Between male variation and age group on semen characteristics of ostrich (Struthio camelus)

An experiment was designed to study different seminal attributes of individual ostrich aged from three to nine years. The birds were grouped in to two categories viz., three to six and six to nine years-old. The artificial cloaca (AC) was used for semen collection. The ostrich was allowed to mate naturally by following the teaser technique. The semen collected from individual ostrich was evaluated for volume, colour, consistency, pH, mass activity, per cent motility and concentration of live and abnormal spermatozoa. Individual male ostrich showed highly significant (P<0.01) difference in frequency of semen collection (days), semen volume (ml), pH, mass activity (score 1–5), sperm motility (%), sperm concentration (×10⁹/ml), live and abnormal spermatozoa (%) and the mean values were17.36, 1.38, 7.28, 4.26, 79.21, 2.69, 85.71 and 15.30, respectively. Semen colour ranged from creamy white to white and consistency ranged from thick to thin; and individual birds showed highly significant difference. The effects of age on frequency of semen collection and semen characteristics of ostrich showed highly significant (P<0.01) difference. This study concluded that the semen characteristics were better in three to six years than six to nine year-old ostrich.