Administering carbetocin before electroejaculation in bulls improves semen quality and increases the number of insemination doses.
Orihuela Juan Carlos JC, Pinczak Andrea A, Ungerfeld Rodolfo R
It was recently reported that administering carbetocin before electroejaculation in rams improves quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fresh semen; therefore, the hypothesis was that its use in bulls improves collection conditions in the field. The aim of the study was to determine whether administering carbetocin 15 min before electroejaculation improves semen yield in bulls, and whether these effects are associated with post-thaw sperm quality and sperm cryoresistance. Semen was collected from 29 Braford bulls in a two-period crossover study. Semen was collected from each bull after administering carbetocin (0.2 mg/100 kg body weight, IV) 15 min before electroejaculation, or without carbetocin (control treatment). The treatments were rotated so that all bulls received both. Carbetocin administered 15 min before electroejaculation slightly enhanced semen mass motility (P = 0.05) and moderately increased the number of calculated insemination doses (P = 0.05) compared to control bulls. In addition, it tended to increase the total number of sperm in the ejaculate, the total number of motile sperm, the number of sperm with functional membranes, and the number of sperm without bent tails in fresh semen, as well as the number of effective insemination doses in thawed semen (P = 0.09, P = 0.07, P = 0.06, P = 0.09, and P = 0.08, respectively). Carbetocin administration before electroejaculation in bulls marginally improved fresh semen quality and quantity, including motility and the number of fresh semen insemination doses. This may support routine use in artificial insemination programs by making the collection process more efficient.