Abstract
Objective - To determine the overall prevalence of morphologic defects in spermatozoa from beef bulls and to determine whether prevalence varies with the age of the bull. Design - Cross-sectional observational study. Animals - 2,497 beef bulls that were evaluated for breeding soundness in 1994 by 29 practicing veterinarians in a 5-state geographic region. Procedure - Slides of spermatozoa from each bull were made and submitted by practicing veterinarians for morphologic evaluation. One hundred spermatozoa per slide were examined, and each was classified as having 1 of 9 morphologic defects or as normal. Results - 63% of bulls evaluated were 10 to 12 months old, and 20% were 13 to 18 months old. A mean of 70.6% of spermatozoa was classified as normal. Most common defects were proximal droplets (8.4%), distal midpiece reflexes (6.7%), separated heads (5.5%), and distal droplets (3.8%). Other defects were seen < 2% of the time. Bulls 10 to 12 months of age had a higher prevalence of proximal and distal droplet defects than older bulls. Clinical Implications - Practitioners conducting breeding soundness evaluations in beef bulls must be aware of common spermatozoal defects. Bulls that are evaluated at a young age will have more defects than older bulls and should be reevaluated, particularly for those defects for which prevalence decreases with age.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1468-1471 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |
Volume | 213 |
Issue number | 10 |
State | Published - Nov 15 1998 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Veterinary