Maximizing Pregnancy Rates With Shipped Semen
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- Topics: Article, Artificial Insemination, Stallion Care
Well, there’s no avoiding it—shipped semen is no longer the ‘wave of the future.’ It has rapidly emerged as an integral part of every general equine practice and breeding facility. Therefore, we must pay rapt attention to all means of enhancing the fertility of stallion semen being shipped nationwide. There is, however, tremendous variability in the fertility of semen shipped throughout the country and subsequent pregnancy rates.
Pregnancy rates of mares bred with cooled shipped semen are dependent on three variables: 1.) the fertility of the mare. 2.) the fertility of the semen with which they are inseminated. and 3.) the expertise of the veterinarian coordinating the insemination.
Unfortunately, the quality of transported equine semen, and its subsequent fertility, appear to be extremely variable in private practice. Therefore, despite good fertility of the mare and adequate experience of the veterinarian coordinating the insemination with ovulation, the mare may not get pregnant due to the poor quality of semen that is received. This variability in semen quality may be due to the inherent ability of the stallion’s semen to withstand a particular cooling process; the expertise of the person collecting, processing, and preparing the semen for shipment; differences in transport containers; as well as events that occur with commercial couriers during the transport to the AI facility.
A retrospective study examined and determined the pregnancy rate per cycle that can be expected with semen shipped from many different sources into a private equine practice. Mare candidates were selected based on those presented to the breeding facility by owners. They were categorized based on reproductive status as maiden mares (14), barren mares (30), and foaling mares (nine). Fifty-three mares, of various breeds, were bred over 81 cycles with semen from 41 different stallions that was shipped by a commercial carrier. The semen arrived in either an Equitainer, a Bioflyte, an Expect-A-Foal, or a modified version of a shipping container. The mares were inseminated at least once within 48 hours preceding ovulation. The presence of a corpus hemorrhagicum was documented by ultrasonographic examination using a five MHz linear array ultrasound probe. Pregnancy was confirmed by the same method 12-18 days following ovulation or by the attainment of an embryo seven to eight days following ovulation TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com. Already have an account?Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.
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Written by:
Elizabeth Metcalf, MS, DVM
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