The effect of different extenders on the sperm motility and viability of frozen Turkey semen^#

This study was conducted to develop long-term storage methods for turkey semen using different extenders. During the study, the massage method was used twice a week to collect the semen from five turkeys, a total of 44 times. The collected fresh semen's average ejaculate quantity, sperm concentration, motility and vitality values were determined as 0.22±0.01 ml, 3.5±0.17 x10⁹ sp/ml, 77.0±1.44% and 86.2±0.95% respectively. In this study, glucose (G) including 5% Dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) cryoprotective, tris-glucose (TG), lactated Ringer's (LR), and lactated Ringer's glucose (LRG) extenders were used. The Turkey semen was combined and divided into four equal parts, and subsequently diluted at a ratio of 1: 3 and equilibrated at +4°C for 90 minutes. Following equilibration, the samples were frozen in liquid nitrogen vapor to 80°C for five minutes, and stored at-196°C in liquid nitrogen. After freezing and thawing, the highest motilityvaluewas obtained from the G extender (43.3% ±1.62%) followed by LRG (24.6±1.53%), LR (12.6±0.92%) and TG (12.2±0.66%). The vitality values were recorded as 55.8±1.89%, 23.8±1.58%, 21.5±1.10% and 36.5±1.59% respectively. The motility and vitality values were significantly (p<0.01) more for the glucose extender than those for other extenders. Therefore, it was concludedthat glucose extender is better option for thelong-term storage of Turkey semen.