Testicular development and hematological parameters of male broiler breeders under subtropical environment

Testicular development of male broiler breeders were studied under different environmental temperatures. a total of 48 broiler breeder males of 18 weeks of age were procured from a company. birds were divided in 3 equal groups (a,b and c). birds of groups a were kept at 22 to 26°c in an environmentally controlled house and groups b and c were kept at 28 to 33 and 30 to 37°c,respectively in open sided naturally ventilated houses. duration of the experiment was 8 weeks. panting was observed in birds of groups c and b. water consumption of group c was significantly higher compared to groups a and b. body temperature of group c remained significantly higher in comparison to other two groups throughout the experiment. erythrocyte counts,hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit were significantly higher in group a compared to group c. testes weight,volume and comb area were significantly higher in group a. histologically,many birds in group b did not have spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules and necrotic cells were present along with round spermatids. in group c all the cells of spermatogenesis were present only in one bird,whereas spermatocytes and/or spermatids were seen in other birds. © 2011 zoological society of pakistan.