Indian Journal of Poultry Science

Fertility is low in Dahlem Red breed of chicken, particularly in ageing and inbred populations. L-carnitine (15 mg) was fed to each bird (male) every day for 30 days to inbred (Full sib and Half-sib) and non-inbred (NB) groups of Dahlem Red to observe the effect on sperm count, total live sperm, total sperm motility, fertility and hatchability. The semen parameters viz. sperm concentration, volume, total sperm motility, live sperms, fertility and hatchability before feeding (T₀) and 30 days (T₁) and 60 days (T₂) after feeding of L-carnitine were studied. The sperm count increased by 0.64 and 1.67 billion/ml in NB, 0.96 and 1.41 billion/ml in FS and 0.65 and 0.76 billion/ml in HS groups, respectively, after 30 days and 60 days of feeding with L-carnitine. The percentage of total sperm motility and live sperms were also improved. The fertility was increased by 17.46, 4.54 and 1.98% in NB, FS and HS groups, respectively. The hatchability on fertile and total egg set was increased by 1.77 and 47.18% in NB, 19.50 and 9.91% in FS and 12.99 and 2.05% in HS groups, respectively.