SEMEN QUALITY AND HEMATOLOGY PARAMETERS OF WHITE LEGHORN COCKS DRINKING SALINE WATER UNDER HOT DESERT CONDITIONS By

The experiment aimed to study the influences of drinking natural saline water on thermoregulation, blood constituents and semen quality of White Leghorn cocks under heat stress in desert conditions. A total number of 60 cocks (22-wk-old and body weight of 1555 g ± 36.11) were divided randomly into four equal groups which in turn divided randomly into three equal replicates. The 1 st treatment (T1) served as control (cocks were drank Tap water containing 274 ppm total dissolved solids, TDS), while the cocks of 2 nd (T2), 3 rd (T3) and 4 th (T4) treatments were drank natural saline water from wells containing 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm TDS, respectively. The results showed that cocks receiving saline water (T2, T3 and T4 treatments) had decreased (P<0.05) respiration rate as compared to those drank tap water (T1). Values of red blood cells (RBCs) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were reduced (P<0.05) in the T4 treatment than that of T1 treatment. In contrary, hematocrit % (Ht) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were increased (P<0.05) in T4 treatment when compared to T1 and T2 treatments. Drinking White Leghorn cocks with saline water (T4) decreased (P<0.05) T3 hormone, total protein, globulin, glucose and cholesterol concentrations as compared to the cocks of T1. On the other hand, cocks of T4 showed increased (P<0.05) creatinine concentration as compared to T1. Meanwhile, no significant differences among treatments in albumin, albumin/globulin, alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activities. Also, no significant (P>0.05) differences in all biochemical studied traits were noticed among T1, T2 and T3 treatments. Cocks of T4 showed increased (P<0.05) sodium and chloride concentrations as compared to T1. While, drinking cocks with saline water (T4) led to decrease (P<0.05) potassium concentration as compared to other treatments. Cocks of T4 showed significantly reduction in semen quality characteristics as compared to control group (T1). The decrease was noticed in ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility, total motile sperm, semen quality factor and testosterone, however an increase was noticed in dead spermatozoa and sperm abnormalities. It can be concluded that, under hot desert conditions, natural saline water (6000 ppm TDS) could not tolerate by cocks as indicated by negative effects shown on thermoregulation and blood constituents and semen quality, however, no deleterious effect was found with using natural saline water that contain 2000 or 4000 ppm TDS.