Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of homemade tris-egg yolk-based and Commercial Beltsville poultry extenders for short-term storage of semen from the Ethiopian Indigenous Horro chicken breed at refrigeration temperature. A total of 30 Horro roosters with an average age of 40 weeks were used to collect semen. The treatments (T) in the sperm quality experiment were control (semen without extender added), semen extended with homemade extender (E1), and semen extended with commercial Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender (E2). Changes in spermatozoa motility, in vitro viability, and morphology were evaluated in fresh semen and semen diluted as 1:4 (v/v semen to extender) and stored for 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours at 4°C. During semen storage, there was a decrease in mass motility, an increase in morphologically abnormal spermatozoa with a high incidence of the bent tail, and an increase in dead spermatozoa. The commercial Beltsville poultry extender was found to be the most suitable extender regarding mass motility and in vitro viability of stored spermatozoa, but there was no significant difference in sperm abnormalities across all extenders. The results showed locally prepared tris-egg yolk-based extender could be a suitable extender for short-term storage of chicken sperm regarding the sperm quality attributes.