Most producers are looking for economic ways to produce more heifer or bull calves, depending on their operation. The Bova-Tech team has listened and are pleased to offer a value-added service that can produce more bull calves/steers for the fall beef auction, or more heifer calves to grow your herd or provide more milk producing females.

How does sexed semen work? Sperm cells that result in a heifer calf (XX) have more DNA than sperm cells that result in a bull calf (XY). Of the several attempts to find ways to sort XX and XY sperm cells, one of the methods available in the past was flow cytometry, which is costly, and can decrease pregnancy rates.

The other option is adding a bovine semen sexing agent to sex the bull semen. This spermagenic agent can be added to the straw during donor artificial insemination or to the freshly collected semen batch prior to freezing, choosing either the male or female producing agent.

We are happy to now offer this option for donor Artificial Insemination or after collection of fresh semen and prior to freezing enabling you, the producer, to enjoy the benefits of increased calving rates and more heifers or bulls in your operation. 

Choose which spermagenic agent fits your needs, for heifer or bull calf, and either single insemination or for pre-freezing for fresh collected semen.

Female Production

When artificially inseminating the female, the agent enhances the fertility of the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm and slowing the motility of the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm. When inseminated, the sperm sort in the reproductive tract of the dam. The result is more ova fertilized by the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm. The heifer sex ratio is increased by 20-25% and fertility is boosted 10%.

When added to freshly collected bull semen for freezing or fresh insemination programs it will boost the % of female calves to 75-90% and increase overall semen fertility by 10% compared to conventional semen. 

Male Production

Beef Production from steer calves can be 15-20% higher than heifer calves. By incorporating the spermagenic agent into your artificial insemination program or to your fresh semen collection you can now sex any straw, increase conception rates compared to conventional semen and get more male offspring.

The agent will enhance the fertility of the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm. When inseminated, the sperm sort in the reproductive tract of the dam. The result is more ova fertilized by the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm. The percentage of bull calves is increased by 20-25% (Avg 75% male) and conception rates are boosted 10%.

Fresh Semen Collection & Production

If you are ready to have Bova-Tech collect fresh owners-use semen for freezing, our new state of the art lab is ready to process your semen and preserve your quality genetics and can sex the semen providing better odds for your desired offspring, be it female or male.

The primary goals of a semen collection program are to optimize seminal quality and maximize spermatozoal harvest. A collection resembles a semen evaluation but there are many further steps taken. A breeding soundness evaluation will be done shortly before collection. This ensures the semen is fresh, very low in defects ensuring producers get adequate volume to make collection worthwhile.

To successfully complete a breeding soundness evaluation, a bull must have at least 60% sperm motility, 70% normal sperm morphology, and a minimum scrotal circumference based on age. Bulls meeting the preceding minimum requirements are classified as satisfactory potential breeders.

Visual estimates of sperm motility are considered appropriate for bull classification in field BSEs. However, in our center, sperm motion and concentration evaluation is performed using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA), which provides more objective values as well as specific measures not only of percent motile sperm but also of velocities and the track followed by each sperm. For instance, the combination of measures such as beat cross frequency, linearity, average path velocity, straightness, and curvilinear velocity have been correlated with bull fertility. Moreover, some of the motion measures evaluated by CASA such as curvilinear velocity, straightness, and linearity correlate with sperm function such as the acquisition of hyperactivated motility. These CASA evaluations are done pre-freezing and post thaw.

Once motility of the semen has been verified we can add the spermagenic agent to promote female or male calf off-spring.  

BTL offers same day services at our commercial stud operation whereby you transport your bull to the BTL facility, we collect the semen and the bull can then return home.