ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2017, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (4): 645-651.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2017.04.007

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The Effects of Dilution and Hypothermic Preservation on Chicken Semen Quality and Fertility

XU Song-shan#, SUN Yan-yan#, LI Yun-lei, XUE Fu-guang, LIU Yi-fan, XU Hong, CHEN Ji-lan*   

  1. Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2016-10-25 Online:2017-04-23 Published:2017-04-23

Abstract:

This study explored the influence of dilution and low-temperature preservation on chicken semen quality and fertility, aiming at optimizing the short-term preservation conditions for the chicken semen. The semen samples collected from 30 Beijing-You chickens were mixed gently and divided into 4 groups: Group A: original semen as a control group; Group B: diluted with BPSE (1:1); Group C:diluted with BPSE (1:1) after removing seminal plasma; Group D: further diluted with BPSE (1:1)based on group C.Semen of each group was further divided into two proportions. One was used for the semen quality estimation and artificial insemination (AI) and the other was stored at 4℃ for semen quality evaluation at 8, 16, and 24 hours post storage and also AI at 24 hours post storage. For each group, around 120 eggs were collected for hatching to evaluate the fertility and hatching performance.As a result of different dilution groups, sperm motility of group C and D were lower than that of group A and B. Group A, B, and C did not show any difference in fertility or hatchability. The group D, however, showed significantly lower fertility and hatchability (P<0.01). The results of 4℃ storage revealed that, sperm motility of 4 groups decreased significantly (P<0.01). Group C and D decreased more quickly than group A and B. The sperm deformity were also increased during the storage (P<0.05), which were mainly characterized by swelling heads, bending necks, and cracking tails. Fertility and hatchability of group A, B, and C decreased significantly after 24 hours of storage at 4℃ (P<0.05). The fertility and hatchability of group D after storage were 71% and 82%, respectively, which were as high as those of before storage. The results in the present study indicated that, firstly, dilution of semen is feasible to increase the AI efficiency without decreasing the fertility; secondly, removing semen plasma and diluting before 4℃ storage may maintain the sperm motility and guarantee higher fertility.

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