Impact of varying temperature-humidity index on the thermo-physiological, libidinal and seminal characteristics of male rabbits raised in the wet humid tropics.
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Animal Science Association of Nigeria
Abstract
The study was conducted to investigate the effect of the wet seasonal Temperature - Humidity Index
(THI) at period of high ambient temperature (11am - 2pm) on the thermophysiology, libido and
seminal parameters of a composite population of male rabbits. Thirty- three rabbit bucks housed
separately in cages were monitored for 8 weeks in the wet season under varying THI. Weekly average
of THI (27.61 - 30.36) observed was significantly different (p<0.05) and showed that the animals were
either severely stressed or very severely stressed. Respiratory rate (142.07 - 328.42 cpm) and rectal
temperature (38.58 - 39.73°C) of the bucks were progressively on the rise all through the experiment.
Mount and ejaculatory latencies of the animals were significantly shorter (p<0.05) at period of high
THI compared to lower THI contrary to the number of mounts which was higher at period of high
THI. Semen parameters of the bucks were not negatively affected by the prevalent THI during the
study. However, percentage semen morphological abnormality (15.82% - 17.71%) was significantly
higher (p<0.05) at relatively high THI. The results of the study showed that rabbit bucks maintained
their normal libidinal and seminal characteristics despite being raised under heat stress of varying
intensity.
Description
Keywords
Heat stress; Libido; Temperature - Humidity Index; Thermophysiology
Citation
7. Ajao B. H. & Ola S. I. (2021): Impact of varying temperature-humidity index on the thermo-physiological, libidinal and seminal characteristics of male rabbits raised in the wet humid tropics. Nigerian Journal of Animal Science, 23 (2), 83-92