Effects of Dietary Lipid Sources on the Semen Quality of Hy-line Silver-brown Cockerels

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid sources on the reproductive performances of Hy-line Silver-Brown cockerels. Five different lipid sources namely fish oil, sunflower oil, high oleic acid sunflower oil, tallow and an equal (50:50) proportion of linseed and fish oil (representing the control diet), were used in formulating five isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets (30g/kg inclusion level). The experimental cockerels (n = 10/treatment) were randomly allocated to the 5 experimental diets at 32 weeks of age, and measurements were taken from week 35 to 46 of age. The parameters recorded were: feed intake, body weight, semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility and sperm viability. Semen ejaculation rate was also calculated for the cockerels from which semen was collected. While a lower (P<0.05) feed intake (78.75g/bird/day), body weight (2499g), sperm motility (48.1%) and ejaculation rate (79.2%) was recorded in the cockerels fed a fish oil supplemented diet during this period, a higher (P<0.05) semen volume (0.42mL) was recorded in the tallow fed cockerels. Results indicate dietary fatty acid supplementation from the various sources to have distinct effects on certain semen quality (semen volume, sperm output, sperm motility) and reproductive (ejaculation rate) parameters in the cockerels tested.