One experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different time intervals of artificial insemination (AI) on egg fertility. the stress produced by this practice on egg production, average egg weight and body weight of Plymouth Rock Barred hens was evaluated. The effect of different time intervals of artificial insemination on fertility was evaluated on hens wich were under three treatments. T1 = 2 times a week , T2 = once a week and T3 = once every two weeks. The females were 50 week-old. the hens inseminated twice a week were more fertile than others (P<0.05). To evaluate the stress due to procedures of AI (experiment 2) fifty weeks old hens (280) were either inseminated or not. There was no significant difference between these two treatments. Therefore, the results demonstrate that AI does not cause physiological disturbs on hens.
artificial insemination; fertility; egg production; stress
