Impact of Ejaculate Frequencies on the Quality of Red Jungle Fowl ( Gallus gallus murghi ) semen

Abstract

The Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus murghi), a native species of Southern Asia is threatened by habitat destruction, egg collection, predation and genetic hybridisation. Semen banking is one of the reproductive techniques used for the conservation of endangered species. To develop a semen bank for Red Jungle Fowl, the impact of semen collection frequencies on spermatozoa must be known. The study evaluated the impact of four ejaculate collection frequencies (once in 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours) on semen quality parameters (volume, motility, concentration, live/dead ratio, acrosomal integrity and plasma membrane integrity) of Red Jungle Fowl semen. Sperm motility and concentration was higher (P < 0.05) at 24, 48 and 72 hours of collection period compared to 12 hours. Semen volume increased (P < 0.05) at 48 and 72 hours of collection compared to 12 and 24 hours of collection frequency. The sperm acrosomal integrity was higher (P < 0.05) at 72 hours of collection compared to 12, 24 and 72 hours of collection frequency. The plasma membrane integrity was not affected by the frequency of collection (P > 0.05). The number of live sperm were observed to be higher (P > 0.05) at 12 hours of collection compared to 24, 48 and 72 hours. The overall semen output of all cocks was theoretically similar at a collection frequency of once in 48 hours and 72 hours in all of the semen quality parameters evaluated in this study. It is concluded that semen of optimum quality may be collected at 48 and 72 hours of interval for captive breeding programs of Red Jungle Fowl.