Project for disease prevention and innovations in the reproduction process aimed at improving the economic indicators and overcoming the consequences from epizootic situations in goat farming

The purpose of this project is to determine the health status of male bucks through diagnostics of the diseases that have an adverse impact on the reproductive capacity and that are sexually-transmitted. A large part of the diseases covered by the project are latent, with no clear clinical presentation and are easily spread by the male animals during intercourse. The implementation of this project in Bulgaria will result in the practical introduction of innovative techniques for artificial insemination with fresh and frozen semen, as well as through embryo transfer. Using computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) systems and innovative fluorescence techniques, not only classical motility, concentration and morphology analysis will be performed, but also various assessments of the sperm functionality (morphometry, acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity and DNA integrity). This will be the first application of these techniques on goat semen outside a research laboratory on a global scale. The proper and accurate measurement of the qualitative and quantitative parameters of each ejaculate is a prerequisite for the production of sperm with increased fertility, which, on the other hand will significantly reduce the costs for using this type of insemination. This will make it possible to use healthy male bucks with proven quality of semen, which will increase the productivity of goats in general within much shorter periods. At the same time, a genetic bank of frozen sperm and embryos will be created, which can be used in cases of severe epizootic situations or cataclysms in order to restore the dairy goats population in Bulgaria

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