Effect of Adding Different Levels of Curcumin Powder to the Diet on some Reproductive, Fertility and Hatchability Performance of Broiler Breeders
Effect of Adding Different Levels of Curcumin Powder to the Diet on some Reproductive, Fertility and Hatchability Performance of Broiler Breeders
Basim Mandeel Malik Al-Sharifi*, Emad Abdulgabber Ali
ABSTRACT
Twenty roosters and seventy-two laying hens, all 60 weeks old and of the Ross-308 broiler breeder strain, were used in this study. The roosters were divided into 4 treatments, with 5 replicates per treatment, and each replicate containing one rooster. The hens were also divided into 4 treatments, with 18 hens per treatment, each having 3 replicates, with 6 hens in each replicate. Males were fed separately from females. The first treatment (T1) was the control group, fed a basic diet without additives, while treatments (T2, T3, and T4) were fed a diet containing 250, 300, and 350 mg of curcumin powder per kg of feed for the males, and the same additives were used for the females. The results indicated that treatment T4 showed significant (P≤0.05) superiority in reproductive traits, specifically ejaculate volume and mass, and individual sperm motility, compared with treatment T1, the control. Treatment T4 was also significantly (P≤0.05) superior to treatments T1, T2, and T3 in sperm concentration rate. Treatments T2, T3, and T4 had significantly higher percentages of live sperm and lower percentages of dead sperm compared to treatment T1. Additionally, treatments T2, T3, and T4 were significantly superior (P<0.05) to treatment T1 in fertilization, hatching, and the percentage of dead embryos. No significant differences were found in the hatching percentage from fertilized eggs or the average chick weight at hatching between treatments. Adding curcumin powder at a rate of 350 mg/kg feed improved semen quality, with treatments T3 and T4 achieving the best fertility and hatching rates.
Keywords | Broiler, Curcumin, Embryo, Fertility, Hatchability, Reproductive
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