Evaluation of properties of rabbit semen from the standpoint of fertility disorders

: Observations were carried out on 50 rabbits, from which 145 ejaculates were taken and examined. It was found that the volume of a full rabbit ejaculate ranges from 0.4 to 5.0 ml, that of the spermatozoa fraction -- from 0.1 to 3.5 ml, and that of the mucous-jelly fraction -- from 0.2 to 3.5 ml. The colour and consistency of the semen depend mainly on the concentration of the spermatozoa and lipids in the volume unit of the ejaculate; the vawy motility in most of the ejaculates is determined as +, +(+) and ++. In the majority of the ejaculates the percentage of spematozoa with normally motility reaches 60-100, and the concentration of spermatozoa ranges from 58 000 to 1 182 000 per mm3, the average being 340 000 per mm3. Secondary changes in the spermatozoa average 9.4 per cent of the whole amount observed in a preparation, and the primary changes -- up to 2.8 per cent. Three cases of fertility disturbances were found, which constitutes 6 per cent of the total number of 50 rabbits under observation. Since it is very difficult to ascertain the causes of fertility disturbances in rabbits, attention should be drawn to the examination of semen as a means of detecting the real cause.