The effects of rapid cooling (cold shock) of ram semen, photoperiod, and egg yolk in diluents on the survival of spermatozoa before and after freezing

Abstract

The effects of rapid cooling of semen (cold shock) from 30 °C to various temperatures above 0 °C on survival of ram spermatozoa suspended in diluents with or without egg yolk were assessed before and after freezing. Rapid cooling of extended semen from 30 to 15 °C had little or no effect on spermatozoa survival before or after freezing. Rapid cooling of extended semen from 30 °C to 10, 5, or 0 °C was accompanied by a progressive decrease in percentage of motile spermatozoa and percentage of intact acrosomes before freezing and a decrease in percentage of motile spermatozoa after freezing. The ability of spermatozoa motile after cold shock to survive freezing and thawing, evaluated as cryosurvival, was not significantly ( P > 0.05) affected by the temperature to which semen was cooled. The addition of egg yolk to the initial extender had a beneficial effect on percentage of motile spermatozoa particularly after rapid cooling of semen to 10 and 5 °C. Although egg yolk had little effect before freezing on semen rapidly cooled to temperatures above 15 °C and therefore not actually cold shocked, it substantially improved the subsequent survival of spermatozoa after freezing and thawing. Percentage of motile spermatozoa after cooling and after freezing was generally higher when the semen was collected during a decreasing photoperiod than during an increasing photoperiod.