This is this first year that I have transported semen from my stud.
After all concerned had done their respective jobs and the semen was sent, it was then lost in transit. We were all a bit anxious about the viability when it finally show up over 30 hours later. It was checked and found to have a motility of over 80%. The mare was bred again the next day and again the motility was very high.
Is this any indication that this particular stallion may also do well with frozen semen? Can this be an indicator within a certain precentage?
Thanks for your input.
Jos (142.177.81.44)
Posted on Monday, May 21, 2001 - 11:03 pm:
Unfortunately there is no correlation between a stallion that is a successful "cooled semen shipper" and one that will freeze (or more precisely thaw J) well.
Additionally it is worth noting that a high percentage of progressively motile sperm in thawed-frozen semen is not specifically correlated to a high levels of fertility. Some stallions that have low percentages of PM thawed sperm are highly fertile, whereas some that have high percentages are not....
Having said that, I should add that frozen semen that has a thawed progressive sperm motility of lower than 30% does not usually get released for public use by the more reputable freezing centers because one still needs to have an insemination dose of no fewer than 200 million PM sperm in order to not see reduced fertility levels, and this can be difficult to achieve with a greatly reduced thawed PM sperm numbers without having to resort to the use of a large number of straws, which can bring other problems into play associated with increased uterine inflammatory response due to the larger numbers of dead sperm that are also inseminated.
On the cooled semen front, it is also worth noting that some cooled semen that shows good progressive motility after an extended period of time also may not be fertile, despite the motility, due to changes in the sperm's cell membrane. This however is certainly not universal, and some stallions have sperm that will still be highly fertile after 48 or more hours.
It´s also worth noting that there can be a vast difference between motile (live wiggling) sperm and progressively motile (swimming in a straight line) PM is the standard by which insemination doses should be determined. Unfortunately very often the other standard is used when determining insemination doses for shipment. Which can lead one to assume a higher quality dose than it actually is. Point being, if it ain´t going in a straight line it ain´t going to it´s intended destination.
All the more reason for a thorough fertility evaluation of the stallion at least at the beginning of each season and ideally the middle and end of season as well. Personally I also opt to do time studies on various extenders at the beginning of each season as well. Although not common, the stallion´s Ph can change for a variety of reasons and my not be compatible with some extenders or antibiotics as a result.
Case in point, I had a stallion a couple of years ago who´s shipments started arriving nearly all dead. We had made no changes in our collection, handling or packaging technique. So after thoroughly examining our protocol and finding nothing. We took him to a reproductive referral center for a complete evaluation. They found nothing to pin this problem on. However quite by chance while insemination a mare my breeding assistant observed that the sterile lube had a rather odd oder. We carefully examined the semen sample in the incubator and realized that it had the same odd oder. We stopped using this sterile lube and went to a non sterile substitute. Problem solved.
Incidentally the lube that we were using was Priority Care sterile OB lube. Considered an industry standard. We still used it with our other stallions, but not with this particular one. Since his semen was obviously sensitive to something in that lube.
HP
Kelly (63.172.47.227)
Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2001 - 11:27 am:
Thanks for the info.
I think that my Equine Repro. Expert did a great job. He used an extender that they developed while he was at A&M, that they call the "universal" extender. It obviously did the job, now we will find out how fertile the sperm is!
I realize that we were lucky to get such a nice outcome on the first try. The mare owners called that morning, having just decided to bred the mare. With no advanced warning and no time for any extender testing, we decided to give it a go.
Both of these vets routinely evaluate the sprem before and after shipping.The receiving vet was impress with all counts, including the PM count, at over 48 hours.
I am not in any hurry to attempt working with thawed-frozen semen any time soon. But, as with most things, its time will come.
Kelly it is the coming trend I suspect, since the recent acceptance by the largest breed registry in the world, the AQHA. I for one look forward to it being more widely used as in most cases it will eliminate the inherent logistical problems commonly associated with CTS. This will take the pressure of both the stallion mare owners in many instances. I know from a great deal of personal experience with CTS, shipping several hundred shipments each season. It can be incredibly frustrating. Dealing with both owners, and a fair number of veterinarians who do not clearly understand all the logistical problems associated with it.
