Semen Assessment

Semen Assessment

May 15, 2012

Once we are able to collect your stallion, a full semen assessment of his semen will be carried out. Sperm motility, the concentration of the ejaculate, and morphology or how ‘normal’ the sperm are in shape are all assessed. This information is recorded and allows us to monitor changes that may occur in your stallion. Semen quality can vary between stallions and also between ejaculates. The minimum acceptable standards for fresh semen are:

Motility: > 60% total motility
Total Sperm: > 3 billion
Morphology: > 60% normal

Of course these are only guide-lines, and we like to see motility has high as possible, especially if we are processing the semen for freezing. If any significant problems are picked up during the assessment of the semen we will discuss these further with you and suggest ways that these can be improved.

Depending on your future requirements and your stallion’s semen quality, we can carry out a longevity test, where the semen is assessed for motility over a 24 hour period allowing us to record how the semen tolerates the chilling process. If you are planning on sending chilled semen around New Zealand this is very valuable information.