Short- and long-term effects of social hierarchy level on seminal quality and behavior traits in goat bucks

Abstract

Social hierarchy affects semen quality and social interactions in males. However, the long-term effects of social hierarchy on semen quality, sexual, and social traits in goat bucks are unknown. Goat bucks were assigned to the dominant and subordinate groups. Semen quality, sexual, and social behavior traits were evaluated every other day for six days to establish a short-term effect, and every week for 25 weeks to establish a long-term effect of social hierarchy. There was not a short-term effect ( P > 0.05) of social hierarchy in social and sexual behavior traits, but dominant males produced seminal samples with higher ( P < 0.05) progressive motility than subordinate males. There was a long-term effect on social and sexual behavior, but no changes were related to semen quality traits. The subordinate males received more hits during feeding time ( P < 0.05), and they performed a lower number of vocalizations than dominant males ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, social hierarchy affects the semen quality in the short-term, and social and sexual behavior traits in the long-term.

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