Evaluation of whole and skimmed cow milk extenders on West African Dwarf goat Semen.

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of whole and skimmed cow milk as extenders for the semen of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat bucks. Semen was obtained from two adult WAD bucks by electro-ejaculation method and maintained in an insulator at 37℃. Pre-extension and post-extension evaluation of the semen was carried out immediately, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes post collection. Whole and skimmed cow milk were used to extend semen obtained from the black and brown bucks respectively. The semen characteristics evaluated included mass activity, percentage progressive motility, normal livability and normal morphology. Results revealed that whole cow milk effectively maintained the WAD buck semen characteristics post extension for a period of 30 minutes. Thereafter, values of each semen characteristic decreased progressively as the period of storage increased. There was rapid decrease in the characteristics of the buck semen extended with skimmed cow milk immediately post extension, the sperm cells were dead 15 minutes post extension. These findings suggest that WAD bucks can be extended with whole cow milk for 30 minutes at 37℃ successfully and not with skimmed milk.