EFFECTS OF DILUENTS, AGE OF SEMEN AND INSEMINATION DOSES ON VIABILITY AND FERTILITY OF TURKEY SEMEN PRESERVED AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page —          —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       i

Certification —      —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       ii

Dedication —        —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       iii

Acknowledgement–       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       iv

Table of Contents—       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       v

Abstract–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       viii

List of Tables–     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION–    —       —       —       —       —       1

1.1     Background of the study—       —       —       —       —       —       —       1

1.2     Statement of the problem–      —       —       —       —       —      —       3

1.3     Justification of the study         —       —                 —       —       —       —       5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW– —       —       —       —       7

2.1     Origin and Domestication of Turkey–        —       —       —       —       —       7

2.1.2 Genetic make up of turkey      —       —       —       —       —       —      8

2.1.3           Breeds of Turkey–         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       8

2.2     Commercial Value of Turkey—-       —       —       —       —       —       10

2.3     Nutritional Value of Turkey — —       —       —       —       —       —       10

2.4     Reproductive characteristics of turkey —    —       —       —       —       13

2.5     Artificial insemination technique in avian species–       —       —       —       15

2.5.1 Artificial insemination in Turkey–    —       —       —       —       —       16

2.6     Semen Quality–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       17

2.6.1 Semen Volume–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       17

2.6.2 Sperm Motility–  —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       18

2.6.3 Sperm Concentration–  —       —       —       —       —       —       —       19

2.6.4 Sperm pH– —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       21

2.7     Spermatozoa morphology–    —       —       —       —       —       —       21

2.8     Sperm Abnormality–    —       —       —       —       —       —       —       22

2.9     Pooling of Semen–        —       —       —       —       —       —       —       23

2.10   Semen Storage–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       23

2.10.1  Ambient temperature —         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       24

2.10.2  Storage of semen at ambient temperature –     —       —       —       25

2.11   Diluents for turkey semen —    —       —       —       —       —       —       26

2.11.1 Chemical composition/Biological value of coconut-     —       —       27

2.11.2  Biological and nutritional Value of Orange juice–         —       28

2.11.3  Glucose– — —     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       29

2.12   Antibiotics–         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       29

2.13   Dilution of semen–        —       —       —       —       —       —       —       30

2.13.1 Semen dilution ratio–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       31

2.13.2 Effect of Dilution–       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       31

2.14   Method of insemination–        —       —       —       —       —       —       —       32

2.14.1 Timing of Insemination–       —       —       —       —       —       —       32

2.14.2 Insemination Dosage–  —       —       —       —       —       —       —       33

2.14.3 Handling of hens prior to insemination–  —       —       —       —       34

2.14.4 The deposition of semen–      —       —       —       —       —       —       34

2.15   Fertility in poultry —      —       —       —       —       —       —       —       35

2.15.1 Fertility period in turkey–     —       —       —       —       —       —       36

2.16   Hatchability in poultry–         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       36

CHAPTER THREE-MATERIALS AND METHODS —    —       —       38

3.1     Location and Duration of Experiment–     —       —       –        —       38

3.2     Experimental birds–      —       —       —       —       —       —       —       38

3.3     Management of birds–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       39

3.3.1 Allocation of experimental birds into treatment —  —       —       39

3.4     Semen Collection —        —       —       —       —       —       —       —       40

3.5    Semen dilution and evaluation of sperm survivability —-       40

 3.5.1          Semen Volume–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       41

3.5.2 Color and consistency of sperm–     —       —       —       —       —       41

3.5.3 Sperm concentration–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       41

3.5.4 Sperm motility–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       41

3.5.5 Sperm pH—         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       42

3.5.6 Sperm morphology–     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       42

3.6     Composition of different diluents–   —       —       —       —       —       42

3.7     Survivability rating–     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       43

3.8     Insemination —     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       43

3.9     Egg collection, storage and candling–        —       —       —       —       —       44

3.10   Experimental design–    —       —       —       —       —       —       —       44

CHAPTER FOUR-RESULTS–      —       —       —       —       —       —       46

DISCUSSION–   —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       46

SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSION–    —       —       —       —       —       60

RECOMMENDATION —     —       —       —       —       —       —       —       60

REFERENCES —         —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       62

