Developing a female-only flock for artificial insemination purposes in ostriches: Progress and future directions

Improving Gander Reproductive Efficacy in the Context of Globally Sustainable Goose Production

The goose is a popular poultry species, and in the past two decades the goose industry has become highly profitable across the globe. Ganders low reproductive performance remains a barrier to achieving high fertility and hatchability in subsequent flocks. To address the global demand for cheaper animal protein, various methodologies for improving avian (re)production should be explored. A large amount of literature is available on reproduction traits and techniques for commercial chicken breeder flocks, while research on improved reproduction in ganders has been carried out to a lesser extent. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive literature overview focusing on recent advancements/techniques used in improving gander reproductive efficacy in the context of ensuring a globally sustainable goose industry.

Meat quality, skin damage and reproductive performance of ostriches exposed to extensive human presence and interactions at an early age

The effect human presence and interactions performed after hatch to 3 months of age has on ostrich meat quality, skin damage and reproductive performance at a later age was investigated in 416-day-old ostrich chicks. The chicks were allocated to one of the three treatments, which varied with regard to exposure to human presence and care for 3 months post-hatch: HP1-extensive human presence with physical contact (touch, stroking), gentle human voice and visual contact; HP2-extensive human presence with gentle human voice and visual contact without physical contact; S-standard control treatment, where human presence and visual contact were limited to routine management, feed and water supply only. Carcass attributes (carcass weight, dressing percentage and drumstick weight), meat quality traits (pH, colour and tenderness) and skin traits (skin size, skin grading and number of lesions) were evaluated on twenty-four 1-year-old South African Black (SAB) ostriches. Reproductive performance (egg production, average egg weight, number of clutches, clutch size, chick production, average chick weight, fertility and hatchability percentage) were recorded for the first three breeding seasons of 23 SAB pair-bred females from this study. No differences in carcass attributes, meat quality, skin traits and reproductive performance were found between treatments (P > 0.05). It was evident that exposure of day-old ostriches to extensive human presence and interaction as chicks did not influence carcass attributes, meat quality or skin traits at slaughter age, but more importantly, it did not compromise their reproductive performance.

Ostrich ejaculate characteristics and male libido around equinox and solstice dates

The study evaluated the effect of time of the year in which changes in photoperiod occurs on ostrich semen characteristics and male libido. Semen was collected for 5 days before, on and 5 days after winter solstice (21 June 2016), spring equinox (22 September 2016), summer solstice (21 December 2016) and autumn equinox (20 March 2017) in the southern hemisphere. Semen was collected from 10 South African Black ostrich males (average age ± standard deviation; 4.5 ± 2.27 years) using the dummy female. Semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm per ejaculate, sperm motility traits, percentage of normal sperm, head and tail abnormalities and percentage of affected sperm in the hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOS) were evaluated. Male libido defined as the willingness of males to mount the dummy female was also recorded. Semen samples collected around summer solstice, spring and autumn equinox were higher in sperm concentration and sperm output compared with winter solstice (P < 0.05). Study periods did not influence semen volume, sperm motility traits, the percentage of normal sperm, head abnormalities and HOS. Tail abnormalities were higher around winter solstice than around spring equinox (P < 0.05). Male libido and the success of semen collection were significantly higher around spring equinox (P < 0.05). Changes in photoperiod in the southern hemisphere do not affect semen production in ostriches. However, high sperm output and male libido around spring equinox and summer solstice dates suggest that these periods may be preferred for semen collection for artificial insemination and storage purposes.