Effect of Multiple Showering and Vitamin Supplementation on Sexual Behaviour, Quality and Freezability of Buffalo Bull Semen

• Published in: Asian-australasian journal of animal sciences Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 184 - 188
• Main Authors: Singh, Pawan, Sengupta, B.P, Tripathi, V.N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Buffalo Semen; Vitamin; Freezability; Showering; Season
• ISSN: 1011-2367; 1976-5517

In a summer study during May to July, involving 12 young Murrah buffalo bulls at forty months of average age, the effects of multiple shower vs single shower body cooling and vitamin A, D and E supplementation on the sexual behaviour, semen quality and freezability were investigated. The animals were divided into two groups (6 animals in each group) and housed in a half-walled shed with proper spacing, the feeding management being identical. The bulls in the control group were given a single shower at 1000 h, whereas the experimental bulls were given four showers at 10,12,14 and 16 h. In addition, the experimental bulls were given vitamin A, D and E injections at fifteen day intervals. The sexual behaviour of bulls was observed in terms of reaction time, sexual aggressiveness and ejaculatory thrust. Semen quality of all the bulls was assessed in terms of volume, mass activity, live-dead sperm and sperm concentration, sperm motility and morphology, and acrosomal abnormality. The sexual behaviour did not vary significantly between the groups, whereas semen quality differed significantly for volume, per cent live sperms, total sperms per ejaculate and total live sperm per ejaculate between groups. It can be concluded that sexual behaviour was not influenced by the thermal comfort treatment coupled with periodic vitamin A, D and E injections. But the treatments improved most of the seminal traits in the experimental group of bulls. However, benefit of treatment was not reflected in the freezability traits of the semen.