Research Article

The sexual activity and ejaculate traits of Duroc, Hampshire and Pietrain boars and their crosses

Stanisław Kondracki, Anna Wysokińska, Maria Iwanina, Katarzyna Łącka, Natalia Łącka, Aneta Wesołowska

Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Poland

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 14(1), 2015, 99‒108

Abstract. The experiments were conducted on 31 boars, including: 5 Duroc, 5 Hampshire and 7 Pietrain boars, as well as 9 Duroc x Pietrain and 5 Hampshire x Pietrain hybrids. Two series of measurements were performed at three-month intervals for each individual animal. The sexual activity of the boars was assessed on the basis of measurements of the time at which the successive sexual reflexes were released when manually collecting semen. We also assessed the collected ejaculates on the basis of measurements of ejaculate volume, sperm concentration and motility, as well as the total number of spermatozoa per ejaculate and the number of insemination doses prepared from a single ejaculate. The Hampshire x Pietrain hybrids turned out to have the most advantageous traits from the point of view of insemination use. These boars are characterised with the shortest times of reaction to the phantom and, with a relatively long ejaculation, they produce ejaculates with the highest numbers of spermatozoa, providing the most numerous insemination doses. Among the pure-bred boars, the most advantageous traits were found in the Pietrain boars. This breed is characterised with the longest time of ejaculation and produces ejaculates with high sperm counts. Pietrain ejaculates can be used to prepare 5 insemination doses more than Hampshire ejaculates and 10 insemination doses more than Duroc ejaculates.

Keywords: boar, breed group, libido, semen