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The Effect of Holding Time of Turkey Semen on Fertilizing Capacity1
The Effect of Holding Time of Turkey Semen on Fertilizing Capacity1 J. A. HARPER Department of Poultry Husbandry, Oregon Slate College, Corvallis, Oregon (Received for publication March 21, 1955)
A
EXPERIMENTAL
The Beltsville White turkeys used in the experiment were hatched on April 29 and May 13, 1953. Following normal 1 Technical Paper No. 898, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the U. S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.
brooding and range rearing conditions four groups of ten hens were placed in individual laying cages on December 1. Males and females were reared apart from each other from the 12th week. Artificial lighting of males maintained in an outside yard was started on December 25, 1953, and for the hens on January 15, 1954. Lights were used to provide a minimum daily light period of 14 hours per day and were discontinued on May 1. The hens were all inseminated on February 16, March 9, March 30, April 27 and May 25. The periods between inseminations that eggs were individually marked for incubation thus consisted of 2 three-week periods, 2 four-week periods and a two-week period. Semen used for artificial insemination was the pooled collection from eight males. The pooled collection was equally divided and stored in stoppered hard glass vials at water bath temperatures of either 55 or 60°F. At each insemination period Lot 1 hens were artificially inseminated immediately, while lots 2, 3 and 4 were inseminated with semen held one, two and four hours, respectively. A volume of .03 cc. of undiluted semen was used for each hen when inseminated. All normal eggs were set at two-week intervals during the experiment. Eggs were candled on the 13th day of incubation and those removed were broken out to examine macroscopically for embryonic development. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
All eggs laid by hens prior to the first insemination were incubated as a check on fertility. A total of 389 eggs represent-
1289
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
RTIFICIAL insemination as a method - to improve fertility in turkey breeding flocks is of increasing economic importance. The satisfactory application of this technique following the description of Quinn and Burrows (1936) has been demonstrated by many workers including Burrows and Marsden (1938), Parker and Barton (1946), Harper (1949), McCartney (1951) and Lorenz and Carson (1951). A major problem limiting use of artificial insemination is the short time that the semen may be held following collection. Garren and Shaffner (1952) found that the optimum temperature for holding semen of chicken males was 10°C. and hens inseminated with stored semen did not remain fertile as long as those insemiriated with fresh semen. Hunsaker, Aitken and Lindblad (1954) observed that 15°C. appeared to be the optimum holding temperature for semen but fertilizing capacity was not lowered significantly by holding semen at either 10° or 20°C. Fertility was found to drop rapidly as length of storage time increased beyond 2 hours holding. With turkeys there is little reported data available regarding effects of holding semen for varying time on fertilizing capacity. The question is of considerable importance where artificial insemination is being used in commercial flocks and a time element involved.
1290
J. A. HARPER
TABLE 1.—Effect
of holding time of semen on fertiliz-
TABLE 2.—Effect
ing capacity in Beltsville White turkeys
Lot
Fertility in periods
Hours semen 2-18 held 3-10
1 2 3 4
0 1 2 4
3-11 3-31
%
4-1
4-28
%
88.0 87.2 84.5 87.5
%
93.1 87.0 94.7 77.9 76.2 73.4 75.7 53.1*
4-29 5-27 Season Season 5-26 6-9 eggs fertile
%
81.6 57.3 40.3* 62.2
%
75.6 29.8* 43.1* 41.5*
No. 499 548 544 553
of holding time of semen on duration
of fertility in Beltsville White turkeys Lot No.
Hours held
%
86.4 74.8 66.2 67.4
* Significantly different from Lot 1 (P<0.05).
1
0
Weeks following insemina- 2/18 tion 3/10 1 2
3 4 2
1
1 2
3 4
^
s\.
iv
N
ST \
\
V N \
5
.ITY
•0
••»•<.*
\ !\ \ \ \\ \ V \
L HOURS SEMEN HELD O 1
5
CENT
.
