Effect of extenders, postdilution intervals, and seasons on semen quality in dairy goats

Authors: MUHAMMAD SUBHAN QURESHI, DAULAT KHAN, ANILA MUSHTAQ, SHOAIB SULTAN AFRIDI

Abstract: The breeding of female dairy goats with good quality sires has been a problem in rural areas and artificial insemination (AI) provides an answer to this issue. To develop an AI model, a total of 9 bucks were purchased from a local market. Semen was collected in an artificial vagina, the libido was noted, and the semen was evaluated for its physical characteristics. The libido, semen volume, mass motility, individual motility, and sperm concentration were 2.94 ± 0.25 (scale of 1-3), 0.79 ± 0.59 mL, 4.34 ± 0.93 (scale of 1-5), 55.01 ± 32.59%, and 1027 ± 406 million spermatozoa/mL, respectively. The buck affected various quality parameters (P < 0.05) except individual motility, which may be confounded by the time interval. The libido declined during June and the mass motility declined from November to January. The individual motility remained higher during March and July to October. The volume was the highest during January and the sperm concentrations were the highest during November. No difference was found in the sperm motility up to 2 h after dilution. Between 6 and 192 h, the sperm motility decreased significantly from 56.43% to 10.71%. The extender containing 20% egg yolk and 7% glycerol (control) maintained sperm motility for more than 192 h (72.33%). The time of collection correlated with the semen volume significantly (r = -0.237, P = 0.000). The semen volume correlated positively with the libido and negatively with the mass motility and concentration. The concentration correlated positively with the time of collection and the mass motility. The individual and mass motility correlated positively with each other.

Keywords: Semen, goats, extender, motility, dairy, longevity

Full Text: PDF