Cryopreservation of avian spermatozoa

This chapter describes a simple system for cryopreservation of avian spermatozoa as pellets, formed by dropping volumes of sperm suspension directly into liquid nitrogen with dimethylacetamide as cryoprotectant. The method originates from the group at the Research Institute of Farm Animal Breeding and Genetics at St. Petersburg-Pushkin and is described here for chicken spermatozoa, but has also been adapted successfully for other species, such as Houbara bustards and pheasants.