Title
Fertility of the male alpaca: Effect of daily consecutive breeding
Date Issued
01 April 1997
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Elsevier
Abstract
The fertility of the male alpaca under different frequencies of daily consecutive matings was evaluated. Fifteen adult male Huacaya alpacas were divided randomly into three groups of five each to breed lactating female alpacas. The schedule of daily matings was two, four and six consecutive breeding per group and for nine consecutive days. Ovulation was determined by progesterone at seven days after breeding. Pregnancy was determined by ultrasonography at 15 and 30 days after breeding. Two hundred and eighty females were bred with some males not fulfilling their schedule of breeding. There were differences (P < 0.05) in the fertility rate of males breeding two and four times daily (76%) in contrast to 59% for males breeding six times. There were also differences (P < 0.05) in the fertility of individual males. Length of copulation was affected (P < 0.05) by schedule of matings, day of breeding and male. Ovulation was independent of length of copulation. Overall, it seems the fertility of the male alpaca is affected significantly when consecutive matings are over four times a day and for nine consecutive days.
Start page
305
End page
312
Volume
46
Issue
April 3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Agricultura Ciencia veterinaria
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0343488350
PubMed ID
Source
Animal Reproduction Science
ISSN of the container
03784320
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus