Fertility of Bovine Spermatozoa in Buffered Whole Egg Extenders Containing Penicillin, Streptomycin, Sulfonamides and Added Glucose

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted, using the split sample technique, for comparing the fertility of bovine semen extended in 2.9 per cent citrate-sulfanila-mide-yolk, 2.9 per cent citrate-succinylsulfathiazole-whole egg, and 2.3 per cent citrate-succinylsulfanilamide-whole egg-glucose. Each extender contained 500 units each of penicillin and streptomycin. The average 60- to 90-day per cent non-returns to a total of approximately 5,000 first services per treatment was 71.5 for the yolk extenders containing antibiotics and 69.4 for the whole egg extenders containing antibiotics. From these results and those previously reported, it appears that the standard 2.9 per cent citrate-sulfanilamide-yolk extender is about 2.0 percentage units superior to the whole egg extenders when measured by the 60- to 90-day per cent non-returns to first services. Furthermore, it is concluded that together, penicillin and streptomycin have similar effects on fertility when they are added to either the yolk or the whole egg formula.