Vie CONG. INTERN. REPROD. ANIM. INSEM. ARTIF., PARIS, 1968, VOL. I|

THE EFFECT OF AN OXYGENATED STORAGE MEDIUM ON
THE FERTILIZING CAPACITY OF FOWL SPERMATOZOA
STORED FOR DIFFERENT PERIODS

F. VAN WAMBEKE'

Government Research Station for Small Stock
Husbandry, Belgium

In a recent report (Van Wambeke, 1967), methods
were described for the storage of fowl spermatozoa
for 24 hr into two diluents.

Semen was stored in glass tubes of 10 ml capa-
city which were stoppered with either rubber or
cotton wool. In all trials the combined volume of
semen and diluent never exceeded 3 ml, thus, the
atmosphere above the stored semen was air.

Proudfoot (1966) and Proudfoot and Stewart (1967),
using undiluted semen, demonstrated the importance
of aerobic conditions in maintaining fertilizing
capacity.

The purpose of the present study was to inves-—
tigate the effect of an oxygenated diluent on fer-
tility after 24, 48 and 72 hr of storage at 2-5°C.

PROCEDURE. The stock used in these experiments we-
re commercial Rhode Island Red birds (Hubbard Au-
tosex), housed in cages. Semen was collected by a
two-man technique (Burrows and Quinn, 1935) at 37°C.
The composition and preparation of the storage me-
dium has been described in a recent publication
(Van Wambeke, 1967). Modified diluent 2 (substitu-
tion of 5 % water for egg albumin) was employed in
all experiments.

In experiment 1, 1 ml of pooled semen was pipet-
ted into an equal volume of the prewarmed diluent
in tubes of 10 ml capacity (internal diameter:12mm).

"Present address: Burg. van Gansberghelaan, 26,
Merelbeke, Belgium.

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