• Dr. K. Athis Kumar

Ejaculation capabilities and semen characteristics depending on seasonal variations are presented in this paper. The mean temperature range in the study area was 25.6°C (February) -30.5°C (May) and the mean humidity range was correspondingly between 62.5–80.4% (February) and 77.6–83.3% (May). The photoperiod was minimum in February (13h/day) and maximum in May (15.6h/day). Out of 927 collection attempts, 509 attempts ended with successful ejaculation and hence the semen collection rate was 54.9±8.8%. The highest ejaculation rate was 65% in March followed by 63.7% in November, whereas it was low (44.7%) in September. Average volume of semen ejaculated from a bird in one collection was 9.3±1.5µl and the range was 6.1 ± 0.2 µl (September) - 10.8 ± 0.7 µl (November)/ collection (p>0.05). The average semen concentration was 4.01109/ml. The highest semen concentration was observed in March and November and the least semen concentration was observed in July. The mean value of sperm motility was 76.3% per ejaculate, the highest motility was noted in March and November whiles the lowest motility was in July and October. The average sperm viability was 71.8 and the viability range was low in September and high in March and November. Sperm viability and sperm motility were positively correlated (r=0.94; P<0.05). The overall ejaculation performance was best during March and November compared to other months of a year but very poor in September. Nearly 57% of donors were submissive to the massage method of semen collection, 28% were tolerant and the remaining 15% were resistant to semen collection. Cloacal membrane during semen collection was red in 39% cases, pink in 43% cases and pale coloured in 18% of cases. This study recommends that for artificial insemination studies, semen should be collected from submissive male pigeons.

Lahore pigeon, Semen quality, semen ejaculation and season.

"Studies of Semen Qualities of Lahore Pigeons (Columba livia)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.796-809, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906E72.pdf

"Studies of Semen Qualities of Lahore Pigeons (Columba livia)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp796-809, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906E72.pdf