Effect of Season and Semen-Extender Ratio on Fertilityof Artificially Inseminated Turkey in Chitwan, Nepal

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of season and semen extender ratio on fertility of artificially inseminated turkey from farms of Chitwan district of Nepal. Trials were conducted using various dilutions of semen in Turkey. The dilutions were made with skim milk powder- 1:1(A), 1:2(B), 2:3(C) and 3:4 (D). 32 turkeys were artificially inseminated in 4 days interval for 3 months. The dose of insemination was 0.03 ml and was done at 6:00 p.m. Trails were done in winter and spring seasons to know the seasonal variation on fertility rate. It was found that hens in treatment A has high fertility rate than others. Similarly, treatment D has higher fertility rate than that of treatment B and C. However, non significant differences in fertility were observed among various treatments in our study. The fertility rate was found higher on spring season than winter. However, non-significant differences were observed on seasonal variation. Similarly, seasonal effect on fertility rate of various semen extender ratios was also carried out. It is observed that in dilution A, B and C the fertility rate is higher on spring season but in treatment D fertility rate is higher on winter. However there are no significant differences on fertility rate of semen extender ratio due to seasonal variation. The present study provide evidence that turkey inseminated with 1:1 and 3:4 semen dilutions provided more fertile eggs comparable with those 1:2 and 2:3 and fertility rate was higher in spring than in winter.