EFFECT OF THE PRESENCE OF HENS ON THE SEMEN PRODUCTION OF MALE BREEDER TURKEYS

Large White breeder male turkeys were raised in the absence of females. At 28 wk of age, the breeders were moved to a house with two separate wings. In one wing, four pens with five males per pen were alternated with 4 pens of breeder females; in the other wing, 4 pens with 5 males per pen were alternated with 4 empty pens. Vocalization by the females could not be heard in the wing without females. Semen was collected once a week from 33 to 49 wk of age. The ejaculate volume, concentration of spermatozoa in the ejaculate, and total number spermatozoa per ejaculate were determined for each male. An analysis of variance for each week showed few significant effects (P less than .05). Males with females in adjacent pens had higher ejaculate volumes and higher totals for spermatozoa per ejaculate for Weeks 36 and 41, higher spermatozoal concentrations for Week 39, and a lower spermatozoal concentration for Week 44 than males adjacent to empty pens. For Weeks 33 to 49 inclusive, the cumulative total ejaculate volume per male was 5.18 and 4.89 mL, and the cumulative total spermatozoa per male was 40.0 and 39.0 billion for males adjacent to females and males adjacent to empty pens, respectively. Therefore, the authors concluded that the presence of breeder hens had little effect on ejaculate volume, on concentration of spermatozoa in the ejaculate, or on total spermatozoa per ejaculate of breeder male turkeys.