Effect of organic selenium and zinc supplementation on fertility and hatchability of turkey eggs

Abstract

The study was carried out to evaluate the effects of organic selenium (Se-yeast, 0.20mg Se) and zinc (as zinc oxide) on fertility and hatchability of indigenous turkey eggs. Eighteen toms and twenty seven hens aged eighteen weeks were used for the study. The toms were randomly assigned to nine experimental treatments with two birds per treatment: 0mg Se + 0mg Zn/kg (T₁ or control), 0.2mg Se (T₂), 0.3mg Se (T₃), 110mg Zn (T₄), 120mg Zn (T₅), 0.2mg Se + 110mg Zn (T₆), 0.3mg Se + 110mg Zn (T₇), 0.2mg Se + 120mg Zn (T₈), 0.3mg Se + 120mg Zn/kg (T₉) in  a completely randomized design. At 32 weeks of age, semen was collected twice a week from toms in each treatment and used to inseminate hens belonging to the treatment. A total of 100 eggs in four batches were incubated from each treatment group and these were used to evaluate fertility, hatchability, and embryonic mortality. Supplementation of the diet of turkey toms with 0.3mg Se or 120mg Zn/kg of feed produced sperm which gave higher percentage fertility and hatchability and lower embryonic death in inseminated turkey hens compared to the control and those supplemented with 0.20mg Se or 110mg Zn/kg. Also the combination of Se and Zn improved fertility, hatchability, and embryonic viability than sole Se or Zn supplementation. Overall, supplementation with 0.3mg Se + 110mg Zn or 0.3mg Se + 120mg Zn/kg was found best to improve fertility, hatchability and embryonic viability in inseminated turkey hens.

Keywords: Turkey, selenium, zinc, semen, egg, fertility, hatchability