Comparison of Sperm Attributes in two Indigenous Layer Breeds and their Relationship with Fertility

To compare Aseel and Kadaknath breeds, 50 roosters per breed were evaluated for colour, volume, pH, motility, viability, membrane and acrosome integrity. Ten roosters/breed were also evaluated for fertility rate. There was no significant difference in colour, pH, volume and motility of semen among both breeds. However, percentage of viable spermatozoa and spermatozoa with intact membrane was non-significantly (P > 0.05) higher in ejaculates of Kadaknath (82.04 ± 4.47, 44.17 ± 3.96 than Aseel (78.35 ± 5.37, 30.98 ± 9.02) roosters. Significant positive correlation was observed among different sperm attributes, but correlation between motility/viability and membrane integrity/acrosome damage was higher in Aseel breed (0.86 and 0.60) as compared to Kadaknath (0.40 and 0.05). A very weak positive correlation was also observed between fertility rate and sperm traits in both breeds. Although, viability, membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were higher in semen of Kadaknath than Aseel breed, but both breed were almost equivalent in their fertility. Selection of roosters on the basis of sperm attributes may be useful in AI practices aimed at genetic improvement for breeds.