Semen Quality and Fertility After Heat Stress in Boars

Abstract

Sperm morphology and the fertilizing capacity of ejaculated spermatozoa were examined in 6 Swedish Landrace boars before and after heat stress. The boars were exposed to 35° C during 100 h in a climatic room. Fertility was measured by insemination of gilts before and at various times after heat stress. Each gilt (n = 44) was inseminated with a total of 5×109 spermatozoa diluted to 10O ml with EDTA-glucose diluent and fertilization was assessed by examining recovered ova 2 days after insemination. Changes in semen quality varied among the boars from a very weak response in 2 boars to pronounced semen alterations occurring 2–6 weeks after heat stress in the other boars. A close relationship was found between seminal changes and fertilization rates, all ejaculates which had high fertilization rates being of the same quality as the pre-exposure ejaculates. The ejaculates that had poor fertility were characterized by lowered sperm motility and increased numbers of spermatozoa with abnormal heads, proximal cytoplasmic droplets and nuclear pouch formations.