Evaluation of three natural diluents for fresh rabbit semen in artificial insemination

Abstract

The present investigation has been carried out in order to evaluate the effectiveness of natural diluents used in the treatment of fresh rabbit semen (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in artificial insemination and its usefulness in the field of work. Three different treatments have been used: skimmed milk, aloe vera + egg yolk and coconut water, studying its effect on motility, sperm concentration and viability and reproductive parameters in artificially inseminated rabbits. Motility and viability were evaluated before and after dilution, at 30, 60, 90, 120 min. Three mestizo male rabbits and 12 crossbred females were used, of which one male and four females were taken per treatment, the nulliparous females with two previous positive jealousies, with an age of 6 months and an approximate weight of 3.5 Kg and the males with an age of 10 months and an average weight of 4.5 kg, distributed with a completely random block design (DBCA), with 3 treatments of 4 repetitions and one animal per experimental unit. A single dose of 0.5 mL was used for the artificial insemination with fresh rabbit semen added with the three types of diluents respectively, at a time of 30 min after the dilution was carried out. The study was carried out in an experimental room with elevated cages for a period of 45 days. The evaluated variables were: sperm viability and motility at times of 30, 60, 90, 120 min, conception rate and number of kits. The coconut water shows a better performance on the conception rate, number of offspring, in addition to motility and sperm viability up to a time of 120 min. The aloe vera and the combination of milk with yolk of egg show similar results on the rate of conception, varying the number of offspring and always below the coconut water.

Keywords

• semen
• natural diluents
• viability
• motility
• concentration
• skim milk
• coconut water
• aloe vera
• egg yolk.