The effects ofdietary Flaxseed and Sesame oils on reproductive performance of aged breeder broiler males

This study was conducted to assess the effects of dietary flaxseed and sesame oils, on the semen parameters, fatty acid composition of sperm as well as the fertility and hatchability eggs from aged roosters. In a completely randomized design, 24 Ross-308 roosters (aged 45 week) assigned to four groups, comprising six replicates and one bird in each. The birds received different diets including basal diet (control), basal diet supplemented with 2% flaxseed oil (FO), basal diet supplemented with 2% sesame oil (SO) and basal diet supplemented with 1% flaxseed oil and 1% sesame oil (MO). The diets were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous, containing the same level of vitamin E. The roosters were fed diet for 60 days, during which semen samples were collected on 1st, 20th, 40th and 60th days and the samples were tested for different characteristics. The results indicated that different diets affected semen qualities, except semen volume and the morphology. The concentration, progressive motility, MDA as well as viability of sperms were significantly different during different times of the experiment. The sperm quality parameters including total and progressive motility as well as MDA turned out to improve in the roosters fed FO or MO. Furthermore, the integrity of sperm membrane, DHA and DPA concentration, as well as the fertility were higher in the treatment group containing FO. It seems that supplementation of aged rooster’s diet with flaxseed oil or mixed oils, together with vitamin E improves the semen qualities and it can be applied as an appropriate strategy to preserve the reproductive performance of aged rooters.