Effect of varied supplemental acetylsalicylic acid and dietary salt inclusion on weekly semen quality and leukogram parameters of broiler breeder cocks rare under heat stress

Abstract

This study investigated the optimum combination of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and salt (NaCl) in the Marshall Breeder cock that will synergistically improve weekly sperm cell and leukograms of this cocks. Sixteen broiler breeder cocks were used to determine the leukogram and weekly semen quality. Four diets were formulated and compared as: T₁ (0.25% NaCl and 0.00% ASA), T₂ (0.50% NaCl and 0.025% ASA), T₃ (0.75% NaCl and 0.050% ASA), and T₄ (1.00% NaCl and 0.075% ASA). The cocks were randomly distributed into four treatment diets with four replicates in each treatment and fed for sixteen weeks. Semen collection, through the abdominal massage method, commenced at the 30^th – 35^th week of age and was carried out once weekly between 6.00 and 8.00 hours. Diet T₃ showed a significant increase (p˂0.05) in total ejaculate volume from 30 to 35 weeks of age with a peak at 33 weeks of age (0.6 ml), highest in sperm motility between the ranges of 98 – 100%, lowest in abnormal sperm cells (12 – 17%) and dead sperm cells (20 – 23%) when compared to other treatment diets. The leukogram showed that the heterophil and lymphocyte were significantly higher in diet T₃ (71.50 ± 1.36%) and lower in control diet T₁ (0.01 ± 0.01%), respectively. In conclusion, 0.750% NaCl worked synergistically with 0.050% ASA to improve the ejaculate characteristics of this breeder cocks from 30 to 35 weeks of age and could be used to optimise the concentration of heterophil and lymphocytes in the blood of breeder cocks.