I would submit that, if the respective associations had spent a little more time attempting to educate their membership with regard to CTS, facts and fables. It would have made the whole process much easier for those of us who do this work on a daily basis. You would not believe some of the calls I have received over the years in this regard. Not only from mare owners who did not clearly understand the implications, but some of their veterinarians as well. It sure makes on wonder sometimes.
Anyway best of luck with your CTS program and I would suggest learning all you can about frozen semen. Because I see it´s use substantially increasing in the not to distant future. I have found a good source for information that may not be published, are the Warmblood breeders who have been doing this for a number of years now.
HP
P.S. Time permitting I would strongly recommend that you do some parallel time studies in several Equitainers with your horse´s semen in various extenders and antibiotic combinations. I have found that while a universal extender may work just fine. Often one can be found that produces more longevity than the standard universal one can. In addition it´s a useful bit of information to know what the Ph of your horse´s semen is and that of the extender as well. Obviously trying to make these two come as close to one another as possible while considering all the other parts of the equation.
Kelly (63.172.47.180)
Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2001 - 02:42 pm:
I own, show and breed Quarter Horses, so I am hopeful that the A.Q.H.A. will be a motivating factor in further rechearch and application of the use of frozen semen.
I understand the frustrations that accompany working with the public on any level. However, if everyone were an expert, some of us may well be out of a job! I have access to a wonderful reproductive expert who has extensive knowledge and experience with all aspects of breeding. I do not hesitate to brag on him, he earned it. He and I will continue to work closely if any problems may arise. So far, so good.
The biggest problem that I have run across in my area, is not the quality of work and knowledge by the veterinarians on reproduction, but is in their lack of expertise in handling the horses.
I have trained and raised stallions for many years. They are my specialty. How that animal is handled on a day to day basis, impacts all concerned. It is a worry that many owner-breeders do not have a background in stallion behavior and handling. It is also of major concern when the veterinarian in charge of the breeding process is knowlegable about reproduction, but not about the handling of the livestock itself. Many times, because nothing went wrong, it is assumed that everything was done correctly.
My point is this, a very successful trainer may have a very limited knowledge of the reproductive process. Most of the veterinarians that I know, have a very limited knowledge of horse training. It can be quite frustrating to have a veterinarian give training advice and vice-versa. If, as a novice breeder or even a horse owner, you can have a good working relationship with both a trainer and a reproductive expert, you stand a better chance for a positive outcome.
Kelly having been a farm/breeding manager of some very large operations of the years in addition to having managed equine veterinary practices I can fully appreciate what your saying. Because I have seen it from all sides and points of view. I could not agree more about veterinarians offering training advice and visa versa. The fact is, if you pin most of them down. Most will have to admit that they are not horsemen in the purest sense of the word. Certainly there are exceptions to this as with most things.
Although the term expert is not one I choose to use very often. I must disagree with the idea that everyone should not pursue more knowledge in the area of reproduction. Especially in the case of brood mare owners, who have an investment to protect. I have always advised my customers who own brood mares. To go to one of the universities and take their equine reproductive short course. Those that have, are much better customers to deal with, since they now understand what it is that we are trying to accomplish and how difficult it can be at times. I fully understand that they probably will never actually breed a mare or collect a stallion. However they will understand when I tell them that there mare is transitional and will come around with a little patients. This virtually eliminates that mind set, that we at the breeding farm are just keeping their mare to collect the board.
Incidentally my suggestion about the time studies for your stallion´s semen. Was not to suggest in any way, that your people are anything but capable of doing what´s right for your horse. The reason for the suggestion is that if time studies are not done. Then there is no way to know what is actually the best possible extender to get the maximum life span out of your shipments. As I said a general extender may result in good shipments,but wouldn´t it be better if your semen arrived with even better PM than you are currently getting? That certainly is a possibility with the use of time studies. There is also the possibility that there are no other extenders that will improve the life span of your shipments. However it would be nice to know if that is the case. I have found on numerous stallions that while they ship just fine in ARS standard CTS product. After time studies we found that they actually improved with a more specific extender. I had one horse who is very famous, Colonel Smokin Gun (Gunner) arguably the best reining horse in the world today. Who shipped just fine in ARS/CTS w/Amikacin, but after time studies were done we found that he shipped even better in Kenny extender w/Ticarcillin. We gained on average an additional 12 hours of viable PM. Kenny w/Gentocin killed his semen in less than 24 hours. Another horse on the same farm shipped better in French w/Ticarcillin/ Another horse, same farm required Kenny w/Gentocin. So you see where I´m going with this. This was just three horses on the same farm. Most of these extenders we were able to make up our selves at relatively small expense.
