Investigating the Effects of Dietary Energy and Protein on the semen Characteristics and Egg Quality of Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in Bali, Taraba State, Nigeria | Chapter 9 | Emerging Challenges in Agriculture and Food Science Vol. 2

 At the Teaching and Research farm of the Federal Polytechnic Bali in Taraba State, a study was conducted to evaluate the semen characteristics and egg quality of three strains of indigenous Nigerian turkeys fed varied levels of nutritional energy and protein. A total of 120 day-old poults from all of the indigenous turkey strains were used in the experiment. During the 11-month trial (July 2018–August 2019), poults were brooded on commercial feed for 8 weeks. At the age of 64 days, the birds were randomly assigned to one of four feeding treatment levels for growers: T1-control (commercial feeds), T2-low energy high protein (LEHP), T3-high energy low protein (HELP), and T4-high energy high protein (HEHP) (HEHP). At the age of 196 days, eggs were deposited by T1 turkeys from all three strains. Only 5 sets of eggs were gathered in batches every 8 days. Eggs were candled for fertility and hatchability on day 7 of laying. Egg quality, semen qualities, and testicular shape were all considered among the strains and treatments. The egg quality analysed revealed significant (P0.05) differences between the treatment groups. Except for treatments T1, T3, and T4, the results on gonadal sperm reserves (trestles), extra gonadal sperm reserves (epididymis), and vas deferens exhibited significant (P0.05) variations among the treatment groups. Finally, discrepancies in growth rate, egg production, and reproductive parameters are accounted for by varied nutrition amounts on different strains of indigenous turkeys used in this study. The early findings revealed in this paper are simply the start; more in-depth research in this area is required.

Author(S) Details

Y. E. Waba
Department of Animal Health and Production, Federal Polytechnic Bali Taraba, Nigeria.

G. J. Bandawa
Department of Animal Health and Production, Federal Polytechnic Bali Taraba, Nigeria.

A. A. Adi
Department of Animal Health and Production, Federal Polytechnic Bali Taraba, Nigeria.

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