Semen Characteristics of Rabbit Bucks Orally Administered Exogenous L-Selenomethionine

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the semen quality of rabbits administered varied levels of exogenous L-Selenomethionine (L-SeMet). Twenty four male rabbits (10 months old) were randomly allotted to four treatments in a completely randomised design. Treatment 1 (control) was without exogenous L-SeMet, while  treatments 2, 3 and 4 were administered 0.2 mgkg-1, 0.3 mgkg-1 and 0.4 mgkg-1 oral supplementation of L-SeMet, respectively at 48hours interval for 6 weeks. Semen samples were collected at day 21 and day 42 using artificial vagina from the bucks and assessed for volume, mass activity, progressive motility, percentage dead and live sperm cells and sperm concentration. Sperm progressive motility and sperm concentration increased significantly (P<0.05) as the concentration of L-SeMet increases at day 21. However, percentage dead sperm cells significantly (P<0.05) reduced with increase in the level of L-SeMet supplementation. At day 42, it was also observed that mass activity, sperm progressive motility and sperm concentration were significantly (P<0.05) highest in rabbits administered 0.4 mgkg-1 L-SeMet. However, semen volume was not significantly different among the treatments on both days of assessment. This suggested that exogenous supplementation of L-SeMet up to 0.4 mgkg-1 improved semen attributes and sperm cells formation of the rabbit bucks.