THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT STORAGE TIME OF SPERMATOZOA ON FERTILITY AND HATCHABILITY OF EGGS OF BROILER HENS

In an experiment the effect was tested of ejaculate storage at a temperature of 5-degrees-C for 24, 4, 1, 1/4 and/or 1/16 hours on the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa in broiler cocks. The birds were divided into two groups. The experimental group (100 birds) was inseminated with preserved ejaculate and the control group of layers (100 birds) with fresh diluted ejaculate. The insemination dose was 100.10(6) spermatozoa and the insemination interval was 7 days. A total of 17 inseminations was done in the period of investigation. The different times of preservation were not tested paralelly, hence they cannot be compared with each other. The average fertility (experiment: control) was 90.3 : 95.9; 94.8 : 94.2; 95.7 : 93.0; 94.0 : 93.9 and/or 94.2 : 93.5% while the average hatchability of hatching eggs (experiment : control) was 77.7 : 82.1; 85.7: 85.6; 87.4 : 85.6; 85.2 : 87.1 and/or 88.2 : 85.9%. The most effective difference of 2.7% in favor of the fertilizing capacity of preserved spermatozoa was observed for one-hour storage of ejaculate of broiler cocks.