EFFECT OF GIBBERELLIC ACID AND ROYAL JELLY INJECTION ON SOME PRODUCTIVE, REPRODUCTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS IN MATROUH CHICKENS STRAIN DURING SUMMER SEASON.

Abstract

A total of 168 laying hens and 21 cocks of Matrouh local strain at 24 weeks of age (At 43.93 % egg production)was used in a completely randomized design among seven treatment groups with three replicates per treatment group (8 hens and 1 cock per replicate).Birds are bi-weekly injected, up to 36 weeks of age (12 weeks). The 1st treatment group of birdswere injected with saline solution 0.9% only and served as control, The birds in 2nd and 3rd treatment groups, were injected subcutaneously with 100 and 200 μg Gibberellic acid (GA3)/kg body weight (BW), respectively. The 4th and 5th treatment groups were injected with50 and 100 μg Royal Jelly (RJ)/kg BW, respectively. The 6th treatment group was injected subcutaneously with 50μg GA3 plus25μg RJ/kg BW. The 7th treatment group was injected subcutaneously with 100 μg GA3 plus 50μg RJ/kg BW. The same 7 treatment groups were used also, on 21 cocks in individual batteries to take semen quality. The obtained results revealed that, Injection with 100 , 200 μg GA3 or50 , 100 μg RJ /kg BW of Matrouh chicks improved significantly (P(BWC),fertility eggs %, hatchability/total eggs % and chicks hatch weight (g), sperm-cell concentration (X 109/ml) and sperm motility (%), while significantly (P<0.05) decreased each of dead spermatozoa (%), sperm abnormalities (%), and acrosomal damage (%) as compared with the control group. Layers injected by 100 , 200 μgGA3/kg body weight showed significantly (P≤0. 05 and P≤0. 01) improved feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production (EP)% and egg mass (EM) compared with those the groups 50 , 100 μg RJ /kg BW and control groups through the whole of the experimental period. Injection with 50, 100 μg of RJ /kg BW caused to increase significantly (P≤0. 01) in IgG and IgM and primary and secondary antibody titer against sheep red blood cells (SRBC's) in hens as compared with100, 200 μg of GA3and the control group. Injection 100 , 200 μg of GA3 /kg BW caused to increase significantly (P≤0. 05 and P≤0. 01) in concentration of estrogen in hens and testosterone of cocks, FSH and LH in hens and cocks when compared with those in control group. In conclusion, injection with 100, 200 μg GA3 /kg BWimproved productive, reproductive and physiological performance of males and females Matrouh. Furthermore, the RJ-treated groups had significantly improved immune responses in hens and the quality of semen parameters in cocks under summer season conditions in Egypt.