The time studies are very easy to do. Just divide a single ejaculate and using as many extenders and antibiotic combinations as you can. Make up a very small sample one for each extender for shipment and keep it in and Equitainer. It´s best if you keep them all in the same Equitainer. Then each day or every 24 hours sample each one to judge motility. It will be readily evident which ones are better for this particular horse. Ideally the study takes three days. This will prove to be invaluable information for you.
Hi - I am a novice breeder. My vet is experienced at AI. Ultrasound monday showed my mare had follicle 3.5 cm. They collected the stallion that day (because he was leaving for a week) and gave her a dose on monday. Today, wednesday (48 hours later), ultrasound showed 5+ cm follicle. Vet gave her another dose of semen collected on monday (stored in equitainer) and a shot of HCG. Based on the size of the follicle and the HCG when will she ovulate? Will the sperm still be viable. What are my chances? At this time I dont know if there have been any motility studies on this stallions sperm stored in an equitainer. If this breeding doesnt work, knowing that shell probably ovulate thurs or friday how do I optimize my chances for the next heat. Without the use of so many ultrasounds!
Chris (209.92.6.226)
Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 01:32 pm:
I have a stallion, who I have had frozen. I would like to know how long his semen is fertile in the Uterous, after insemination. I understand that the Post Thaw Progressive Motility is not the only factor involved when determining the semen's fertility. Is there a test that could be done that could possibly evaluate how long the semen will remain fertile in the mares uterous?
How often are mares heat cycles a month in duration at the beginning of the spring? Is this ever normal behavior early in the breeding season, or is this more than likely indicating a cystic follicle?
Jos (142.177.113.34)
Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 08:08 pm:
Chris:
There is no test that definitely establishes fertility of thawed-frozen semen other than establishing pregnancies. There are a variety of tests that can be performed, some of the more common being:
a "stress" test where duration of post-thaw motility is evaluated;
a hypo-osmolarity test where the sperm are placed in a hypo-osmotic solution to evaluate cell membrane integrity;
fluoresceine staining to evaluate acrosomal cap and cellular integrity.
But the bottom line is, only pregnant mares prove it works!!
Jos (142.177.113.34)
Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 08:14 pm:
Barbie:
Mares undergo "transitional phase" at the beginning of the breeding season, when heat cycles are erratic and variable in duration. This then is the most likely reason for what you are seeing in your mare.
"Cystic follicles" have never been identified in horses, although they are not at all uncommon in the cow.
Jess (142.166.254.18)
Posted on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 04:14 pm:
Can the extender be irritating to the mare and cause problems?
Jos (142.177.114.64)
Posted on Saturday, June 01, 2002 - 09:10 am:
It has been found that it is not the extender ingredients that causes irritation with frozen semen, but rather sperm that were "lyced" (exploded) during the freezing/thawing process.
With cooled semen, the usual extender ingredients are non-fat-dried-milk-solids and sugars - neither of which is likely to cause irritation. It is conceivable that the antibiotic could cause irritation, but even that is unlikely unless the mare has an allergy to a specific antibiotic, as the amount is so small.
Is it absolutely necessary to use an antibiotic in the extender? I have had to go to a neighbors farm to collect and i bring my own things over [including a capsule of antibiotic]. He doesn't put it in and I am wary about insisting because he is so helpful. I guess I can't do it my way until I get my own phantom. But I wonder if the semen will last as long without antibiotic. Just what does the antibiotic do?
Jos (67.225.133.169)
Posted on Sunday, July 21, 2002 - 12:45 am:
In the event that you are shiping the semen cooled to a third party, you are verging on negligence not to include antibiotic unless there is an excellent reason not to do so.
