Processing
semen
Overview picture and video –
AI Laboratory
The AI
laboratory has to be the cleanest part of the farm/stud and the designs are
geared to instil a sense of pride in maintaining this status. For this reason the laboratory staff are encouraged to wear different coloured
clothing. The AI laboratory should only
be a small room as this is easier to clean and a separate processing area can
be made available where the semen is packed and stored. This is a legal requirement under EU stud
regulations, however, in cases of on farm-AI the semen storage area may be a thermoregulated cupboard.
The layout of
the laboratory, including the minimal amount of equipment necessary to process
the semen in described.
The processing
system described is a totally disposable system as reusable equipment results
in decreased hygiene standards and increased costs – mainly associated with
increased water usage (up to 5 x more water is used in a non-disposable AI processing
system as compared with the system described) and there is the additional staff
time involved in cleaning. The lack of
cleaning requirements can also reduce the cost of the whole stud as specified
cleaning areas are not required.
High standards
of hygiene are also critical because any contamination will damage semen. Clothing, hands, work surfaces and equipment
(including disposable) should be clean and the hygiene routines in the
procedures closely followed.
Preparation
for semen collection and processing must be carried out two hours prior to
collection to allow the diluent solution to reach 35°C this is vital for good
results. Temperature shock caused by
mixing semen with diluent below this temperature will result in reduced
viability of semen.
The semen
processing system must be simple but without loss of biosecurity. The ejaculate
is simply mixed with the warmed diluent in the semen dilution bag and
dispensing it into the insemination containers.
A simple check for semen motility can be made after dilution and the
diluted semen stored at +17°C. Most, if
not all of the equipment should be disposable and therefore thrown away at the
end of the session. The few re-usable
items used must be washed in distilled water (without soap or detergents which
are harmful to semen) at the end of the session. Cleaning the laboratory surfaces with a damp
cloth completes the hygiene procedures.
There are now
a variety of pieces of equipment for dispensing semen. In general the use of self collapsing
insemination containers are much better than the older non-collapsible plastic
bottles. The self collapsing
insemination containers allows the sow to draw the
semen by uterine contractions rather than having the semen forced into her by
stockpeople.