Incubation of frozen-thawed Ram spermatozoa

Abstract

Semen ejaculates were obtained from Rambouillet rams and after initial evaluation of semen quality these samples were cryopreserved. The thawed samples were subjected to incubation at 37° C for 6 h. Spennatozoal motility, per cent live spermatozoa and acrosomal damage were recorded at hourly interval. A decline in the per cent post-thaw motility with increase in the incubation time was observed and the differences among all the hours were highly significant. There was a progressive fall in the percentage of live spermatozoa at every hour ofincubation, however decline in the percentage of live spermatozoa between successive hours was not significant. The mean values for abnonnal spennatozoa were not significantly affected by incubation hours, but the percentage of intact acrosome declined with an increase in the post-thaw incubation interval and this decline was significant between 1h and 3, 4, 5 and 6 h of incubation. The overall deterioration in the semen quality was comparatively less marked up to 1 h of post-thaw incubation while beyond this time deterioration was very sharp.