Different forms of infertility in

Male
• Infertility or sterility is not by any means a
disease itself, but can be the result of various
errors in management and large group of
diseases mainly of genital and reproductive
origins.
• Most of the case of infertility or sterility is
caused by genetic or environmental factors.
 Forms of infertility in the Male
1. Diminished to absent sexual desire

2. Inability to copulate

3. Reduced ability to fertile

1. Reduced or Lack of sex desire

A. Hereditary ( Genetic)

B. Environmental
 Environmental:
1. Nutrition:
Both underfeeding and overfeeding will result
lack of sexual desire.
Underfeeding: Deficiency of TDN, Protein,
Vitamin A, Minerals (Phosphorus, iodine,
cobalt), affects gonads and subsequently reduce
sexual desire.
Overfeeding: Males tends to become fatty and
lazy and suffer from joint and foot troubles.
 2. Systematic diseases: Any acute (pneumonia
or enteritis) or chronic debilitating (tuberculosis)
diseases resulting in rapid or prolonged loss of
weight, depression and weakness leads to loss
of sexual desire.
3. Age: young or old males exhibit reduced to
complete lack of sexual desire.
young animals: nutrition and experience
Old animals : decline testosterone level
 4. Management:
• Young males kept apart from other stock are frequently
frightened by the presence of the other animals.
• If male associates mount with pain or punishment he may
refuse to mount.
• Heavy painful nose ring
• Rough handling of the mount animal.
• Improper footing
• Improper preparation of the male for mounting.
• Difference between the size of both male and mount animals.
• Use of artificial vagina that is too cold and too hot.
• Excessive use of male.
5. Housing: sexual desire reduced in poorly
lighted, damp and cold housing.
6. Psychic Factors:
7. Hormonal : occurs in some cases of
hypothyroidism, hypogonadism and
hypopituitarism.
Prognosis: Depends upon the cause and degree.
Treatment: Proper management, nutrition and
environment will improve the condition.
 2. Inability to copulate

• The male usually has a normal or only slightly

reduced sexual desire (libido), but unable to
copulate due severe physical or physiological
reasons. Impotency may be manifested in one of
the following forms:
• Inability to mount
• Incomplete erection
• Incomplete penile protrusion
• Failure to thrust or ejaculation.
Injuries of the Locomotors system:
• Joints, muscles, nerves, bones, tendons, ligaments or
blood vessels injuries, inflammation or lesion may
cause inability to copulate due to pain.
1. Inflammation, lesions or dislocation of the hip joints
2. Inflammation of the ilio-sacral joint and stiffle joint.
Severe pathology of the tarsal or fetlock.
3. Injuries of the extremities (Foot and mouth disease,
long overgrowth hoof, fracture or injury in the bone
of the limbs, tendonitis)
7. Muscle Affection: Rupture or strain of the
gastrochnimius muscle spasms in the muscles of
the hind limbs.
8. Affection in sternum and vertebral column.
General Symptoms:
• Lameness
• Animal could not bear weight on the hind
limbs and dismounts with signs of pain.
• Sexual desire gradually lost.
 Treatment:
• Sexual rest
• Restriction of activity
• Good keeping and proper feeding
• Proper treatment according the case
• In valuable animals semen could be collected
by massage of ampullae or electroejaculator.
 Inner diseases: Painful lesions of the
peritoneum, Hernia, Abscess in the liver or
kidney and infection and painful inflammation of
the testes, ampulla or seminal vesicles.
Prognosis: prognosis depends on the severity
of the case. The animal should not be put into
service before complete cure.
 Affection of penis and prepuce:
It is common cause for inability to copulate.
These include inability to protrude the penis,
inflammation of the penis and prepuce
(balanoposthitis), persistent frenulum, inability
of the penis to coming out from the prepuce
(Phymosis), inability of the penis to withdraw in
the prepuce (paraphymosis), rupture of the
penis, deviation of the penis, tumor of the
penis and prepuce or prolepses.
A very pendulous development of the prepuce, which predisposes to preputial lesions (left) compared with a more desirable conformation (right) in Bos indicus .
1. Inability to protrude the penis:
• May be due to congenital or psychic causes and
observed especially in young bulls. This
condition may not noticed until the bull reaches
adult size or it may be occurred later in life after
the bull have mated normally.
• Varying from complete inability to protrude the
penis out of the sheath, to protrusion of only 4
to 6 cm, which is not far enough to breed a cow.
 2. Persistent Frenulum:
• Is the presence of persistent band of fibrous
tissue from the glans penis to prepuce.
• This band causes the penis to be directed
backward in semicircular manner during the
act of coitus.
• The anomaly hinders natural service or semen
collection.
• It is surgically corrected.
 3. Balano-posthitis:
• Balanitis is the inflammation of the glans penis
• Posthitis: is the inflammation of the prepuce
• In a case of acute balano-posthitis, the pain
and irritation may be severe enough to
prevent copulation.
• Treatment: Douching of the sheath with 120-
250 ml mild warm aqueous antiseptic as
acriflavin 0.1%.
4. Phymosis: Stenosis of the preputial orifice
prevents the penis from coming out from the
prepuce. It occurs secondary to posthitis,
prolapses of the prepuce

