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Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls
oleh: Francesca Corte Pause, Martina Crociati, Susy Urli, Maurizio Monaci, Lorenzo Degano, Giuseppe Stradaioli
| Format: | Article |
|---|---|
| Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2022-09-01 |
Deskripsi
The objectives of the study aimed to evaluate the effect of weather conditions and scrotal circumference (SC) on standard semen characteristics of Italian Simmental young bulls (<i>n</i> = 577), all raised in the same performance station and sampled by the artificial vagina (AV) method. Considering the increasing SC, the results showed a significant increase in quantitative semen parameters (<i>p</i> < 0.05 and <i>p</i> < 0.0001, for sperm concentration and total number of spermatozoa, respectively); for every extra centimeter of SC, 17.5 × 10<sup>6</sup> spermatozoa/mL and 0.102 × 10<sup>9</sup> of total spermatozoa were produced. The age of the animal at semen collection (395 and 465 days) had similar positive effects. The effect of the average temperature humidity index (THI limits ≤ 40 and ≥70) in the previous 60, 30, and 10 days before the semen collection was also considered. Sixty days before the semen collection, the increasing THI increased both primary (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) and secondary (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) abnormalities while the percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa decreased (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Thirty and ten days before collection, the same effect on morphological traits was maintained, but total and progressive motility was also influenced (<i>p</i> < 0.01) with an unexpected increasing pattern. Thus, environmental conditions can influence semen quality during the entire spermatogenesis and results can guide future research on this breed.