PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF BOAR SPERM Artificial Insemination Of Swine

ILINCA FRUNZĂ, H. CERNESCU, GABRIELA KORODI John B. Herrick , Iowa State College

Sperm color is an important physical semen parameter.

Normal color of boar sperm is milky white, with bluish shadows. If collections are
repeated many times in one day, spermatic liquid becomes clearer due to
spermatozoa concentration decreasing.
Normal color of sperm can present different shades, being influenced by different
factors:
■ Yellow color can be caused by boar feeding on high carotene-containing feed,
by the existence of suppurative (pus-forming) processes in different parts of the
genital tract or may be because of urine presence.
■ Tawny-pink color indicates the presence of red cells in sperm, which come
from different lesions in the genital tract (bleeding in the penis, prepuce, urethra
and prostate). It is essential to determine the source of blood. Often bleeding
appears due to ruptured urethral blood vessels during collection. If it is not
recurrent, this bleeding must not be a problem.
■ Brown color indicates the presence of destroyed red cells or denotes a
prostatic infection.
■ Greenish-bluish color is observed in the case of oligospermia (low sperm
concentration).
Fresh semen has no odor unless contaminated with urine or the contents of the
preputial diverticulum. This diverticulum contains decomposing urine and cellular
debris.
In some cases, color of the sperm can be affected by drugs administrated to the
boar, by feed, or by urine or putrefaction (decay).