Semen Characteristics of Three Strains of Local Cocks in the Humid Tropical Environment of Nigeria

The study was conducted to determine the semen characteristics of three genotypes of Nigerian indigenous cocks. Thirty Six (36) local breeding cocks comprising of 12 frizzle, 12 normal and 12 naked neck selected randomly from the poultry breeding unit of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching and Research farm was used for this study. Semen were collected from them by abdominal massage and analyzed for semen characteristics. Semen concentration were significantly higher in nakedneck 4.86×10 ±0.03/mL (p<0.05) than in frizzle feathered 3.26×10 ±0.94/mL and normal feathered genotype 3.33×10 ±0.57/mL. Sperm motility was significantly better (p<0.05) in naked neck and frizzle feather than in normal feather. Semen volume of the frizzle and normal feathered, were significantly higher (p<0.05) than naked neck. There was no significant effect (p>0.05) of strains on semen pH, abnormal sperm and non-motile sperm. Morphological defects of the head, middle and tail was not significantly affected (p>0.05) by the genotypes. Variations on semen characteristics abound in the three Nigerian indigenous cocks sampled.