Subfertility Problems Leading to Disposal of Breeding Bulls

Abstract

Subfertility problems are encountered frequently in the cattle and buffalo bulls commercially maintained for semen production in dairy farms and under field conditions for natural insemination. Reports are scarce on the incidence of subfertility in breeding bulls, especially in India. The objective of the present study was to assess the incidence of the male reproductive anomalies leading to disposal of bovine bulls at GADVASU dairy farm, Ludhiana, Punjab (India). Data on frequency of various subfertility and disposal pattern of bulls maintained at the dairy farm, GADVASU, were collected for 12 yrs (1999 to 2010) and compiled from different record registers. Percentage of bulls that produced freezable semen (out of reserved ones) was less in cattle (25.641%) as compared to that of buffalo (30.4%). Various subfertility traits like poor libido and unacceptable seminal profile were found to be the significant reasons (p<0.01) for culling of the breeding bulls. Inadequate sex drive and poor semen quality were the main contributing factors for bull disposal in cattle whereas poor semen freezability was most frequently observed in buffalo bulls. All the male reproductive traits were significantly different (p<0.05) for the periods of birth, except for semen volume, initial motility (IM), age at last semen collection (ALSC) and age at disposal. The ages at first and last semen collection as well as freezing (i.e. AFSC, ALSC and AFSF, ALSF, respectively) and age at disposal (AD) were higher in buffalo. The spermatological parameters and semen production period (SPP) were higher in cattle. The age at first semen donation and breeding period could be reduced by introducing the bulls to training at an early age. The results revealed an increasing trend in individual motility (IM) while semen volume, AFSC, AFSF, AD, FSPP, SPP, ALSC and ALSF showed a decreasing, however, not a definite trend, over the periods. The semen donation traits like, AFSF, of the cattle and buffalo bulls could be predicted from the AFSC, using prediction equation derived in the present study.

Culling pattern of Karan Fries (crossbred) males in an organised herd

“…Among the reserved breeding bulls, disposal due to poor libido was 7.53% which were comparable with the finding of Khate (2005). Lower percentage of culling in crossbreds bulls due to poor libido was also reported by Mathew et al (1982); Mukhopadhyay et al (2010) and Khatun et al (2013). Poor semen freezability (4.45%) in our present study was lower than the finding of Mathew et al (1982); Suryaprakasam and Rao (1993); Sudheer and Xavier (2000) and Mukhopadhyay et al (2010) in CB bulls.…”

Differential promoter methylation of DAZL gene in bulls with varying seminal parameters

“…Because of ever increasing selection pressure on milk production and other economic traits, decline in fertility of the dairy animals has become an alarming trend (Weigel, ). Unfortunately, the situation is all the more discomforting in case of fertility of cattle bulls that are crosses of Bos indicus and B. taurus (Khatun, Kaur, & Kanchan, ). It is been established beyond doubt that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and chromatin remodelling are involved in the regulation of gene expression (Egger, Liang, Aparicio, & Jones, ).…”

“…Because of ever increasing selection pressure on milk production and other economic traits, decline in fertility of the dairy animals has become an alarming trend (Weigel, 2006). Unfortunately, the situation is all the more discomforting in case of fertility of cattle bulls that are crosses of Bos indicus and B. taurus (Khatun, Kaur, & Kanchan, 2013). It is been established beyond doubt that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and Interspecies hybrids are known to harbour many epigenetic modifications, resulting in changes in gene expression (Liu et al, 2011;Scascitelli, Cognet, & Adams, 2010) which significantly affect the reproduction capabilities of hybrids, leading to sterility or subfertility (Johnson, 2008).…”

Disposal Pattern of Cattle Calves Born through Embryo Transfer Technology

“…In order to compare with conventional programme of breeding animals, literature scanning revealed similar reasons of culling on body defects and reproductive problems 20,21,22,23 . In cows the main reasons for disposal is related to udder problems and below farm standards.Various subfertility traits like poor libido and unacceptable seminal profile were found to be the significant reasons (p<0.01) for culling of the breeding bull.…”