TESTICULAR MORPHOMETRY AND EJACULATE CHARACTERISTICS OF ISA WHITE COCKS FED VARIED LEVELS OF SALT (NaCl) AND SUPPLEMENTAL ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID(ASA)

Abstract

Testicular morphometry and qualitative parameters of the semen of Isa White cocks fed varied supplemental levels of acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) and different inclusion levels of dietary salt (NaCl) were investigated in a sixteen-week study.. A total of sixteen Isa White cocks were used for the study. The cocks were randomly distributed into four treatment diets and replicated four times where each cock served as a replicate of its treatment diet. The four experimental diets were formulated and designated as: the control (DI) with 0.00% of ASA and 0.25% NaCl while the remaining three (3) diets were labelled as D2, D3 and D4 with 0.05% ASA and 0.50% NaC1, 0.10% ASA and 0.75% NaC1 and 0.15% ASA and 1.00% NaC1 respectively. The cocks were subjected to semen collection once a week for 9 weeks and qualitative parameters of the ejaculates like semen volume, sperm concentration, spermatocrit, seminal plasma and viability were determined. The birds were sacrificed at the end of the experiment to determine testicular morphometry parameters. The results showed differences (p<0.05) in testicular weight, volume and density among the four treatment diets. Cocks fed D3 had the heaviest testicles (13.67±1.67g) and largest testicular volume (11.37±1.75ml) while cocks on D4 had the densest testicles (1.26±0.06gml-l) in comparison with control. The total and average weekly ejaculate volume were best (p<0.05)) in D2 (3.35±0.85 and 0.37±0.09ml respectively). Most of the ejaculate parameters like the spermatocrit, sperm concentration, total sperm/ejaculate (TSE) and motility were adversely affected in birds fed D4 when compared with the three other diets. The best combination of dietary salt and ASA was achieved with 0.50 and 0.05% respectively. In conclusion, the use of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) at 0.05% ASA and 0.50 % Salt (NaCl) could significantly improve semen production potential and viability thus enhancing the reproductive performance of the male domestic chicken.