Caprine arthritis-encephalitis is an economically important disease of goats. It is evident that horizontal transmission through respiratory secretions and milk plays an important part in the disease spread whereas the role of sexual transmission remains questionable. The cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the relationship between presence of small ruminant lentivirus (SRL V)-...

This study was carried out to determine heart rate (HR) values, including diurnal, seasonal, and sex patterns, in the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse). HR was measured using stethoscope in grip-restrained African giant rats of either sex (103 bucks and 98 does), live-trapped from a tropical Savannah, and caged individually in the laboratory during the harmattan (cold-dry), h...

—The adult sex ratio (ASR) is an important component of a population’s demographics and can be used as an indicator of a population’s status. However, the causes of annual variation in ASRs are unknown for many species. Fluctuations in ASR can arise through demographic stochasticity and intense selective harvesting. In this study we investigate the longterm patterns of variation in the ASRs (bu...

Inbreeding depression is a topic of main interest in experimental and domestic species, although previous studies simplified this genetically complex effect to the linear (or quadratic) regression coefficient linked to the inbreeding coefficient of each individual or, in more recent studies, to founder-specific inbreeding coefficients. Going beyond generalizing to these traditional scenarios, o...

The objective of this study was to test the effect of four different diluents on the motility of goat semen stored at room and refrigerator temperatures. To achieve this objective, four West African dwarf bucks aged 10-12 months were ejaculated weekly for five weeks using the electro-ejaculator method. The ejaculated semen were extended using four diluents namely sodium citrate (T1), sodium bic...

High environmental temperatures are known to have an adverse effect on the fertility of both male and female goats. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of seasonal variations in environmootal temperature on buck's semen characteristics of a local breed of goats in Saudi Arabia. Semen samples were collected from twelve adult bucks during the month of July and December usin...

The aim of this review was to summarise recent knowledge of the physiology of semen production and management of rabbit bucks. As in other mammals, the spermatogenesis is affected by many environmental factors (temperature, light, age of animals, feeding strategies, health status) as well as by semen handling (dilution, temperature, and condition of storage). Optimal conditions of rearing rabbi...

The effect of subcutaneous injections of vitamin C on the seminal characteristics of Markhoz bucks (2–4-year-old) was studied. The bucks, trained to serve an artificial vagina, were randomly allotted into three equal groups (n = 4) and received daily either zero (1 mL normal saline; control group), or 20 (VitC20 group) or 40 (VitC40 group) mg per kg body weight vitamin C from July 06, 2006 to O...