Exposure of turkey sperm to a synthetic peptide before insemination increases fertility

Effects on fertility and hatch of eggs laid by hens inseminated with sperm exposed to a synthetic peptide were studied. Pooled semen from 40 randomly selected toms was split and held in vitro for 0 or 24 h before use. Just before insemination, sperm (at 8.33x10(9) sperm/mL) were exposed for 5 min to 0.0, 0.05, 0.25, or 0.50 microM peptide. Hens (28 per group) were inseminated within less than 30 min with 250x10(6) in 30 microL. Two inseminations 24 h before onset of lay were followed by weekly inseminations through 22 or 20 wk. For sperm that was fresh or held 24 h, peptide treatment (P<0.02 or 0.01) and week of lay (P<0.01) affected fertility and hatch of total eggs set. There was no effect of peptide treatment on hatchability of fertile eggs. For fresh sperm, use of 0.25 microM peptide, but not 0.05 or 5.0 microM peptide, increased (P<0.05) fertility and hatch of total eggs set compared with the control (0 microM). Values for fertility were 94 vs. 90% and for hatch were 84 vs. 80%. Increases in hatch were especially evident for fresh sperm after approximately 13 wk of lay.