Effect of female turkey presence on male turkey's semen production, fertility and hatchability

R. Poureslami1, A. Eslami2, F. Boldaji3
1 Kerman university, Kerman,Iran
[email protected] [email protected]
2 Guelph University, Guelph,Canada
3 Gorgan Agricultural University,Gorgan, Iran

Semen quality is the key factor for improving fertility of the eggs laid by turkey hens. The role and importance of factors like nutrition, age, health, or breed of the male turkeys are obvious and have been investigated by researchers over the past years. In this experiment, the focus was the effect of visual simulation of male turkeys (toms) by the presence of female turkeys (hens) on their behavior, semen production, fertility, and hatchability of the eggs. It is a fact that higher average fertility results in higher average oh hatch of set (HOS) and hatch of fertile eggs ( HOF). Visual simulation of toms by toms by the presence of hens resulted in changes to their behavior, feeding habits, and more semen production. However, when toms were visually simulated by hens they often ejaculated at times other than during semen collection. Comparison of fertility averages showed that there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups, before and after the presence of the hens. Hatchability of eggs showed no significant difference. It is concluded that, the presence is needed for semen collection. The behavioral changes are not permanent and in the absence of the stimuli, toms will behave as before their visual access to hens and their semen production goes back to normal range. Obviously, more experiments in more controlled conditions are needed.

Source : IPSACON-2005

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