title: Effects of age and season on the type and occurrence of sperm abnormalities in Nubian bucks.
abstract: Effects of age and season on type and occurrence of sperm abnormalities were examined in semen samples collected from 3 groups of Nubian bucks at ages of 4 to 9 months, 10 to 21 months, and 39 to 50 months. The average total percentage of sperm abnormalities at the onset of puberty (141 +/- 4 days) was 64.6 +/- 14.8% (head, 19.5 +/- 13.6%; middle piece, 17.2 +/- 9.3%; and proximal protoplasmic droplets, 14.6 +/- 10.5%), but this improved rapidly and was reduced to 12.5 +/- 7.5% by 8 months of age (head, 1.9 +/- 4.5%; middle piece, 4.6 +/- 2.8%). Further increase in age, at least up to 4 years, did not reveal a significant effect (P less than 0.05) on the type or percentage of total abnormalities. Similar to age, a comparison of data among seasons did not reveal a significant effect on the type or occurrence of sperm abnormalities in 10- to 21-month-old or 39- to 50-month-old bucks. Seemingly, Nubian bucks started producing good quality semen at 8 months of age, and season did not influence sperm abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University, AL 36088.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Skalet
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: H O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Vig
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Noble
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D006041:Goats / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012621:Seasons; D012661:Semen / Q000032:analysis; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000648:ultrastructure