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- Title
Fertility and Insemination Characteristics of Sperm Storage Tubules in Old Thai-Native Hens.
- Authors
Kheawkanha, Theerapat; Chankitisakul, Vibuntita; Pimprasert, Maruay; Boonkum, Wuttigrai; Vongpralub, Thevin
- Abstract
Simple Summary: In chicken, sperm is transported through the cloaca to the uterovaginal junction, which consists of sperm storage tubules (SSTs) which store sperm for long periods and retain its fertilizing capacity. Declining fertility in old hens is speculated to be due to a higher sperm release rate from the SSTs of old hens compared to that of younger hens. To enhance older breeds' fertility efficiency, the optimal number of sperm-per-insemination dose (150–250 × 106 spz/dose) together with the insemination frequency (once, twice, and thrice weekly) and the morphological appearance of SSTs after insemination were explored in this study. The present study's findings showed that the sperm concentration dosages did not influence fertility. The highest fertility rate was obtained through a thrice-weekly insemination frequency. The SST sperm content-related categories helped explain these results. The SST categories containing high levels of sperm decreased significantly in the once-weekly insemination group from day four onward. Meanwhile, only the thrice-weekly insemination group maintained a high sperm count in the SSTs throughout the week. In summary, an insemination dose of 150 × 106 sperm was sufficient for fertilization, but a thrice-weekly insemination frequency was most appropriate for sustaining the fertility rate in aged Thai native hens. We aimed to evaluate the effects of sperm concentration (150–250 × 106 spz/dose) and insemination frequency (once, twice, and thrice weekly) on fertility and sperm storage tubule (SST) characteristics. The SSTs were classified into five categories: namely, SSTs having an unscorable (SST1), empty (SST2), low (SST3), medium (SST4), and high (SST5) sperm count after insemination. The results showed that only insemination frequency affected the fertility rate (p < 0.05). The highest fertility was found in the thrice-weekly insemination group; however, this rate was not significantly different from that for the twice-weekly insemination group, except on day 7, while the once-weekly insemination group showed the lowest fertility rate (p < 0.05) from day four onward. On day 1, the SST characteristics showed no differences among the various insemination frequencies. On day 4, the SST2 and SST3 categories increased in the once-weekly insemination group (p < 0.05), while the SST4 and SST5 categories decreased compared to the twice- and thrice-weekly insemination groups (p < 0.05). On day 7, only the thrice-weekly insemination group maintained a level of SST5 category tubules like that measured on day 1 (p > 0.05). In summary, the insemination dose of 150 × 106 sperm was enough for fertilization, and thrice-weekly insemination was the appropriate frequency in old Thai native hens for maintaining a high sperm density in the SSTs throughout the week.
- Subjects
FERTILITY; SPERMATOZOA; HENS; THAI people; SPERM count; CATTLE fertility
- Publication
Animals (2076-2615), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 5, p694
- ISSN
2076-2615
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ani14050694