Semen Characteristics of Two Breeds of Turkeys

Abstract

Semen samples were collected from ten Bronze and ten Beltsville Small White turkeys by the massage method without milking the copulatory organ. The birds were kept under natural conditions at Giza, Egypt (lat. 30\s=deg\N). Four collections were tested each month throughout 1 year. The collections of alternate weeks were used for studying the physical and chemical characteristics respectively. The largest volumes of semen were produced between March and October, and the smallest between November and February. The best semen quality was recorded between November and April, and the poorest between May and August. A sharp decline in all semen characteristics occurred during May. If the causes of this decline can be avoided, the time of obtaining best semen qualities is prolonged. The semen production of Beltsville Small White turkeys was better than that of the Bronze breed. Wide seasonal variations in types of sperm abnormality were observed.Seminal fructose and vitamin C were high between November and April, and low from May to August. Semen quality was directly related to levels of seminal fructose and vitamin C. Slight seasonal and monthly variations were observed in inorganic phosphate levels. The rate of fructose metabolism by the spermatozoa was high during the first hour and decreased consistently thereafter. The large quantity of carbon dioxide produced during the first hour depressed sperm viability.

Ultrastructural Studies of Semen Abnormalities and Herpesvirus Associated With Cultured Testicular Cells From Domestic Turkeys

“…Abnormal sperm cell production probably occurs in all turkey breeder males and appears to intensify as the breeding season progresses (Kamar & Rizik, 1972). The work of Saeki & Brown (1962) and the results presented in the present study have shown that yellow turkey semen contains several abnormal cells and this may account for the lowered fertility associated with males producing yellow semen (Cherms, 1968).…”

Incidence, structure and morphological classification of abnormal sperm in the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

“…However this should not invalidate the category of acrosome defects when studying ratite sperm as they may very well occur in this group of birds. Likewise, the 'Dag' defect identified by Bertschinger et al [6] in ostrich semen is not specifically identified in other avian studies as a subdivision of either mid-piece or tail abnormalities, although tail coiling has been described [18,35,41]. Again, ultrastructural studies will be required to reveal the specific structural peculiarities that would define a particular form of tail coiling as the 'Dag' defect.…”

“…Various types of sperm abnormalities which result in a decrease in fertility and can lead to infertility have been identified in mammals, including man, and detailed descriptions of the defects including their ultrastructure have been documented [12][13][14][15][16]. There are a number of reports on the incidence of sperm abnormalities in birds, particularly in domestic poultry such as the fowl [17], turkey [18,19,20], duck [21] and goose [22], as well as in ratites [6,23,24,25] and exotic species [26,27,28]. However, the recording of the defects lacks conformity and the morphological description of the anomalies, confined mainly to light microscopic descriptions, suffers, with few exceptions [19,22,29,30,31],from a lack of ultrastructural detail.…”

Structural peculiarities associated with multiflagellate sperm in the emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae

“…Most classification systems on avian sperm defects fail to reflect multior biflagellate sperm [32][33][34][35][36]. However, this anomaly has been mentioned [37][38][39], briefly described and/or illustrated in some avian species such as the Houbara bustard [40], goose [41][42][43], duck [44], guinea fowl [45] and, more recently, in the emu [9].…”