PRINT: ISSN 2221-1896
ONLINE : ISSN 2223-0343


Influence of age, hair type and body condition score on sperm morphology and cation concentrations of Red Sokoto goat

1*Ambali, A.L., 1Akpa, G.N. and 1Suleiman, I.O.

1Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, P.M.B. 1044, Zaria, Nigeria

 
Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the influence of age, hair type and body condition score on sperm morphology and cation concentration in 31 Red Sokoto bucks. The ages of the bucks were categorized into four classes (9 -12, 13-16, 17-20 and 21-24 months). The hair types were categorized into short-smooth (SS) and long-curly (LC). The body condition was scored on a scale of 1 to 5 and then used to categorize the bucks into score 3 and 4. The parameters include sperm morphological defects like detached mid-piece and tail (DMT), detached head (DH), mid-piece droplet (MPD), coiled and bent tail (CBT) and acrosomal abnormality (ACR). Semen cation concentrations were also determined. The results showed that the mean DMT, MPD, DH, CBT, ACR, sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and phosphate ion (PO4) were 0.52, 0.64, 0.52, 1.03, 0.61, 94.90, 67.79, 2.62, and 5.42, respectively. Age and hair type had significant effect on sperm morphology except the MPD and ACR. Body condition score had significant (P<0.01) effect on DH, DMT, MPD and CBT in younger-matured bucks of between 13 and 20 months of age than older bucks. The DH and ACR were significantly higher in the younger (9–12 months of age) and older bucks (21–24 months of age). The long curly haired bucks had the highest DMT and CBT abnormalities (0.8 x 106/ml), while the short-smooth haired bucks had the highest DH abnormalities (1.1 x 106/ml). Bucks with lower body condition showed higher DH (130%) than those with higher body condition (90%). Age had significant (P<0.01) effect on semen cation concentration while hair type and body condition score had significant (P<0.01) effect on Na ion only. Except Na, the semen cations concentrations were relatively higher in the older bucks of 21–24 months than the younger bucks of 9–16 months of age. However, bucks at 17–20 months of age recorded the highest value of K and PO4 respectively. Bucks with higher body condition score were superior in seminal Na than bucks with lower body condition score. The result of this experiment, therefore, showed that older bucks with short-smooth hairs and higher body condition score exhibited less sperm abnormalities and concentration of Na than older, long curly haired and lower body conditioned bucks. This suggest that, age 21-24 months, short-smooth hair type and higher body condition would be a useful index in selecting bucks for semen quality. Therefore, age, hair type and body condition could be important factors in selecting breeding bucks for optimum performance in Red Sokoto goat.

Keywords: Age; hairtype; sperm morphology; body condition socre; cation concentrations
 
To cite this article: Ambali AL, GN Akpa, and IO Suleiman, 2013. Influence age, hair type and body condition on sperm morphology and cation concentrations of Red sokoto goat. Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 3(8), 244-251.
 
 
 

Home  |  Archive  |  Instructions  |  Submission  |  Editorial Board  |  Sample Paper

All rights reserved © roavs.com