Veterinary Andrology and Reproductive Techniques

VISCOSITY AND DENSITY

• Semen may have various consistencies like creamy, miky or watery. This largely depend on sperm concentration.

• Viscosity is assessed by using semen delivery pipettes. Viscosity increases with sperm concentration.

Semen with high concentration are more viscous (creamy) whereas semen with less concentration are less viscous (watery).

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• The specific gravity of bull semen is 1.0361 There is a positive correlation between specific gravity and sperm cell concentration.
• Density gives a rapid assessment of concentration. The score used to express density is ‘D’.

Colour Density	Grade
Creamy	DDDD
Milky	DDD
Thin milky	DD
Translucent & cloudy	D
Watery	O

• Certain pathological conditions of testis and accessory sex glands may affect the consistency of semen. Some examples are

Pathological condition	Consistency of semen
Epididymitis	Less milky semen
Catarrhal conditions of accessory sex glands	Thick viscous semen
Seminal vesiculitis	Purulent flocculi

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