Bull semen: how to take a seed and how to evaluate its quality, storage conditions

Cattle-breeding complexes produce an artificial collection of bull sperm to restore and increase offspring. This approach makes it possible to obtain high-quality offspring, and the ejaculate of one donor is enough to fertilize several females. With the right freezing technology, seminal fluid can be stored from 1 day to several years.

Pros and cons of artificial semen collection

Cattle breeders are increasingly self-collecting semen, motivated by the fact that artificial insemination of cattle has a number of advantages.

Pluses of the procedure:

• one portion of sperm is enough to inseminate several females;
• herd population is constantly updated, while there is no need to purchase new sires;
• for artificial insemination, pure sperm is used, which will not become a source of the spread of sexual infection;
• ejaculate sampling is made only from the best donors, which significantly improves the breeding composition of the herd;
• thanks to the jar of seminal fluid, it is possible to plan an organized simultaneous birth of offspring. It is much more convenient to take care of the young.

Disadvantages of this method of semen collection are available, but minor: you need to equip the room, in the process you will need the help of a qualified specialist.

How to take semen from bulls

Before proceeding with the preparation of ejaculate, special procedures are carried out in relation to the bull. Knowing the nature of the donor, the breeder chooses the method of bringing him to the machine. The sampling is carried out only after preparatory manipulations.

Preparing the animal

Immediately before the procedure, the donor takes a shower. It is cleaned, washed with baby soap and warm water, the temperature of which should be within + 18 … 20 ˚С. Collection of seminal fluid is carried out no earlier than one hour after the last meal.

So that the sexual reflex wakes up in the bulls, and the ejaculate sampling goes without problems, they are led in succession in a circle.

At the same time, they make sure that the sire behind does not touch the skin of another animal with his penis. Having brought the bull to maximum erection, it is brought into the pen, previously irradiated with fluorescent lamps.

Direct process

For the cage, use a front animal or a mannequin. Action algorithm:

1. A livestock specialist puts on gloves, after which he is given an artificial vaginal organ, which must be installed at an angle of 30-35 ˚.
2. When the donor climbs onto the machine, the penis is taken by the foreskin and gently inserted into the funnel of the vagina.
3. After the push, the semen erupts, the artificial organ is removed, it is sent to the laboratory.

Between visits along the fence of the bull's testis, they walk for 15-20 minutes. To prevent the donor from having an inhibitory reflex, you need to change the site of the procedure and the mannequin.

How to evaluate quality?

The resulting ejaculate is examined for the presence of live sperm. The best option is 1 billion units per 1 ml, while at least 90% of them make rectilinear translational movements.

Volume

Nominal normal semen volume is 4-5 ml. If at a time the bull gives a smaller amount of seed material, it is necessary to reconsider his diet, conditions of detention, and not write everything off as a violation of reflexes during ejaculation.

Color

Research is carried out in a well-lit room. Quality sperm should be white with a yellow tint. If the seminal fluid is pink or red, blood has entered the ejaculate. A yellow tint indicates that urine has penetrated, green indicates a purulent discharge.

Consistency

Seed of normal consistency is homogeneous, its density resembles cream. If impurities or flakes are found in semen, seminal fluid is of poor quality.

Smell

When the liquid "smells" with a putrid aroma, it means that pathogenic processes occur in the genitals. The ejaculate of a he althy animal is practically odorless. In some cases, the semen may smell like freshly milked milk, this is normal.

If one of the parameters does not meet the standards, the seminal fluid is discarded. The bull is examined, after identifying the disease, they begin treatment.

How to store seed material?

After collecting sperm, it is preserved by reducing the metabolic processes of sperm. This allows you to increase the shelf life of the ejaculate for fertilization.

Short term

For short-term storage of biomaterial, yolk diluents are used, which increase the resistance of spermatozoa to temperature shock. Sperm Preservative Ingredients:

Purified water, ml1000Chicken egg yolk, ml Sodium citrate, g

Nutrient	Amount
Medical anhydrous glucose, g	30
200
14

During the storage of the ejaculate, temperature changes should be insignificant. Therefore, the seed is placed in a thermos or a special refrigerator. Diluted sperm is packed in small vials (ampoules, test tubes), filling them to the very top. This is necessary so that the ejaculate does not come loose during transportation.

The container with sperm is packed in foam rubber or wrapped in cotton, placed in a plastic bag, which is tightly closed. After that, they are cooled to a temperature of 2 … 4 ˚С.

Seed material preserved in this way is used within 24 hours. After this period of time, the fertility of the sperm drops sharply.

Long term storage

Today, people often resort to low-temperature freezing of ejaculate, in which it is possible to store it in liquid nitrogen for a long time. This method allows you to save the fertilizing ability of sperm for several months (years).Another plus is that you can create a large stock of biomaterial.

When using the nitrogen freezing method, a strict regime is mandatory. Temperature fluctuations above -150 ˚С are unacceptable. Ampoules or granules with sperm products are placed in stationary containers located in special storage facilities.

Recommended