Interaction of season and nutrition on the sexual activity of buffalo bulls

Twelve sexually mature buffalo bulls kept under three systems of feeding for a full calendar year were used in the study. Libido as expressed in term of reaction time was lower in bulls kept on the available [148.55 +/- 17.50 sec.] than the constant [73.48 +/- 6.26 sec.] or the proposed [82.17 +/- 7.65 sec.] feeding systems. It was higher during autumn [67.76 +/- 0.6 sec.] than spring [165.12 +/- 22.50 sec.], winter [87.76 +/- 8.30 sec.] or summer [85.25 +/- 8.70 sec.]. Failure of ejaculation was lower in bulls kept on the available feeding [16.67%] when compared to those on the constant [31.25%] or the proposed [28.13%] systems of feeding. A highly significant [p0.01] interaction was observed between season and nutrition on the sexual desire in buffalo bulls

Interaction of season and nutrition on buffalo semen-I physical characteristics

Twelve sexually mature buffalo bulls were used in the current work. Bulls were assigned into three comparable groups. Each was maintained on a particular system of feeding as follows: [A] constant plane of nutrition; [B] proposed system of grazing and [C] available system of feeding. Following a period of adjustment [7-8 weeks] semen was collected twice weekly during the last five weeks of each sesson. Data concerning all physical characteristics of semen were subjected to statistical analysis. Significant differences [p<0.05] were observed between the different systems of feeding in relation to the ejaculate volume [2.2 +/- 0.1, 1.9 +/- 0.1 and 1.9 +/- 0.1 respectively], sperm output per ejaculate [1885.3 +/- 62.0, 1654.7 +/- 52.1 and 1566.4 +/- 65.3 x 10[6] sperm respectively], sperm resistance to 1% NaCl [48.1 +/- 0.5, 43.2 +/- 0.4 and 45.0 +/- 0.6 x 10[3] respectively] and percentage of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa. All semen characteristics except the initial motility and initial PH showed singnificant differences [p<0.05] between the different seasons. General improvement in most of these criteria were observed during the spring. It can be conclude that semen quality seemed to be more influenced by the change in the level of netrition associated with the change in season