Effects of seasons and environmental conditions on semen quality of Senduro goats reared under tropical climate

Abstract

A study was carried out to examine the effects of seasons and environmental conditions ambient temperature; AT, relative humidity; RH, temperature-humidity index; THI, and sunshine hours; SH on semen quality of Senduro goats in the tropical climate. A total of 252 ejaculates semen were collected from 3 Senduro bucks from January to December 2017. The semen quality was then evaluated including semen volume VOL , sperm concentration CONC , total sperm output TSO , individual motility IMOT , before freezing motility BFMOT , postthawing motility PTMOT . The acceptance rate of fresh semen ARFS , before freezing semen ARBFS , and postthawing semen ARPTS were also calculated. The results showed the seasons had a significant effect P 0.05 among these groups. Moreover, it was interesting that the maximum PTMOT was achieved at high AT and THI. In conclusion, the rainy season has more preferred ejaculate semen than the dry season, but the semen collection is still acceptable to be carried out throughout the year. This study also suggests that Senduro bucks have good adaptability to tropical conditions.