the population's needs for animal protein. Particularly for the northern regions of the country, which are considered to be major consumers of red meat. The objective of this communication is to show the practice of artificial insemination in cattle farms in Algeria. For this, a survey was carried out in the Chlef region, located in the northwest of Algeria. It took, with 75 farms, comprising a total of 488 cattle. This workforce includes 261 dairy cows, 65 heifers, 72 old cows and 79 calves. Most of the cows come from improved breeds (63%). The rest of the livestock is made up of imported breeds (23%) or offspring from crossbreeding imported breeds called local (14%). To conduct our survey, we established a questionnaire that addresses aspects related to reproduction, breeding management and AI practice of the bovine species. We can say that there is a weakness in the practice of artificial insemination, due to the lack of know-how among breeders to master this technique. Indeed, almost half of the farms practice artificial insemination in dairy cows, while the other half practice natural mating and are reluctant towards this reproduction biotechnology. As a result, breeders are far from 100% practice of this technique. The majority of breeders, i.e. 2/3, make the diagnosis themselves, while for the rest of the breeders it is carried out by the veterinarian and the technician. This is how inseminations are performed during the seasons favorable to feeding and at the coolest times of the day and heat detection requires that each task be correctly performed and at the right time.