5. Paraphymosis: it is inability to withdraw the

protruded penis in the prepuce after protrusion
through the preputial orifice.
• Apply antibiotic ointment and try to reduce
the penis inside the prepuce.
6. Ruptured, Fractured or broken Penis

• It is usually accompanied by a secondary

haematoma. The condition is common in the
active bull with strong sex drive, serving cow
on posture.
• The injury occurs during mating due to sudden
bending of erected penis against the
hindquarter at the time of bull thrusts.
 7. Deviated or Curved Penis
• Usually occurs in the distal third of the preputial
portion of the penis or glans penis and usually
prevents natural service.
• Tumors:
• Tumors of the glans penis and prepuce may be
cause for inability to copulate because of their
large size or due to the pain accompanying service.
 3. Reduced ability to fertile

• This condition in males is usually characterized by

normal sexual desire and the good ability to
copulate but a complete or abnormally high
percentage of failure of fertilization or conception
in the females occurred.
• This incapacity or reduced capacity to fertilize may
be accompanied by either apparently normal
semen characteristics or the semen is abnormal in
morphology, concentration, motility or other
qualities. When the semen is normal, it is difficult
to explain the cause of infertility.
 1. Testicular Pathology:
• The pathological changes of the testes which give
rise to disturbance in the spermatogenesis as
classified below:
1. Testicular aplasia
2. Cryptorchidism
3. Degenerative changes in the seminal epithelium
4. Testicular fibrosis
5. Inflammatory testicular changes
1. Testicular aplasia:
Testicular aplasia is the complete absence of the
testis. The condition may be unilateral or bilateral.
2. Crytorchidism: It is a congenital form in which
one or both testis fail to descend in the scrotum.
The case may be complete (the testis retained in
the abdominal cavity) or incomplete (the testis if
found in the inguinal canal at the external inguinal
ring).
 3. Testicular hypoplasia:
• It is the underdevelopment or incomplete development of
the testis.
4. Testicular Degeneration: Degenerative
processes in the testicles are the most common cause of
reduced fertility in male animals.
• Thermal degeneration, shortening of external cremaster
muscles, excess of scrotal fat, inguinal or scrotal hernia,
edema of the scrotum and inflammatory changes. Febrile
condition.
• Deficiency of Vit A and E, phosphorus, Protein.
 5. Testicular Fibrosis:
• Testicular fibrosis is the last result of the
degenerative and inflammatory changes of the
testis. In this case the semineferous tubules
are destroyed and replaced by the interstitial
connective tissue and the bull is completely
sterile.
 Orchitis:
• Inflammation of the testicles.
Causes: Bacterial, traumatic
• Testicular enlargement, hyperemic, abcess
formation
• It may leads to fibrosis
A) Normal scrotal conformation with elongated testes. B) Normal scrotal conformation with rounded testes. C) Scrotum may be rotated
in some bulls with no apparent ill-effects.

D) Cleavage between caudal epididymes is sometimes very distinct

A) Testes held close to the body wall are usually small or hypoplastic. B) Unilateral hypoplasia.

C) Scrotal hernia. D) Incomplete descent of right testis .

 Diseases of the epididymis:
1. Aplasia of the epididymis: Complete absence of the
epididymis is known as aplasia.
congenital absence of the wolffian duct from which
the epididymis and vas deferens develops.
2. Epididymitis: inflammation of the epididymis occurs
almost in association with orchitis. The inflammatory
lesions which are caused and fibrosis and atrophy
which commonly follow are not different from these
testicle. The symptoms are those, which occur in
orchitis.
 Diseases of Accessory Gland:
1. Aplasia of the seminal vesicles: The seminal
vesicle of one side may be absent in the bull. This
occurs usually in association with absence of the
ductus deference of the same side and
sometimes also complete or partial aplasia of the
corresponding epididymis.
2. Seminal Vesiculitis: inflammation of the
seminal vesicle is relatively frequent in the bull
and is probably always bacterial origin.
 3. Diseases of the prostate gland: it is
uncommon in large animals.
4. Diseases of the Bulbo-urethral Glands:
these glands are rarely the seats of disease.
Abscess may occur.
 4. Neoplasm of the Testis:
• Neoplasm formation in the testis is probably
much more common than in the ovaries.
• Fibroma and Teratoma formation
• Sertoli cell tumor
• Interstitial Cell tumors.
Semen Orchitis Testicular Epididymis Dysfunction of Seminal
Characters Degeneration epididymis Vesiculitis
Motility x x x x X
Sperm Cell x x o/x o/x O
Concentration
Primary x x o o O
abnormalities
Secondary x x x x o/x
abnormalities
Leucocytes x o x o X
Germinal x x o o o
epithelium cells
O= Not changed or normal value X= changed
or
pathological
value.