Determination of the bacterial load of mesophilos and coliformes in semen of rabbit

The objective of the present study was to determine the amount of mesophiles and coliforms in rabbit semen. We used 20 clinically healthy rabbits of intensive breeding, the animals were divided into two groups: experienced in natural mountain (Group 1) and without experience of natural mountain (Group 2). The semen collection was carried out in the Zootechnical Unit of the unit of the Universidad Científica del Sur and in the area of small animals of the Universidad Agraria la Molina. The semen samples were collected by means of a sterile artificial vagina designed following the Bredderman model. Samples were paired in plate count agar and red bile for bacterial count, then identified based on their metabolic characteristics. Positive were reported in 93.3% (56/60) of the samples, with a mean of 22905.3 CFU / ml of semen for mesophiles and 5.0% (3/60) of the samples with an average of 0.05 CFU / ml of semen for coliforms. The results did not follow a normal distribution (p<0.05) (Shapiro - Wilk test). It was observed no statistically significant between group 1 and group 2 (p>0.05) (Kolmogorov - Smirnov test), this result shows too that there is no statistical difference between the weeks of collection (p>0.05) (Kruskal - Wallis test). The most frequently encountered bacterial were Bacillus sp. (28.6%), Staphylococcus sp. (17.1%) y E. coli (14.3%). It is confirmed the presence of mesophiles and coliforms in semen of rabbits wich were used for natural mating and collect with artificial vagina.