ABSTRACT

          An investigation was conducted with a total of one hundred and fifty (150) semen samples collected randomly from six (6) toms and one thousand three hundred and fifty eggs (1350) from forty-five (45) hens to evaluate the effect of diluents, age of semen and insemination doses on viability and fertility of turkey semen preserved at ambient temperature. Results of the work revealed that the semen qualities of those toms used for the work were not statistically different (P>0.05). The rate of semen survival per hour shows that in diluent (DIII) containing coconut milk a highly significant difference (P<0.01) in rates of survival of sperm during the 8 hour period was observed. Other diluents preserved sperm for a reasonable period of time, diluent (D0) lasted for 4 hrs, DI lasted for 5 hrs whereas DII also sustained survival   of sperm for above 6 hrs before the sharp decline. The level of fertility recorded in all the diluents using different dosages showed that diluent D0 containing 0.2ml recorded the highest yield. The overall result in this case showed a highly significant difference (P<0.01). In the aspect of hatchability, diluent DI produced the highest number of chicks valued 63.48+8.27% .Significantly higher (P<0.01) hatch of fertile eggs and eggs set was obtained from hens inseminated with semen diluted in DIII than other diluents. From the work, it is evident that metabolizable substrates containing coconut milk and other diluents used proved efficient. The results show that careful improvement and utilization of those local and affordable diluents would enhance turkey semen preservation and artificial insemination practice in our local environment.

LIST OF TABLES

  1. Nutritional value of turkey–      —       —       —       —       —       —       12
  2. Comparative reproductive performance of some birds–  —       —       14
  3. Motility rating scale–       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       19
  4. Nutritional value of orange juice–       —       —       —       —       —       28
  5. method of insemination, fertility egg production and mortality of hens–     32

6.    Distribution of experimental birds (Toms) among treatments– —       39

7.     Distribution of experimental birds (Hens) among treatments– —       39

8.     The composition of different diluents–        —       —       —       —       —       42

9.     Semen qualities of toms used in ambient temperature semen storage–        46

10.   The effect of age storage to tom semen–      —       —       —       —       48

11.     The effect of diluents on sperm survivability–     —       —       —       49

12      Interaction effect of diluent and storage age of turkey semen- —       51

13      Effect of different insemination dosage on fertility and hatchability

       of turkey eggs–       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —       55

14.  Effect of diluents on fertility and hatchability of turkey eggs–  —       56

15.  Interaction effects of diluent and dosage on fertility of turkey egg–    57

16.  The effects of diluents x insemination dosage on hatchability– —       59

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

          Turkey, a large poultry bird, is fast gaining popularity among peasant farmers in the country to the extent that they are produced throughout the year for commercial purpose. All over the world Turkey is produced by breeders due to its body size, comformation and edible meat yield. Reproductive traits like its oviparous nature and low to medium  fertility have  not prevented a reasonable rate of improvement under natural condition even in developing countries  (Esminger, 1977).Following the quest for massive production of animals like pigs, rabbit and poultry with short reproduction cycle as a major remedy to acute animal  protein shortage in  Nigeria, emphasis is placed on poultry and its products because they are acceptable to almost all peoples, religions and communities. Among all the species of poultry in Nigeria, turkeys appear to be the less distributed with a population of   (0.2 million) (FDLPCS, 1992).

However, it is highly cherished due to its large body size and high meat quality. In Nigeria, about 90% of turkeys are produced for Christmas market mainly for these reasons (Smith, 1990; Veg.Soc.2007).

          Although this may be the case, the scanty distribution of turkey in the   peri-urban and rural areas of the country calls for serious concern. A notable reason for low distribution of turkey could be its reduced fertility compared to chicken, which factor places serious constraints to its rapid development especially under peasant farming conditions. The natural characteristic of male turkey (large body size) often results to reduced libido and low fertility which discrepancies cause toms not to mate frequently thereby resulting to low reproductive efficiency in turkeys under natural mating conditions.

          The development of artificial insemination technology over the past decades has resulted in some significant advances in Turkey breeding. The objective of turkey artificial insemination programme is however not to produce fertile eggs but to produce viable poults (Murray, 1993). The US turkey industry relies on artificial insemination for the production of 300 million turkey annually (William, 2003). In developed world where artificial insemination is exclusively used to achieve acceptable level of fertility, donor toms as a rule are subjected to semen quality evaluation for fertility prediction (Donoghue, 1998). This idea coupled with the improvements on the technique of avian semen storage at ambient temperature, has led to increased multiplication of turkey in developed parts of the world. The situation is rather different in developing countries where these techniques are not adopted and producers have to rely on natural mating and egg hatching techniques to produce poults. Nigeria is one of such developing countries where the use of Artificial Insemination (AI) is still at the experimental stage such that turkey poults are imported for rearing and natural methods are applied on existing local stock to produce poults for turkey meat production.

1.2     Statement of the problem

EFFECTS OF DILUENTS, AGE OF SEMEN AND INSEMINATION DOSES ON VIABILITY AND FERTILITY OF TURKEY SEMEN PRESERVED AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE