Semen eval.

• bull

  • seminal vesicles with feel like a grape cluster

  • the prostate will feel like a band

1. Buck

   1. when male has not gone through puberty

      1. the urethral process will get stuck to prepuce

Every BSE starts with a PE

• Eyes

  • male needs to see females in estrus

  • look for old or active pinkeye lesions

• mouth

  • difficult to access

    • need to make sure they are eating

  • around 24 months of age will cause turnover in bulls incisors

• feet and legs

  • corkscrew plaw

    • picture in slide

      • lateral wall grows faster than medial wall

  • the male is an athlete, needs to be sound

  • challenge:

    • high energy developing rations

  • challenge:

    • slow hoof growth, abnormalities manifested late

  • lame male has poor-quality semen

    • will be laying down more often

      • laying on his testicles and they won’t be able to temp regulate!!!

• Body condition

  • young bull: 6.5-7.0/ 9.0

  • young rams and bucks: 3-3.25/ 5

  • mature bulls: 5.5-6/9

  • mature rams and bucks: 2.75-3/5

  • Excessively fat bulls

    • will get more fat in the crotch area

      • will cause decreased thermoregulation

      • increased abnormal sperm

      • decreased fertility

  • excessively thin bulls

    • slower development

    • decreased scrotal circumference

    • decreased fertility

• temperament

  • Bulls move slowly than cows

  • if a bull’s shoulders touch the side of the chute simultaneously, he is not going to go

  • a bull knows how big he is and how strong he is

Palpable structures in the bull

• externally palpable

  • testes

  • epididymis

  • spermatic cord

• internally palpable

  • pelvic penis

  • prostate

  • seminal vesicles

  • ampulla

• cannot palpate the bulbourethral glands

other important structures

• retractor penis muscles

  • retract pelvis back into sheath/prepuce

  • attached at the sigmoid flexure

• retractor prepuce muscles

  • retracts the prepuce back into the sheath

  • can be easily traumatized

  • polled animals have rudimentary retractor prepuce muscles

  • large sheathed bulls are at risk for trauma

• dorsal ligament

  • insufficiencies can lead to penile deviations during erection

Scrotal evaluation

• circumference

  • both testes descended fully, tape placed around the scrotum and measured at the widest part

  • proxy for scrotal volume

  • indicator of sperm production capacity

    • fertility

• cutaneous defects?

  • indicator of scrotal injury or trauma

    • FROSTBITE

• Testes

  • consistency should be like

    • tennis ball, flexed biceps

  • should be free moving in scrotum

  • should be fairly symmetrical

  • should extend freely to the bottom of the scrotum

• epididymis

  • tail should feel normal

    • not adhered to the scrotum

Penile evaluation

• full extension

• no abnormal deviations

  • corkscrew during electroejaculation in bull is not considered pathologic

• no injuries, hair rings, adhesions, warts, strictures on glans penis or prepuce

Semen evaluation

• color

• concentration

• pus or blood

• motility

• morphology

tools of the trade

• microscope

  • bright field vs Phase-contrast vs differential interference contrast (DIC)

  • heated stage

  • sufficient magnification 100x

• electro ejaculator and probes

• scrotal tape

• ob sleeves

• Lots of lube

• forms for documentation

Spermatazoa defects

• primary vs secondary

  • development vs maturation

• compensable vs non-compensable

• major vs minor

• artifact

  • improper sample handling

• keep a cheat sheet in your bse kit

• minimums

  • 30% forward progressive motility

  • 70 % normal morphology

Documentation

• classifications

  • satisfactory potential breeder

  • unsatisfactory potential breeder

  • classification deferred, reevaluate on:

• 10% of ruminant males will fail a bse

• minimum age:

  • 15 months for bulls

  • 6 months for rams and bucks

• keep track of sperm abnormalities: what and % of sample

  • often the recheck date does not allow sufficient time for complete resolution