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ESTIMATION OF THE OPTIMUM INTERVAL BETWEEN INSEMINATION AND OVULATION IN THE RABBIT BY DOUBLE INSEMINATION

Rabbit spermatozoa do not attain fertilizing ability until several hours after deposition in the female genital tract but, equally, they do have a finite life. Rabbit spermatozoa aged in vitro for 24 hr fertilized only 5% of eggs in competition with equal numbers of fresh spermatozoa (Roche, Dziuk & Lodge, 1968). When does were double-mated, the first buck sired 86% of offspring when the interval between the first mating and ovulation was 10 hr or less (Dziuk, 1965). This showed that spermatozoa that have spent 10 hr in the female genital tract have an advantage in fertilizing ability compared to those which spent less time there.

The following experiment was conducted to determine whether or not the first male would maintain this advantage as the interval between the first insemination and