Evaluation of semen quality among four chicken lines

Abstract

Evaluation of semen quality is very important before selection of breeding cocks used for artificial insemination. The aim of this study was to characterize the semen parameters of 4 lines of cocks followed by comparison of such parameters among lines. A total of 60 semen samples were collected from 3 Sasso, 3 Synthetic and 3 White Rock and 3 Assel RIR cock at 3 days interval. Semen was collected by abdominal massage method. Semen parameters with respect to ejaculate volume, mass activity, sperm motility, sperm concentration, proportion of live spermatozoa and proportion of spermatozoa with normal morphology were examined. The semen parameters did not differ significantly among individual cocks of Sasso line. However, sperm concentration varied significantly among individual cocks of Synthetic, White Rock and Assel RIR lines. The ejaculate volume, mass activity, sperm motility, sperm concentration, proportion of live spermatozoa and proportion of spermatozoa with normal morphology varied from 410.0 ± 0.0 to 810.0 ± 0.0 μl, 3.8 ± 0.1 to 4.0 ± 0.0 +, 71.1 ± 1.1 to 83.3 ± 1.2%, 7.5 ± 0.1 to 9.6 ± 0.2 x 10 9 /ml, 82.2 ± 1.3 to 87.3 ± 1.1% and 87.2 ± 0.8 to 90.1 ± 0.7%, respectively. However, only the variations in ejaculate volume, sperm motility, sperm concentration and proportion of live spermatozoa were significant among lines of cocks (P<0.05). It is concluded that semen quality of different lines of cocks were within normal range although variations in some parameters of semen may exist among lines.