In the third and last part of “Tips for collection”, our R+D+i Biotechnology / Veterinary department offers some pieces of advice for the handling and care of the ejaculate during the collection process. We hope they can help you.

  1. The care of the sperm cell should begin during the extraction, and, for this, we must use materials that do not have a spermatotoxic effect when contacting the sperm. Therefore, we must be sure that certain materials such as gloves for collection, filters and collection bags, artificial cervix used in the case of the automatic collection, etc., lack this effect, which would lower the quality of the ejaculate.

In relation to this, we take the opportunity to show you an article written by Kara Stewart, Brad Belstra, and W.L. Flowers and published a few months ago in National Hog Farmer, which refers to the possible negative effect of the collection gloves. Besides, we remind you that in Magapor we perform sperm cytotoxicity tests on our gloves for sale.

To have a look at the article, please, click on this link:  http://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/animal-health/collection-gloves-can-impair-semen-quality

  1. To avoid the temperature fluctuations of the ejaculate, and to preserve its temperature until the moment of the analysis, all material should be tempered at 37ºC before contacting the ejaculate. For this, we will use an insulated thermo flask for the collection, in which we will introduce a cup/bag with filter. To help us maintain everything tempered, we can install a stove at 37ºC in a room adjacent to the collection area.
  1. A tendency in recent years is to pour about 100-150 ml of extender tempered at 37ºC in the collection container, with the following advantages:
  • The semen falls on a suitable medium
  • Extender components begin to “work” immediately (“Dicol” concept)
  • Liquids have less temperature variation than a plastic object or any other inert material (thermos, bag or collection container)
  • Allows to lengthen the period of time between collection and the final dilution of the ejaculate
  • Reduces the agglutination of ejaculates

In addition to having the possibility of adding extender, Magapor has a sanitizing extender, especially for collection, called Dicol. We will fully address this product in our post next week.

In the case of adding extender in the collection container, the added volume will be counted in our records as semen. As the volume is increased with extender, we will observe a proportional reduction in the concentration. However, the final sperm count will be the same.

  1. Once collection is over, we should discard the filter in the collection area, and we will only take the plastic vase/cup or the bag with the ejaculate to the laboratory, thus avoiding introducing dirty elements, such as thermo flasks, to the lab.
  1. If we are not going to perform the analysis and dilution of the ejaculate after its collection, but we have to transport it to another place for analysis and packaging, we can perform a pre-dilution of the ejaculate to prolong its sperm life. The extender will have a protective effect against possible fluctuations in temperature and other possible stressors, until the final dilution. This transport should be done in an insulated container/cubicle.

Did you miss the previous posts? We leave here the links:

We hope these recommendations may help you. Anyway, having any questions, do not hesitate to contact our R + D + i Biotechnology / Veterinary department or our area commercial delegate.

Next week we will introduce you the qualities and advantages of DICOL, our collection extender unique in the market. We look forward to your visit to our next blog post.