From 2009 to 2016, I had been in the business of managing a boar (pigs) swine farm. Part of my responsibilities included evaluating the quality of semen from boars. Those efforts were done in large scale operations, from producing anywhere from 7000-9000 doses per week. This equates to about 40-120 boars per collection day. I no longer manage the 400+ boar stud farm, but instead manage a swine andrology lab under the same veterinarian that was the overseer of the boar stud.
As you can imagine, it was extremely vital to maintain high herd health and cleanliness to produce quality doses for the sow farms. Each dose needed to be free of bacteria and other contaminants, diluted properly with the correct amount of extender and water mixed and kept at specific |
temperatures to reach a set target concentration of sperm per dose, graded properly by a skilled technician to meet the minimum threshold for normal morphology, discern an acceptable level of motility, packaged, properly cooled and stored at the optimal temperatures prior to transport. All this to ensure the best possible chance of conception.
While other elements of collection, temperatures, storage, conditions and production scale may vary across specied, the end goal remains the same and that is to provide a customer with a high-quality semen dose from one or several males for artificial insemination with optimal morphology and motility possible to increase the success of conception with as few cells as necessary. |
It goes against my business ethics to use semen samples not aligned with my andrology services. You can feel confident knowing your samples are wholly discarded after all requested services have been performed.
Samples are only kept at the lab the request of the customer. I do not disclose or publish any names, stallion submissions, or results to any other parties outside of the stallion owner and/or their representatives. Trust knowing I value your stallion's genetics as if he was one of my own. |
1. IVOS II ™ Animal by Hamilton Thorne
CASA (Computer Aided Sperm Analysis) System with the use of the brand name Leja chamber slides.
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2. Microscopic Morphology - Just as the name implies, this service utilizes a 10% formalin wet or a Hancock stain mount of the sperm cells that is graded by a technician under a microscope with the use of a 100x oil objective.
Number of cells counted: The customer may opt to have between 100-500 cells in increments of 50. The graph to the right shows the level of % confidence based on sample size. The larger the sample size, the greater the confidence level and lower margin of error. There is some minor cost difference dependent upon sample size request. If you are unsure, our default is typically 200 cells. |
3. Concentration -
Understand how your stallion is producing per ejaculate. Is he being over-collected? Or is he super-concentrated and can afford to be collected more often? Is he fairly consistent or vary? We can give you an idea through concentration evaluation. Sample can be undiluted or pre-diluted with an appropriate extender. |