Semen quality assessment in Ongole (Bos indicus) bulls - insights from ejaculate volume, progressive motility, live sperm count, sperm abnormalities and host

Three Ongole bulls (designated as L-606, L-815 and L-838) aged 9, 5 and 5 years, respectively, housed at Livestock Research Station, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh were selected for the study. Semen was collected weekly once for six consecutive weeks, which equated to 18 ejaculates from three bulls (@ six ejaculates per bull) using the standard artificial vagina method. In neat semen, for bulls L-606, L-815 and L-838 mean ejaculate volume was 7.41 ± 0.68, 5.16 ± 0.49 and 5.13 ± 0.46 ml, progressive sperm motility percentage was 94.5 ± 0.18, 91.6 ± 0.66 and 92.1 ± 0.79, live sperm count was 91.5 ± 0.71, 84.66 ± 1.42 and 88.83 ± 1.90, sperm abnormalities were 6.53 ± 0.31, 7.6 ± 0.64 and 7.16 ± 0.48 and the HOST values were 84.0 ± 0.89, 77.0 ± 2.75 and 74.5 ± 1.58 respectively. Notably, bull L-606 exhibited significant variations in ejaculate volume, progressive motile sperms, live sperm count and HOST reactive sperms compared to the other bulls under study. Nevertheless, the observed sperm abnormalities were within acceptable thresholds, indicating the sound reproductive health of the three experimental bulls.