Investigation the Effects of Dietary L-Carnitine Supplementation on Characteristics of Rooster Semen During Liquid Storage

The objective of present study was to investigate the effects of various levels of dietary L carnitine supplementation (0, 125, 250 and 500 mg kg(-1)) on rooster semen characteristics during liquid storage. Semen were collected from 16 rooster using abdominal massage and suitable samples were mixed together and sperm characteristics including percentage of motile, viable, abnormal, semen pH, volume and concentration were assessed. This experiment was carried out on the basis of completely randomized design. Results showed that during liquid storage, the effect of L carnitine e on motility and viability percentage of sperm in. beltsville extender were significant (p<0.05). Mean comparison on the basis of duncan test showed that the highest motility and viability of spermatozoa were obtained from roosters that were fed with rations included 250 mg kg(-1) L-carnitine supplementation. Semen characteristics such as volume, pH and abnormal percentage of sperm did not differ significantly (p>0.051. Furthermore, semen concentration of birds fed dietary carnitine significantly differ from controls during experiment (p<0.05). The highest concentration of semen were obtained in level 250 mg kg(-1) L-carnitine. Therefore, use of L-carnitine supplementation (250 mg kg(-1)) in broiler breeder male feeding is recommended to improve quality of rooster semen.