Research Article Open Access

The Effects of Age and Season on Semen Characteristics of White Leghorn Cocks under Sudan Conditions

Authors

H.A.A. Elagib
Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Animal Production, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
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N.A. Musharaf
Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Animal Production, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
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S.A. Makawi
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
H.E. Mohamed
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Published on: December 15, 2011
DOI 10.3923/ijps.2012.47.49
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Abstract

White Leghorn cocks (Bovans) of 2 different ages (1-2 years) were used to study the effect of age and season on semen characteristics. An average of 8 males from each age were used and kept in individual cages in an open sided poultry house for 6 months. Average maximum and minimum daily temperature during summer and autumn seasons were 40.3, 24.4 and 39.3, 26.1, respectively. Semen was collected weekly by abdominal massage and evaluated for semen volume, motility, concentration and percentage of dead and abnormal spermatozoa. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the two age groups in semen volume 0.22±0.02 and 0.29±0.25 mL; mass motility scores were 3.56±0.06 and 3.17±0.08 and the percentage of abnormal sperm 4.67±0.14 and 5.62±0.16% for one and 2 years, respectively. No significant difference was found in sperm concentration or percentage of dead sperms. Summer season caused a significant drop in semen volume by 8.7% in one year old and sperm concentration in two years old by 19.7%. It is also, caused an increase in percent dead sperm by 40.86 and 41.89% in 1 and 2 years, respectively.

Keywords:

Hot climate, semen characteristics, sperm concentration, white leghorn cocks

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Copyright (c) 2012 Asian Network for Scientific Information

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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How to Cite

Elagib, H., Musharaf, N., Makawi, S., & Mohamed , H. (2011). The Effects of Age and Season on Semen Characteristics of White Leghorn Cocks under Sudan Conditions. International Journal of Poultry Science, 11(1), 47–49. https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2012.47.49
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