RUDIMENTARY METHODS FOR COOLING SPERM OF SHEEP

Abstract

Sheep breeding has been considered as an interesting alternative for social development in view of the high adaptability and protein source of food to poor populations. Artificial insemination enhances the genetic improvement and makes it
possible to obtain genetic material from breeders from other regions or countries, allowing the producer to multiply the genotypes within the herd. Regardless of the species the study of the methods by which cooling and seminal cryopreservation can be performed still needs to be explored in order to provide improvements in the rates of pregnancy to field. The objective of this Project was to compare the viability of
sheep semen, submitted to different forms of refrigeration (plastic container soaked
with absolute alcohol x use of bubble wrap). For the experiment, the ejaculates were obtained by the method of the artificial vagina of two males. After each harvest, the ejaculates were kept in a water bath at 36°C and then subjected to macroscopic evaluations. The sêmen sample was diluted and the mechanical packaging in French
vatsof 0.25 mL. At the end of the package the vanes were submitted to cooling by
two treatments: 1) wrapped in bubble wrap; 2) comercial plastic container filled with
absolute alcohol. The temperature and cooling curve were adjusted to 0.25 °C /minute by cooling to 5 °C in a comercial refrigerator until the stabilization time, then being heated to 37 °C and evaluated.