RAM SEMEN FREEZING SERVICE
VRC has a purpose-designed ram collection and freezing centre located on the outskirts of Orange, NSW. Rams are housed indoors with week-by-week stay packages available depending on number of desired doses.
Semen is frozen in STRAWS (1 per dose) ensuring easy redistribution and utilisation.
Advantages of semen freezing
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INSURANCE Frozen semen allows preservation of your stud's genetic material indefinitely
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MORE EWE BREEDINGS The ejaculate is divided into multiple doses, meaning more ewes can be bred with a valuable chosen ram's genetics
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GENETIC GAIN Fast genetic progress through expansive use of desired genetics
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ECONOMICAL Purchasing frozen semen is more economical than investing in multiple expensive rams, so frozen semen doses can be sold to vendors nationwide.
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TRANSPORTATION Semen can be shipped nationwide, mitigating all risk associated with live animal transport and housing.
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EFFICIENCY Know you have the required amount of doses ready for your AI program, making for a well planned and efficient breeding season
Preparation makes Perfect
The following pointers are recommended improve the chance of quality semen production:
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12 weeks prior: Sheer
8 weeks prior:
Drench (Tridectin, startec, zolvix ONLY)
Vitamin A/D/E administration
Multimin
*if located east of Orange consider higher Selenium supplementation and liver fluke treatment
2-8 weeks prior: Health Check
It is expected that flocks are brucellosis (OB) accredited.
All semen is tested for B. ovis, A. seminus and H. somni via culture sent off to EMAI laboratory on the first day of collection.
Collection and Assessment
Dr Jasmin Hyatt is a registered specialist in veterinary reproduction. This means she is both a veterinarian, and has additional training in (amongst other things) semen collection, handling, processing and freezing!
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Wherever possible, semen will be collected using an artificial vagina (AV) as this provides us with the best quality and quantity of sample. It does, however, require training of rams in the presence of teaser ewes to ejaculate into the AV. Training can take 0-5 days. If your ram decides the AV isn't for him, we can collect using an electoejaculator (EEJ) however usually the sample contains less sperm and may be contaminated with urine.
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Following collection the sample is assessed for
a. Motility - Percentage of sperm moving
b. Morphology - Percentage normal shaped sperm
c. Concentration - Number of sperm per ml
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If the sample meets the minimum published standards for the sheep industry, it is then extended and processed for freezing.
The freezing process
Following dilution, the sample is processed as follows
1. Cooled to 5 degrees at a controlled rate
2. Packaged in labelled STRAWS
3. Held above liquid nitrogen vapour
4. Plunged into liquid nitrogen (-196 degrees)
5. Stored in liquid nitrogen tanks
6. A sample straw is thawed to assess how it has tolerated the rigorous freezing process and ensure minimum standards are met.
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You have the option of storing the straws at VRC (for a yearly fee) or transporting them immediately to another tank location of your choice.
