Seasonal pattern on semen characteristics and correlation with testosterone levels in farm-raised ostrich (Struthio camelus)

Abstract

Correlation between semen characteristics and testosterone levels in ostrich were studied for a period of 12 months during the year 2015. The mean volume of semen per ejaculate at winter, summer, southwest monsoon and northeast monsoon were observed to be 1.21, 1.33, 1.52 and 1.40 ml, respectively. Significantly (P≤0.01) higher mass activity score was observed in semen collected in summer (4.66) and winter (4.57), followed by southwest (3.93) and northeast monsoon (3.85). Semen collected during summer season had significantly (P≤0.01) higher per cent motility (85.25), followed by winter (83.68), southwest monsoon (74.83) and northeast monsoon (73.48) and this trend was similar to mass activity. The seasonal pattern on spermatozoa concentration (x109/ml) was observed that the concentration increased from northeast monsoon season (2.57) and reached peak during winter season (3.20) then gradually declined during summer (2.88) and southwest monsoon (2.27). The mean values of live spermatozoa (%) were 88.17 in winter, 90.20 in summer, 82.59 in southwest and 81.00 in northeast monsoon season. The blood plasma and seminal plasma testosterone levels showed highly significant differences (P