Sperm abnormalities and libido assessment of West African dwarf rams fed diets containing Tetrapleura tetraptera (African Porridge) fruit meal

Abstract

The effect of Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit meal (TTFM) on the sperm abnormalities and libido test of West African Dwarf rams was assessed in a 20 week study. Thirty five (35) West African dwarf rams weighing between 12.80 and 13.20kg were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The diets formulated: 0% TTFM, 0.5% TTFM, 1.0% TTFM, 1.5% TTFM and 2.0% TTFM as treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Libido assessment was carried out at 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16th weeks of the experiment. Semen was collected twice at the beginning and at the end of the experiment from five replicates in each treatment using electro- ejaculator. The results showed that the libido increased progressively with the inclusion of TTFM which was only significantly different (p<0.05) at 16th week. The best libido was observed with rams fed diets containing 1.5 and 2.0% TTFM. The sperm abnormalities were minimal in all parameters except in abnormal head which ranged from 0.4-1.20% with diet 4 exhibited the most abnormal head. It was therefore concluded that the TTFM can be incorporated between 1.5% and 2.0% into diet of rams to improve the sex drive and reduced sperm abnormalities.