Blood testosterone levels in Italian Mediterranean buffalo bulls managed in two different breeding conditions

In Italian buffalo cows the spontaneous cyclic ovarian activity is mainly high in autumn, while during spring and early summer it is very low. However many farmers separate males from females in the October-February period to obtain births in winter-spring. In order to verify if blood testosterone concentration in adult buffalo bulls is affected by season and by different management of the contact with females, 20 adult buffalo males, bred in central Italy were submitted to monthly blood sampling for 1 year, from September to August. The bulls were kept together with females all the time (group A; n=9) or were held separated from cows from October to February (group B; n=11). The mean (+/-S.E.M.) serum testosterone concentrations were higher in spring and summer than in autumn and winter in group B (2.07+/-0.1 ng/mL versus 0.99+/-0.08 ng/mL, P