FERTILITY RATE OF DAILY COLLECTED AND CRYOPRESERVED FOWL SEMEN

Semen was collected for 4 consecutive d individually from experimental broiler breeder males that had not been massaged for 7 d. The semen w as mixed and diluted with the Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender with d imethylsulfoxide (DMSO) as cryoprotectant and cryopreserved. After tha wing of the semen, hens were inseminated and fertility over 1 wk after a single insemination with the cryopreserved semen was determined. Th e overall fertility rate in this experiment (83 to 93%) was high, comp ared with the generally reported fertility rate of frozen-thawed fowl semen. The fertility rate of the semen collected on Days 3 and 4 was s ignificantly higher than that of semen collected on Day 1 or 2, indica ting that frequent collection over the 4-d period enhances the fertili ty rate of the semen.