I've only ever had one litter with more females than males, and have an all-male litter on the ground now. Another litter out of one of my females that I leased has only 2 females of 8 puppies. If I didn't know that the sire's DNA contribution determines sex, I'd swear it runs in my lines!It's pretty rare for a litter to be all one sex, but not unheard of.
Just was curious -was wondering if it had anything to do with my bitch being inseminated surgically. I have been told that the male sperm swim faster so they would get to the eggs first, and since we had done Progesterone testing - we must have been spot on with our timing. Anyone else ever heard this or had it happen?
I saw it in a frozen AI litter once that had ten puppies that were all males. I related the story to a human fertility doctor who said it was likely due to the manner or speed the semen was thawed. I don't know if that's true or not and it also unlikely but entirely possible to happen naturally as well.
Let me guess you had deposits for 8 females and 2 males?
I had a litter born 6 years ago with only one female of 7 pups (and yes, most of the deposits wanted females!) When I was talking to the sire's owner about it, he said his dog's litters had all been mostly male, including one that had 14....all males.
The sire definitely determines the sex of the pups. I bred a male that has produced half female pups and half male pups in three different litters. He was a singleton himself. I used a male as a sire once and got one male and seven females pups. When looking for a stud dog, it is probably a good idea to ask what he has produced if he is proven.
It's my understanding after two frozen surgical breedings that frozen then thawed sperm don't swim and that is why the timimg and injection directly into the uterine horns is so critical.
They do swim, but there is a much higher mortality rate and damage rate to the individual sperm cells. They also don't live as long. That is why it is so critical to literally "bathe" those ripened eggs in the previously frozen semen to ensure that they are right where the remaining living sperm cells are able to swim to fertilize without wasting excess time/energy to get there...
There is some thought that timing has to do with males vs females due to the size/speed/longevity of the sperm cells. The "male" sperm are smaller and faster, but don't live as long as the slower, larger "female" sperm.
The thought is that you can either centrifuge down the semen sample and draw off the bottom of the tube (where the heavier "female" sperm will be) for more females, or by breeding early you can get more females since the males will have already made their run upstream and died by the time the eggs are ripe and ready for fertilization. I personally haven't had that experience but know breeders who swear by both techniques....
It's interesting that you say that. I have a male that seems to throw 70 to 80% males every litter. This last litter I bred I wanted a female out of it and I had alot of interest in females So I applied the theory and let them breed the second they were both willing. hoping that a good percentage of the male semen would die by the time the eggs dropped. It seems to have worked or just a coincidence but either way we got 6 females and 4 males. and that is a first.
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