•
2
+++++
4
" 0
| 3-31 INSEMINATION
4-2S PERIOD
FIG. 1. Percentage fertility according to the time of holding turkey semem and seasonal effect.
3
2
1 2
3 4 4
4
1 2
3 4
3/11 3/31
4/1
4/28
4/29 5/26
5/27
6/9
% 98.0 91.2 8S.0 97.0 77.2 90.6
Fertility 90.4 85.8 81.0 92.1 82.1 70.0 92.3 96.0 71.5 65.5
85.5 85.5 83.5
97.5 94.5 91.7
94.4 78.2 74.2 60.6 70.4 46.1 73.0 44.5
40.8 25.0
80.5 93.5 79.0
85.8 73.4 53.8 76.4 71.0 55.6 64.3 80.5 35.2 67.6 23.5
53.8 32.0
92.2 83.7 86.5
93.5 84.0 56.8
76.5 46.5 40.0 47.1
50.0 28.6
61.3 56.2 74.0 58.6
period starting February 18 for semen used immediately following collection or held up to 4 hours. A marked seasonal effect in relation to length of the holding time for semen was found and is more clearly shown in graphic form in Figure 1. Except for the eggs from the hens in Lot 1 the fertility declined progressively with increasing length of the season below that which would normally be expected. Seasonal decline infertility has previously been observed by Marble and Margolf (1936), Parker (1947) and Harper and Parker (1947) in naturally mated flocks. A seasonal effect of similar magnitude as for Lot 1 artificially inseminated hens has been reported previously by Harper and Parker (1950). The data in Table 2 shows the effect of holding time of semen on duration of fertility as measured by weekly fertility averages following each insemination. Fertilizing capacity of semen held 0 to 4 hours remained high for three weeks in all four lots inseminated on February 16. A shorter duration of fertility will be noted for the third week in lots 3 and 4 for the hens inseminated March 9 with semen held for 2 or 4 hours as compared to Lots 1 and 2. Greater differences both in degree
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
ing all hens were broken out on the 13th day of incubation. It was observed that while 6.7 percent of the eggs contained extra-embryonic membranes characteristic of parthenogenetic development described by Olson and Marsden (1954), there was no blood present in these membranes. In nearly all instances development of the sheet cells was away from the blastodic and there was no evidence of true embryonic development. The data in Table 1 summarize results of fertility obtained from incubating eggs following artificial insemination for the four lots of hens. Fertility ranged from 84.5 to 88.0 percent for the first three week
Period
NEWS AND NOTES
SUMMARY
Four lots of 10 Beltsville White turkey hens each were maintained in individual cages and artificially inseminated over a 16-week period with pooled semen collections from eight males of the same variety. Semen samples were mixed and hens inseminated with .03 cc. immediately following or after one, two and four hours of holding at temperatures from 55 to 60°F. Holding semen up to four hours was not detrimental to fertility for hens inseminated the first three week period starting February 16. Later inseminations through the season showed progressively that degree and duration of fertility was adversely affected by length of the holding period. These results point out the need to use semen from turkey males in less than one hour's time following collection, particularly in the later part of the breed-
ing season, to obtain good through artificial insemination.
