Effect of vitamin E-selenium supplementation on some semen quality traits of Muscovy drakes.

A total of 12, 36-week-old of Muscovy drakes were divided randomly into three equal groups (4 individuals each) and subjected to supplementation of VE-Se in combine form in drinking water. The first group was served as control group (C), while the second and third groups (T1 and T2) were supplemented with 1.0g/l and 1.5g/l of VE-Se in drinking water, respectively. The study was performed at poultry research station which belongs to department of poultry production, faculty of agricultural, Ain Shams University and lasted 30-dayes period during summer season. Semen quality traits in terms of ejaculate volume (ml), spermatozoa concentration (×109), sperm motility (%), dead and live (%), PH value and abnormal sperms (%) were determined. Sperm reserves in ducts, seminiferous tubules diameter (STD) and relative spermatogenic activity were also studied. The obtained results indicated that addition of vitamin E-Se improved ejaculate volume, sperm concentration and motility score, while reduced the percentage of abnormalities and dead sperms. Results showed that semen ejaculate volume was significantly increased (P<0.05) with increasing the level of VE-Se supplementation in drinking water. Spermatozoa concentration, progressive motility (%), and packed sperm volume were increased significantly with VE-Se treatment. The percentages of dead and abnormal spermatozoa were significantly decreased (P<0.01) in VE-Se treated compared with the control drakes. Concerning with the effect of two levels (T1 and T2) of VE-Se supplementation in drinking water of Muscovy drakes on the morphometric traits of testis, the obtained results showed that highly significant effects of antioxidant (VE-Se) supplementation on the morphometric of seminiferous tubules (p < 0.05) and the higher values of sperm reserves and spermatogenic activity percentage in both T1 (4.4/ml×109 and 82.8%) and T2 (4.5/ml×109 and 83.0%) compared with control group (3.2/ml×109 and 61.3%). We conclude that VE-Se supplementation could lead to greater economic benefits through increased reproductive efficiency within the ducks production industry.