Animals and management
Semen characteristics of two clinically healthy
and fertile West African dwarf bucks were
preliminarily studied during acclimatization of
the bucks. The two bucks were kept in a wellilluminated
pen. One was tagged “white” and
the other “black”. They were semi-intensively
managed in clean, well-ventilated pen with a
concrete floor. The bucks were about 4 years old
with an average body weight of 17.5 kg, and
were fed grass in the mornings and concentrate
supplement in the evenings. The concentrate
contained 17.25% crude protein and 212,344
kilocalories metabolizable energy per 100 kg dry
feed. Each buck consumed an average of 400 g
dry feed daily for about 4 weeks before and
throughout the semen collection period. They
were served clean fresh water ad libitum