Any time that semen is collected, one also collects bacteria. As these bacteria are then placed - along with the semen - into a nutrient (the extender), there is a distinct possibility that the bacterial growth will have increased significantly by the time the mare is inseminated.
In the event that one is using the semen on-farm, the addition of an antibiotic extender is certainly desirable, although perhaps marginally less essential as the semen will be placed directly into the mare rather than being stored for a period of time first.
I got an email from a mare owner in France asking about shipping frozen semen to her from Canada. I have not looked into frozen semen, only having my stallion collected at a stallion station approximately half an hour from home.
I have to wonder if its worth the hastle to ship frozen semen all the way to France, and how successful this procedure would be if attempted.
The Stallion station, by coincidence, emailed me a few weeks back asking if I would be interested in participating in frozen semen collection as they were considering adding the option to their business.
Since this stallion is also shown extensively, would it be worthwhile considering offering frozen semen instead of fresh through the show season?
How many mares can be serviced from one fresh sample if it is frozen into straws. SOmeone told me 50 mares?? is that possible?
I was reading some of the above posts and have to admit I have no clue what most of what was said even means.
I did have another client ask about motility rates so I did enquire from the station what his last collection was March 8th as we shipped fresh cooled semen to a mare owner in Quebec ( 6 or so hours from the station) so we had an idea of his numbers.
Details of last collection 7/03/08. Vol. 30ml . Gel-free Vol. 20ml. Concentration 267 x 10/6 with Progressive motility of 85%. Motility at 30 hours later after bringing up to temp of 37c. was over 65%. I did look at the semen at 48 hours at 37c. and it was still over 40%. In three or four days the first breeding could be checked.
This being the first time I have seen motility rate numbers, is this in the normal range? Is there more answers I need or more questions I need to ask the station before deciding on shipping to France or even considering the frozen semen option on this stallion ? Or should I not even bother with sending semen outside North America?
The ability of a stallion to have good cooled semen bears no correlation to his ability to have good frozen semen. The only way to know if the frozen semen is fertile will be to get pregnancies with mares. We would recommend freezing and getting pregnancies with frozen semen domestically before going through the significant cost of freezing under quarantine for export.
The total sperm numbers you offer in your post indicate that the stallion is "low average". The average number of insemination doses per ejaculate is 5-15.
Take a look at the FAQ's on frozen semen that we have on our site (follow that link) - it should help a bit. There are also other articles on the articles page of the site about frozen semen and the freezing process.
Jos: Could you help me? Tim had suggested that I read a post that you did several days ago regarding colostrum production but I can't seem to find it. I am having some concerns due to the fact that our hay shortage in the midwest has resulted in me having to feed hay that has fescue in it. If you could point me to the heading that I can find that posting from you, I would appreciate it.
I found it Jos. Thanks for your help. Both my maidens have nice bags (and have had them for about 5 weeks now). Although we are around 15-16 days late, I'm not too concerned. (I have an emergency colostrum supplement...just in case). Although we have had to feed a fescue mixed hay due to the drought/hay shortage, the only real concern I have (since I have normal bagging issues) is the hardening of the sac. Any thoughts from you regarding issues with fescue & embryonic sac problems? Thanks!
If your mares are not at 385 days of gestation, you're not 15 days late. The average gestational duration is anywhere between 320 and 370 days!
If there is good mammary development, endophyte exposure is less likely.
"Fetal" sac. It hasn't been an embryo since about 35-40 days of pregnancy!
As far as thickening as a result of endophyte exposure - be there at the foaling. It would be depressing to have the foal be born and suffocate as it couldn't break out through the fetal membranes.
Please note that opinions, product information, advice or suggestions posted on this bulletin board are not necessarily those of the management at Equine-Reproduction.com nor does the maintenance of the post position indicate an implicit or any endorsement of that information, opinion or product.
Further, although we have the greatest respect for the posters offering assistance here, you are advised to seek a consultation with your veterinarian prior to using information obtained from this board if it is of a veterinary nature.Proud to be sponsored and supported by:
