Time of day modified the time required for semen collection with electroejaculation and slightly affected the quality of fresh semen in rams.

Abstract

The aim was to compare some stress responses to electroejaculation (EE), and the quality of fresh semen, when ram semen is collected at dawn (06:00h), noon (12:00h), or evening (18:00h). Twelve Corriedale rams were used, and semen was collected from four rams at each study time on three different days, with a Latin-square design. The time required for EE, the number of vocalizations emitted, heart rate, and rectal temperature were recorded, and fresh semen was evaluated. The time required for EE was shorter at evening than at dawn and noon (399.3s, 480.6s, and 460.2s respectively; pooled SEM = 72.1; P = 0.03). The percentage of sperm with progressive motility was greater at noon than dawn (59.7% and 50.3%; pooled SEM = 5.8; P = 0.05). Curvilinear velocity was greater at dawn than evening (117.0µm/s and 95.5µm/s; pooled SEM = 7.1; P = 0.04), slow linear velocity was greater at evening than at dawn and noon (13.1µm/s, 9.3µm/s, and 8.5µm/s respectively; pooled SEM = 1.7, P = 0.05), and the slow average path velocity was greater at evening than dawn and noon (16.2µm/s, 11.7µm/s, and 10.8µm/s respectively; pooled SEM = 1.9, P = 0.05). In conclusion, the collection time modified the time required for electroejaculation and had only slight effects on the quality of fresh semen. Overall, the time of the day appears to have only slight effects on semen collection and quality.