Semen production by the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). 2. Effect of collection frequency on the production of semen and spermatozoa

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.

This experiment tested the hypothesis that frequent collection of semen from emus would increase the total output of semen and spermatozoa over less frequent collection. Semen was collected from trained male emus using an artificial cloaca. In Experiment 1, semen was collected from males every 4th d (96-h interval), every 2nd d (48-h interval), and every day (24-h interval) for 16 d. In Experiment 2, semen was collected daily (24-h interval), twice daily (6-h interval), and three times per day (3-h interval) over 6 d. Twice-daily collections yielded twice as much volume and number of spermatozoa than daily collections. Collecting semen three times per day did not yield extra semen, as it adversely affected the libido of males. Twice-daily collections appears to yield the optimum output over the 6 d of this experiment, but longer periods of collection need to be studied.