EVALUATION OF 3 TECHNIQUES (FOLLICULAR ASPIRATION, FOLLICULAR ASPIRATION AND FLUSHING AND SLICING OF THE OVARIES) FOR RECOVERY OF EQUINE OOCYTES FROM EXCISED OVARIES

The objective of this study was to compare three different methods of oocyte recovery from equine ovaries obtained from an abattoir. The tec hniques used were a) aspiration of follicles, b) aspiration plus flush ing of the follicles and c) slicing of the ovaries in a grid pattern. The number of oocytes recovered from each of the three methods was dif ferent (P<0.05). From 235 ovaries processed by the aspiration techniqu e, a mean of .94 +/- .5 oocytes was recovered per ovary. From 711 ovar ies processed by the aspiration-flushing system a mean of 1.69 +/- .46 oocytes per ovary was recovered and from 89 ovaries processed by the slicing technique a mean of 3.55+/-.45 oocytes per ovary was collected . The effect of the system on the mean time spent recovering each oocy te was not significant. The type of system utilized had a significant effect (P<0.05) on the quality of oocytes. The mean number of grade 4 oocytes (completely or partially denuded) recovered with the slicing t echnique was greater than the mean number of grade 4 oocytes recovered by the aspiration-flushing technique.