fertility
REFERENCES Burrows, W. H., and S. J. Marsden, 1938. Artificial breeding of turkeys. Poultry Sci. 17: 408-411. Garren, H. W., and C. S. Shaffner, 1952. The effect of temperature and time of storage on the fertilizing capacity of undiluted fowl semen. Poultry Sci. 31: 137-145. Harper, J. A., and J. E. Parker, 1947. Breeding for improvement of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys •—a progress report. Oregon Agri. Exp. Sta. Cir. of Inf. No. 419. Harper, J. A., 1949. Turkey research at Oregon State College—a progress report. Oregon Agri. Exper. Sta. Cir. of Inf. No. 470. Harper, J. A., and J. E. Parker, 1950. Family differences in fertility of turkey hens. Poultry Sci. 29: 471-73. Hunsaker, W. G., J. R. Aitken and G. S. Lindblad, 1954. The fertilizing capacity of fowl semen as affected by time and temperature of storage. Poultry Sci. 33: 1061-1062. Lorenz, F. W., and J. D. Carson, 1951. Artificial breeding of turkeys. California Agriculture, 5: 4,11. McCartney, M. G., 1951. The physiology of reproduction in turkeys. 1. Effect of method of mating on fertility and hatchability. Poultry Sci. 31: 658-662. Marble, D. R., and D. H. Margolf, 1936. The selection and management of turkey breeders. Poultry Sci. 15: 225-29. Olsen, M. W., and S. J. Marsden, 1954. Development of unfertilized turkey eggs. J. Exp. Zoology, 126: 339-47. Parker, J. E., 1947. The influence of season on reproduction in turkeys. Poultry Sci. 26: 118-121. Parker, J. E., and O. A. Barton, 1946. Confinement rotation of toms, and artificial insemination as related to reproduction in turkeys. Bi-monthly Bui. North Dakota Agr. College. Sept.-Oct. pp. 9-13. Quinn, J. P., and W. H. Burrows, 1936. Artificial insemination in fowls. J. Hered. 27:31-37.
NEWS AND NOTES {Continued from page 1249) during 1954 were: "Observations on experimental fowl typhoid," "The chemotherapy of experimental fowl typhoid in fowls {Gallus domesticus)" and "Serum level of penicillin, dihydrostreptomycin,
chloramphenicol, aureomycin and chickens," published in The Journal Pathology and Therapeutics; "Food infection: the effect of variations in
(Continued on page 1297)
terramycin in of Comparative as a vehicle of the diet on the
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
and duration of fertility are evident for the last three insemination periods. In the experiment reported herein observations were not carried out on the pooled semen samples used. Further studies to evaluate effects of holding time on chemical change of semen and morphology of sperm are needed. The observations point out the desirability of holding turkey semen to be used for artificial insemination for less than one hour, particularly during the later part of the breeding season. The poor results sometimes reported by those using artificial insemination in attempts to improve fertility in turkeys may be accounted for by this factor.
1291
A
EXPERIMENTAL
The Beltsville White turkeys used in the experiment were hatched on April 29 and May 13, 1953. Following normal 1 Technical Paper No. 898, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the U. S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.
brooding and range rearing conditions four groups of ten hens were placed in individual laying cages on December 1. Males and females were reared apart from each other from the 12th week. Artificial lighting of males maintained in an outside yard was started on December 25, 1953, and for the hens on January 15, 1954. Lights were used to provide a minimum daily light period of 14 hours per day and were discontinued on May 1. The hens were all inseminated on February 16, March 9, March 30, April 27 and May 25. The periods between inseminations that eggs were individually marked for incubation thus consisted of 2 three-week periods, 2 four-week periods and a two-week period. Semen used for artificial insemination was the pooled collection from eight males. The pooled collection was equally divided and stored in stoppered hard glass vials at water bath temperatures of either 55 or 60°F. At each insemination period Lot 1 hens were artificially inseminated immediately, while lots 2, 3 and 4 were inseminated with semen held one, two and four hours, respectively. A volume of .03 cc. of undiluted semen was used for each hen when inseminated. All normal eggs were set at two-week intervals during the experiment. Eggs were candled on the 13th day of incubation and those removed were broken out to examine macroscopically for embryonic development. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
All eggs laid by hens prior to the first insemination were incubated as a check on fertility. A total of 389 eggs represent-
1289
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
RTIFICIAL insemination as a method - to improve fertility in turkey breeding flocks is of increasing economic importance. The satisfactory application of this technique following the description of Quinn and Burrows (1936) has been demonstrated by many workers including Burrows and Marsden (1938), Parker and Barton (1946), Harper (1949), McCartney (1951) and Lorenz and Carson (1951). A major problem limiting use of artificial insemination is the short time that the semen may be held following collection. Garren and Shaffner (1952) found that the optimum temperature for holding semen of chicken males was 10°C. and hens inseminated with stored semen did not remain fertile as long as those insemiriated with fresh semen. Hunsaker, Aitken and Lindblad (1954) observed that 15°C. appeared to be the optimum holding temperature for semen but fertilizing capacity was not lowered significantly by holding semen at either 10° or 20°C. Fertility was found to drop rapidly as length of storage time increased beyond 2 hours holding. With turkeys there is little reported data available regarding effects of holding semen for varying time on fertilizing capacity. The question is of considerable importance where artificial insemination is being used in commercial flocks and a time element involved.
