Yearling Bull Care and Breeding Soundness Exam in Bulls (not done)

What is required to complete a breeding soundness exam in a bull?

Sufficient sex drive to seek out females

Ample amounts of viable semen

Structural soundness

Physical fitness

What do you need to palpate on a BSE?

Internal repro glands

Testicles

Prepuce

Penis

When should you palpate the accessory sex glands?

Prior to electroejaculation

What is the most common abnormality found on transrectal palpation?

Vesiculitis

What does a small testicle indicate?

Fibrosis

What does a large testicle indicate?

Inflammation

What causes a corkscrew penis?

The fibrous band on dorsum of penis tears 

When do penile firbopapillomas appear?

Puberty

Penile fibropapilloma

How do you tx penile fibropapilloma?

Cut them off

What does a broken penis cause?

Prolapse of the prepuce and a hematoma

Hematoma of the penis (broken)

Persistent penile frenulum

When should the frenulum go away by?

Puberty

How do you tx a persistent penile frenulum?

Cut it off

How do bulls get hair ring?

From mounting other bulls and when the penis retracts it can cause a hair ring

What is the sequelae to hair ring?

Pressure necrosis and urethral fistula

Hair ring

Scrotal frostbite

How do you measure scrotal circumference?

Measure around widest part of scrotum

T/F all testicles produce the same number of sperm per gram?

True

How can you determine what bull makes more sperm?

Bigger testicles

What is the benefit of an increased scrotal circumference?

Earlier puberty in daughters

What are the major abnormalities?

Correlated to impaired fertility

What are minor abnormalities?

Do not impair fertility

What are transitory abnormalities?

Defects caused by temporary insults to sertoli, leydig, and/or epididymal cells

What can cause transitory abnormalities?

Heat stress, nutritional stress, environmental stress, recoverable illness

Photoperiod change if seasonally fertil

What morphologic changes are transitory abnormalities?

Proximal droplets

Distal midpiece reflex

Coiled tail

T/F defects on the permanent list may be transient and vice versa?

True

What is the best way to differentiate between transient and non-transient defects?

Repeated evaluation

What can cause abnormal sperm production?

Stress, heat, season, heredity, puberty, toxicity, nutritional

What are some hereditary causes of abnormal sperm production?

Sperm defects, testis size

What does puberty sperm look like?

Disturbed spermatogenesis

What nutritional problems can cause abnormal sperm production?

Protein, vit A, selenium deficiency

What are some toxins that can cause abnormal sperm production?

Plant, bacterial, environmental toxins

What does stress suppress?

LH release and testosterone levels

When are bulls routinely offered for sale?

12-15 months (yearlings)

When do bulls reach puberty?

9-11 months

What peripubertal bull has what in an ejaculate?

50 million sperm and 10% motility

What scrotal circumference will not pass a BSE for yearling bulls?

<30cm

When should you recheck a yearling bull?

up to 3 attempts at one exam

Recheck in 2 weeks especially if there is a wart or frenulum removed, <70% normal morphology, vesiculitis, or failure to extend

Why do you re-check morphology?

To look for improvement

What do you need to communicate with clients for yearling bull considerations?

Check near puberty, time BSE relative to sail

What the BSE results mean

What are the 3 results of a yearling bull BSE?

Pass

Fail

Fail to pass but deferred for a later check

What is the classification of a BSE tell you?

That ON THIS DATE the bull is

• Satisfactory

• Unsatisfactory

• Classification deferred

T/F all bulls pass equal?

True

What happens if a bull fails any part of the BSE?

Fail exam, can defer if desired

What are the common reasons to fail a BSE?

Poor movement, foot/leg flaw

Too thin/fat

Blind

Penis, prepuce or scrotum injury

Small testicles

Abnormal sperm

What problem do older bulls have with a BSE?

Musculoskeletal problems due to age

What happens to most bulls that fail a BSE?

Go to slaughter, need to be sure that they truly fail

What are some common causes of false failure?

Non-typical sample due to young bulls, electroejaculator, certain individuals

What should you do if you think you have a non-typical sample?

Rest and try again

What are the limitations of a BSE?

Only reflects the breeding soundness on day tested

Sperm cells were made weeks ago

Does not predict future ability

Many factors affecting fertility are not measured

Are we better at identifying subfertile or highly fertile bulls?

Subfertile

What are the strengths of the BSE?

Guarantees that known sub-fertile bulls are not tested out at the start of the breeding season

Removes bad genetics

Herd fertility and breed fertility are increased over time

What does a scrotal surface temp that is high or does not decrease from top to bottom means what?

More abnormal sperm

Fewer pregnancy

What is used to evaluate/detect fibrosis, soft areas and psermatoceles?

US

What does the ability of heparin-binding protein in seminal fluid binding to sperm cells tell you?

MAY be related to fertility based on one lab report