The effects of vitamin E supplementation on Phu Tho multi-spur chicken semen quality during liquid storage
The current study investigated the effects of vitamin E supplementation on chicken semen up to 48 h in liquid storage. Pooled semen was divided into control and treatment groups with the adding of different concentration of vitamin E. The motility (mass activity, progressive motility), viability and abnormality of sperm were tested at 0 h, 24 h, and 48 h of storage. The results of the experiment showed that the motility of stored sperm was increased by the addition of 9 µg of vitamin E per mL extender after 24 h (7.5% mass activity and 11.28% progressive motility) and 48 h (23% mass activity and 28.32% progressive motility). The viability of sperm also was improved by adding vitamin E at the same concentration after 24 h (significantly) and 48 h (tendency) of storage (3.5% and 2.5% higher than viability. However, there was no significant difference in the abnormality of sperm between the control and treatment groups. After storage 24 h, the fertility of stored sperm was not different between the control and treatment groups in the first week after insemination. In the second week, the fertility of semen was highest by the addition of 9 µg/mL vitamin E (P<0.05) . Until 48 h of storage, the fertility was higher in the treatment group with 9 µg/mL vitamin E addition (62.15% in 1st week after insemination and 45.76% in 2nd week after insemination) compared to control group (35.27% and 11.68%, respectively). In conclusion, the addition of vitamin E to extender improved the motility, viability, and fertility of chicken sperm during liquid preservation and the optimum concentration was 9 µg per mL extender.