1290
J. A. HARPER
TABLE 1.—Effect
of holding time of semen on fertiliz-
TABLE 2.—Effect
ing capacity in Beltsville White turkeys
Lot
Fertility in periods
Hours semen 2-18 held 3-10
1 2 3 4
0 1 2 4
3-11 3-31
%
4-1
4-28
%
88.0 87.2 84.5 87.5
%
93.1 87.0 94.7 77.9 76.2 73.4 75.7 53.1*
4-29 5-27 Season Season 5-26 6-9 eggs fertile
%
81.6 57.3 40.3* 62.2
%
75.6 29.8* 43.1* 41.5*
No. 499 548 544 553
of holding time of semen on duration
of fertility in Beltsville White turkeys Lot No.
Hours held
%
86.4 74.8 66.2 67.4
* Significantly different from Lot 1 (P<0.05).
1
0
Weeks following insemina- 2/18 tion 3/10 1 2
3 4 2
1
1 2
3 4
^
s\.
iv
N
ST \
\
V N \
5
.ITY
•0
••»•<.*
\ !\ \ \ \\ \ V \
L HOURS SEMEN HELD O 1
5
CENT
.
•
2
+++++
4
" 0
| 3-31 INSEMINATION
4-2S PERIOD
FIG. 1. Percentage fertility according to the time of holding turkey semem and seasonal effect.
3
2
1 2
3 4 4
4
1 2
3 4
3/11 3/31
4/1
4/28
4/29 5/26
5/27
6/9
% 98.0 91.2 8S.0 97.0 77.2 90.6
Fertility 90.4 85.8 81.0 92.1 82.1 70.0 92.3 96.0 71.5 65.5
85.5 85.5 83.5
97.5 94.5 91.7
94.4 78.2 74.2 60.6 70.4 46.1 73.0 44.5
40.8 25.0
80.5 93.5 79.0
85.8 73.4 53.8 76.4 71.0 55.6 64.3 80.5 35.2 67.6 23.5
53.8 32.0
92.2 83.7 86.5
93.5 84.0 56.8
76.5 46.5 40.0 47.1
50.0 28.6
61.3 56.2 74.0 58.6
period starting February 18 for semen used immediately following collection or held up to 4 hours. A marked seasonal effect in relation to length of the holding time for semen was found and is more clearly shown in graphic form in Figure 1. Except for the eggs from the hens in Lot 1 the fertility declined progressively with increasing length of the season below that which would normally be expected. Seasonal decline infertility has previously been observed by Marble and Margolf (1936), Parker (1947) and Harper and Parker (1947) in naturally mated flocks. A seasonal effect of similar magnitude as for Lot 1 artificially inseminated hens has been reported previously by Harper and Parker (1950). The data in Table 2 shows the effect of holding time of semen on duration of fertility as measured by weekly fertility averages following each insemination. Fertilizing capacity of semen held 0 to 4 hours remained high for three weeks in all four lots inseminated on February 16. A shorter duration of fertility will be noted for the third week in lots 3 and 4 for the hens inseminated March 9 with semen held for 2 or 4 hours as compared to Lots 1 and 2. Greater differences both in degree
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
ing all hens were broken out on the 13th day of incubation. It was observed that while 6.7 percent of the eggs contained extra-embryonic membranes characteristic of parthenogenetic development described by Olson and Marsden (1954), there was no blood present in these membranes. In nearly all instances development of the sheet cells was away from the blastodic and there was no evidence of true embryonic development. The data in Table 1 summarize results of fertility obtained from incubating eggs following artificial insemination for the four lots of hens. Fertility ranged from 84.5 to 88.0 percent for the first three week
Period
NEWS AND NOTES
SUMMARY
Four lots of 10 Beltsville White turkey hens each were maintained in individual cages and artificially inseminated over a 16-week period with pooled semen collections from eight males of the same variety. Semen samples were mixed and hens inseminated with .03 cc. immediately following or after one, two and four hours of holding at temperatures from 55 to 60°F. Holding semen up to four hours was not detrimental to fertility for hens inseminated the first three week period starting February 16. Later inseminations through the season showed progressively that degree and duration of fertility was adversely affected by length of the holding period. These results point out the need to use semen from turkey males in less than one hour's time following collection, particularly in the later part of the breed-
ing season, to obtain good through artificial insemination.
