Objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of different dietary sources of selenium on semen quality, antioxidants status and immune response in commercial male broiler breeders (Ross-308). A total of 180 50-wk-old Ross-308 male broiler breeder birds were randomly distributed to 4 treatments, each of which had 5 replicates with 9 male birds each, with a 2-week pretreatment and 14-week trial period. In one treatment birds were fed a basal corn-soybean diet supplemented with inorganic i.e. Sodium Selenite (SS) and other three treatments birds were fed diet supplemented with one of the three organic selenium sources i.e. Selenium enriched yeast (SY), L-Seleno-methionine (L-Se-Meth) or Seleno-hydroxy-methionine (OH-Se-Meth), 0.3 mg/kg of diet. Performance of male broiler breeder was evaluated measuring their body weights, semen volume, sperm concentration and motility at end of 7^th and 14^th week of experiment (59^th and 66^th weeks of birds` age, respectively). Glutathione peroxidase activity, total antioxidant capacity and antibodies titer against Newcastle disease virus was also measured. Semen ejaculation volume (0.32, 0.34, 0.33 vs. 0.23 and 0.34, 0.33, 0.35 vs. 0.19 ml/ejaculate), spermatozoa count (2968, 3010, 3054 vs. 2366 and 2854, 3174, 2816 vs. 1700 10⁶/ml), percentages of live (93.3, 92.8, 92.9 vs. 88.6 and 93.0, 92.3, 92.4 vs. 87.9%) and dead spermatozoa (6.72, 7.24, 7.12 vs. 11.4 vs. and 7.0, 7.7, 7.56 vs. 12.1%), glutathione peroxidase status (14.1, 17.7, 16.5 vs. 11.8 and 15.3, 17.8, 16.9 vs. 10.5%) and total antioxidant capacity (7.14, 7.07, 6.98 vs. 5.75 and 6.64, 7.12, 6.84 vs. 4.86%) were improved in male broiler breeders fed diets supplemented with organic selenium sources (SY, L-Se-Meth, OH-Se-Meth) than those fed inorganic selenium (SS) at end of 7^th and 14^th week of experiment, respectively. Dietary selenium sources did not affect body weight, flock uniformity and antibodies titers against Newcastle disease virus at any phase of experiment. It was concluded that organic selenium supplementation improved semen quality characteristics and antioxidant status, however, did not affect body weight, flock uniformity and immune responses in commercial male Ross-308 broiler breeders.

To Cite This Article: Ashraf S, Bhatti SA, Nawaz H and Khan MS, 2020. Assessment of dietary selenium sources in commercial male broiler breeders: effects on semen quality, antioxidant status and immune responses. Pak Vet J, 40(1): 13-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2019.081