Artificial insemination of individually caged broiler breeders. 1. Reproductive performance of males in relation to age and strain of females.
Studies were conducted to evaluate the reproductive capacity of male broiler breeders used for artificial insemination over an extended period and mated to females of six strains. Biweekly determinations were made of semen volume, semen concentration, and spermatozoal motility for each of the 47 males caged individually from their 39th to 63rd week of age. The percent fertility, duration of fertility, and percent hatchability were determined at five-week intervals (periods) using three young and three force-molted broiler female strains. With young female strains, the mean percent fertility for a 7-day collection of eggs following a single insemination (1 to 7 days) ranged from 95.7 to 81.1 over six consecutive periods. The mean duration of fertility (days) and the mean percent hatchability of fertile eggs was 13.3 and 13.0, and 92.5 and 84.9 respectively, for the first two periods. With force-molted hens, the mean percent fertility (1 to 7 days) ranged between 97.2 and 86.0 over the first three periods, and the mean duration of fertility and the mean percent hatchability was 13.2 and 12.8, and 91.5 and 84.1, respectively, for the first two periods. Fertility of eggs collected for 10 days following a single insemination was slightly but consistently lower than fertility over 7 days for both female groups. Significant differences among males and between periods existed for each semen trait. The effects of male, young female strain and period on fertility and duration of fertility were significant. Hatchability was significantly affected by period only. No male by female strain interaction existed for percent fertility or hatchability. A significant male by period interaction existed for percent fertility, semen volume and concentration. The results obtained are considered to support the feasibility of maintaining broiler breeders in cages and the use of artificial insemination (AI) to produce broiler hatching eggs.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D005820:Genetic Testing; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012661:Semen