fertility
REFERENCES Burrows, W. H., and S. J. Marsden, 1938. Artificial breeding of turkeys. Poultry Sci. 17: 408-411. Garren, H. W., and C. S. Shaffner, 1952. The effect of temperature and time of storage on the fertilizing capacity of undiluted fowl semen. Poultry Sci. 31: 137-145. Harper, J. A., and J. E. Parker, 1947. Breeding for improvement of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys •—a progress report. Oregon Agri. Exp. Sta. Cir. of Inf. No. 419. Harper, J. A., 1949. Turkey research at Oregon State College—a progress report. Oregon Agri. Exper. Sta. Cir. of Inf. No. 470. Harper, J. A., and J. E. Parker, 1950. Family differences in fertility of turkey hens. Poultry Sci. 29: 471-73. Hunsaker, W. G., J. R. Aitken and G. S. Lindblad, 1954. The fertilizing capacity of fowl semen as affected by time and temperature of storage. Poultry Sci. 33: 1061-1062. Lorenz, F. W., and J. D. Carson, 1951. Artificial breeding of turkeys. California Agriculture, 5: 4,11. McCartney, M. G., 1951. The physiology of reproduction in turkeys. 1. Effect of method of mating on fertility and hatchability. Poultry Sci. 31: 658-662. Marble, D. R., and D. H. Margolf, 1936. The selection and management of turkey breeders. Poultry Sci. 15: 225-29. Olsen, M. W., and S. J. Marsden, 1954. Development of unfertilized turkey eggs. J. Exp. Zoology, 126: 339-47. Parker, J. E., 1947. The influence of season on reproduction in turkeys. Poultry Sci. 26: 118-121. Parker, J. E., and O. A. Barton, 1946. Confinement rotation of toms, and artificial insemination as related to reproduction in turkeys. Bi-monthly Bui. North Dakota Agr. College. Sept.-Oct. pp. 9-13. Quinn, J. P., and W. H. Burrows, 1936. Artificial insemination in fowls. J. Hered. 27:31-37.
NEWS AND NOTES {Continued from page 1249) during 1954 were: "Observations on experimental fowl typhoid," "The chemotherapy of experimental fowl typhoid in fowls {Gallus domesticus)" and "Serum level of penicillin, dihydrostreptomycin,
chloramphenicol, aureomycin and chickens," published in The Journal Pathology and Therapeutics; "Food infection: the effect of variations in
(Continued on page 1297)
terramycin in of Comparative as a vehicle of the diet on the
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at Emory University Libraries on April 21, 2015
and duration of fertility are evident for the last three insemination periods. In the experiment reported herein observations were not carried out on the pooled semen samples used. Further studies to evaluate effects of holding time on chemical change of semen and morphology of sperm are needed. The observations point out the desirability of holding turkey semen to be used for artificial insemination for less than one hour, particularly during the later part of the breeding season. The poor results sometimes reported by those using artificial insemination in attempts to improve fertility in turkeys may be accounted for by this factor.
1291