Comparative Study of Semen Collection from Rabbits Using Locally Assembled and Conventional Artificial Vaginas

Abstract

Artificial insemination has been used in time past to improve the reproductive performance of animals and has a great potential in rabbit production. The cost of purchasing sophisticated artificial vagina is a challenge for rabbit producers in developing countries like Nigeria, therefore, this study was carried out to compare the quality of semen collected using the Locally-assembled Artificial Vagina (LAV) with that collected using the Conventional Artificial Vagina (CAV). 3 matured bucks were housed separately in a Completely Randomized Design and each type of Artificial Vagina (AV) was used to collect 4 semen samples from each buck over a period of 4 weeks. A total of 24 samples were collected and analysed. The results showed that the viscosity and odour of all samples are the same, while the colour was Slightly yellowish white and milkfish white for LAV and CAV respectively. It was observed that the Liquefaction time, pH and Massal Motility of semen collected with both AVs were not significantly different (p≥0.05), but the Volume, Individual Motility, Sperm Vitality and Concentration of the semen collected, were significantly higher (p <0.05) for CAV at 0.47ml, 66.33%, 71.33% and 455.18 x 106 respectively. Although, there was a little difference in the quality of both semen, the semen collected using LAV are within acceptable range. It was concluded that unsophisticated LAVs made from cheap and available materials, is a good option for local rabbit breeders to collect semen from rabbits in an AI process, in order to save cost for rabbit farmers in developing countries.