First results from insemination with sex-sorted semen in dairy heifers in Macedonia
Ljupche Kochoski
*
,
Zoran Filipov
,
Ilcho Joshevski
,
Stevche Ilievski
,
Filip Davkov
Received: 03 June 2014
Received in revised form: 01 September 2014
Accepted: 15 October 2014
Available Online First: 31 October 2014
Published on: 15 March 2015
Correspondence: Ljupche Kochoski, ljupce.kocoski@uklo.edu.mk
Abstract
Science has been searching for a long time for a reliable method for controlling the sex of mammalian offspring. Recently, the application of specific modern cellular methodologies has led to the development of a flow cytometric system capable of differentiating and separating living X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm cells in amounts suitable for AI and therefore, commercialization of this sexing technology. The aim of this work was to present the first results of heifers that introduce bovine AI with sex sorted semen, for the first time in Macedonia. Insemination with sex sorted cryopreserved semen (2x106 spermatozoa per dose) imported from the USA was done at two dairy farms in ZK Pelagonija. In total, 74 heifers (Holstein Friesian) were inseminated. Inseminations were carried out in a timely manner following a modified OvSynch protocol. During the insemination, the sperm was deposited into the uterine horn ipsi lateral to the ovary where a follicle larger than 1.6 cm was detected by means of transrectal ultrasound examination. Pregnancy was checked by ultrasound on day 30 after the insemination. Overall, the average pregnancy rate in both farms was 43,24% (40,54% and 45,95%, for farm 1 and farm 2, respectively). All pregnant heifers delivered their calves following a normal gestation length (274,3 days in average) and of the 32 born calves, 30 (93,75%) were female. In conclusion, since the first results from inseminations with sex-sorted semen in dairy heifers in Macedonia are very promising, the introduction of this technique may bring much benefit to the local dairy sector. Average pregnancy rate seems similar with results obtained following ‘regular’ inseminations, notwithstanding the relatively low number of spermatozoa per insemination dose. Due to the latter, we however recommend inseminations only to be carried out by experienced technicians followinga TAI protocol and ultrasound examinations of the ovaries prior to insemination.
Keywords: sperm sexing, heifer, ultrasound, artificial insemination
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Copyright
© 2015 Kochoski Lj. This is an open-access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declared that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation Information
Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 38, Issue 1, Pages 107-111, p-ISSN 1409-7621, e-ISSN 1857-7415, DOI: 10.14432/j.macvetrev.2014.10.025, 2015
10.14432/j.macvetrev.2014.10.025
