Testicular Morpho-histometry and Semen Quality of Three Strains of Chickens

A study was conducted to compare the testicular morphology and semen quality of three strains (FUNAAB-Alpha, ISA brown and Bantam) of chickens. A total of 45, thirty four week old cocks were used for the six months study. Semen samples were collected weekly by abdominal massage technique and semen volume, colour, pH, motility, percentage live, normal and sperm concentration were evaluated. Testes and Vas deferens were collected from all the cocks at the end of the experimental period and their gross morphological data recorded. Strain influenced (P< 0.05) gross testicular morphology. Weights of paired testes were 23.98, 23.23, and 11.80 g for the FUNAAB-alpha, Isa brown and Bantam, respectively. Testicular weight (paired, left, and right) and lengths were consistently lower (P< 0.05) for the Bantam. Testicular width was similar among the three strains. Gross motility was similar for the FUNAAB- alpha (79.82%) and ISA brown (81.18%) while the Bantam (54.63%) had the lowest (P< 0.05) mean. Sperm concentration was highest (P< 0.001) for the Bantam while the other two had similar values. It was concluded that the FUNAAB- alpha compared favourably with the ISA brown but was superior to the Bantam in semen quality and testicular morphology.

Keywords:

Bantam , Isa brown , Sperm motility , FUNAAB-alpha , Testicular morphology