Characterisation and evaluation of short-term viability of cock semen extended using egg yolk lactated ringer diluent fortified with watermelon juice

Abstract

The study aimed to characterize and evaluate short-term viability of cock semen extended using egg yolk lactated ringer diluent fortified with watermelon juice stored at room temperature for 5 hours. In this study, six Ugandan local cocks and two broiler parent cocks were selected, but only two Ugandan local cocks were able to give semen on abdominal massage. The macroscopic and microscopic parameters evaluated included semen volume, consistency, color, mass motility, individual motility, progressive motility, non-progressive motility, viability, and semen concentration. This study was conducted using pooled semen from 2 Ugandan local cocks, and five treatment groups TC (control), T0 (without watermelon juice) ,T1 (0.5ml watermelon juice), T2 (1ml watermelon juice), and T3 (1.5ml watermelon juice), respectively. In results, semen volume was 0.24 ± 0.04 mL/ejaculate, a milky white color, thick consistency, excellent mass motility (94.50±3.02%), excellent individual motility (89.33±5.39%), very good progressive motility (82.33±5.39%), progressive motility of (3.00±0.63), spermatozoa viability (95.33 ± 2.88%), and semen concentration of 1.05±0.15 billion/mL. Following storage at room temperature for 5 hours, the viability and motility of spermatozoa of Ugandan local cocks were significantly different (p < 0.05) between TC, T2, and T3 compared to T0 and T1 groups. In conclusion, Ugandan local cocks had good quality of fresh semen for both macroscopic and microscopic evaluations. The addition of a small volume of 0.5ml of watermelon juice into T1 preserved viability and motility of Ugandan local chicken spermatozoa for 5 hours at room temperature.