Abstract
The outcomes of semen cryopreservation in poultry are not as successful as that seen in mammals. The utilization of dietary omega-3 fatty acids, as a nutritional approach, improves the cryo-survival of sperm in several mammalian species. The applicability of this strategy to rooster semen has not yet been assessed. This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for cryopreservation of rooster semen and their effects on semen parameters after freezing-thawing. Roosters were allocated into three dietary treatments; 1) control group received a basal diet (CTRL) 2) fish oil based diet (FO) received a diet supplemented with 15 g fish oil per kg of diet and 3) sunflower oil based diet (SO) received a diet supplemented with 15 g sunflower oil per kg of diet. Roosters were fed their diets for 60 days. Semen samples were collected from the roosters at days 1, 20, 40, and 60 of the experiment and then cryopreserved according to standard protocol. Several sperm quality indicators such as motility, membrane integrity, viability, abnormal morphology, mitochondria activity, lipid peroxidation, and apoptosis were assessed after freezing-thawing. Results showed that different diets affected post-thaw sperm quality parameters except for total motility, curvilinear velocity, amplitude of lateral head displacement, beat/cross-frequency, linearity coefficient, abnormal morphology, and malondialdehyde levels. Different sperm parameters after thawing were not significant (P > 0.05) at various times of the experiment. The highest significant values (P ≤ 0.05) in progressive motility, viability, and mitochondria activity after thawing were observed in diet supplemented with 15 g fish oil per kg diet. The percentage of apoptosis in thawed sperm was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) lower in both diets supplemented with fish oil and sunflower oil compared to the control diet. It can be concluded that the supplementation of roosters’ diet with 15 g fish oil per kg diet improved the quality of frozen-thawed semen.
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