Simultaneous study of some of male breeding soundness indices and sexual urge on the crossbreed rams

Authors

  • G. H. MOGHADDAM
  • M. M. POURSEIF

Keywords:

crossbreed ram body measurements, sexual urge, semen characteristics

Abstract

The aim of this trial was investigation of the relationship between seminal parameters, sexual urge (SU) and some of body measures (BMs) in five ArkharMerino×Ghezel (AM×GH) and five Ghezel×Baluchi (GH×BL) rams during 5 month. The semen samples were evaluated for semen volume (SV), total sperm/ejaculate (TSE), spermatozoa concentration (SC), color, wave motion, spermatozoa progressive motility, percentage of live and abnormal spermatozoa, pH and metabolic activity of spermatozoa (MBRT). SU of the rams was measured by two indices including reaction time (RT) and refractory period (RP). BMs of the rams consisted of body weight (BWT), body length (BL), hip width (HW) and height at withers (HTW), which were recorded in monthly intervals. No significant differences were found between the two hybrid groups in any traits except for SU indices. RT only showed a significant correlation with SV and pH (r = - 0.14 and r = - 0.17, P < 0.05 respectively). RP showed a significant correlation with semen traits except for SV, TSE, pH, semen color. A significant correlation was revealed between the all BMs except for BWT with HTW. Semen quantity characteristics had a significant correlation with HTW, HW and BWT. RP showed a negative correlation with BMs. These results suggest that BMs can be used to predict the SU of the rams and also they will confirm the necessity of synchronized selection for the breeding soundness indices in the herd.

Downloads

Published

2014-03-31

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Articles