ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IN FARM ANIMALS - Phenix-Vet

58Artificial Insemination in Farm Animalsrich fraction is collected separately, the semen should be extended with saline or Tris-bufferto a concentration allowing the observation of particular, single sperm cells. The assessmentis based on the evaluation of the average percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa ina few different fields of the specimen. The normal dog semen contains at least 70% ofprogressively motile spermatozoa (Feldman & Nelson, 1996; Günzel-Apel, 1994).A decrease in the percentage of motile spermatozoa may results from temperature shock,contamination with water, urine, blood or lubricants but also from long sexual abstinenceand systemic or infectious diseases, such as brucellosis. Sperm agglutination is alwayspathological and is frequently found in cases of infectious diseases.Concentration and total sperm count. The sperm concentration in whole canine normalejaculate usually exceeds 80 x10 6 Spz/mL. If the second fraction of ejaculate is collectedseparately, the sperm cells concentration in sperm-rich fraction varies usually between 200-600 x 10 6 Spz/mL. It is generally assumed that the number of motile spermatozoa necessaryfor successful AI should be >150 x10 6 (Linde-Forsberg, 1991). Therefore, under normalconditions, the dog´s ejaculate contains far more sperm cells than those needed for a seminaldose, although sometimes, especially in miniature or toy breeds, ejaculate volume and thetotal number of sperm cells are relatively low (