J. Anim Sci.
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J. Anim. Sci. 2004. 82:690-694
© 2004 American Society of Animal Science

ANIMAL GROWTH, PHYSIOLOGY, AND REPRODUCTION

Pregnancy rates of mares inseminated with semen cooled for 18 hours and then frozen1

T. Backman, J. E. Bruemmer, J. K. Graham and E. L. Squires2

Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523

2 Correspondence: ARBL Bldg., Foothills Campus (phone: 970-491-8409; fax: 970-491-3557; e-mail: esquires{at}colostate.edu).

Abstract

The ability to ship cooled stallion sperm for subsequent freezing at a facility specializing in cryopreservation would be beneficial to the equine industry. Stallion sperm has been centrifuged, cooled to 5°C for 12 h, and frozen without a detrimental effect on motility in a previous study; however, no fertility data were available. Experiment 1 compared the post-thaw motility of sperm cooled for 18 h at 15 or 5°C at either 400 or 200 x 106 sperm/mL and then frozen. Storage temperature, sperm concentration, or the interaction of temperature and concentration had no effect on total (TM) and progressive motility (PM) after cooling. Post-thaw TM and PM were higher for control than (P < 0.05) for treated samples. There was no difference in post-thaw TM and PM due to temperature or concentration. Experiment 2 further evaluated procedures for cooling before freezing. Ejaculates were either cooled to 5°C for 18 h and centrifuged, centrifuged at room temperature and then cooled to 5°C for 18 h before freezing, or centrifuged and frozen immediately (control). There was no difference among treatments on post-thaw TM or PM. In Exp. 3, mares were inseminated with semen that had been extended in skim milk-egg yolk without glycerol, centrifuged, resuspended at 200 x 106 sperm/mL, cooled to 5°C for 18 h, and then frozen or not cooled for 18 h before freezing (control). Pregnancy rates did not differ for mares receiving semen cooled and then frozen (21 of 30, 70%) or semen frozen directly without prior cooling (16 of 30, 53%). In summary, a procedure was developed for cooling stallion sperm for 18 h before freezing without a resultant decrease in fertility.

Key Words: Cooling • Fertility • Freezing • Stallion Sperm • Storage






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