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There was evaluation of effects of biotin administration on oviductal abundance of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and carbonic anhydrase (CA) mRNA transcript in younger and older broiler hens of relatively lesser and greater fertility lines. Additionally, effects of biotin supplementation on attenuation of age-related subfertility were evaluated. Hens from the relatively greater (Line D, n = 60) and lesser (Line B, n = 60) fertility rate line were randomly assigned to three treatment groups. Biotin was not or was administered in drinking water from 30 to 33 (younger age) and 53 to 56 (older age) wk of age to have access to no biotin (T 0 ), or 0.3 (T 1 ), or 0.45 (T 2 ) mg/L of biotin. There was assessment the relative oviductal abundances of TGF-β and CA mRNA transcript abundances. Supplemental biotin and age had no effect on the relative abundance of oviductal TGF-β mRNA transcript in hens of Line D. There, however, was a ten-fold greater abundance of TGF-β in hens of the T 0 group of Line B compared with Line D. Relative abundance of TGF-β mRNA transcript was greater in younger hens of Line B; however, biotin supplementation of older hens of the T 2 group of Line B resulted in a similar TGF-β abundance to that of younger hens. Inconstant with the TGF-β abundance, CA abundance in hens of Line B was not affected by supplemental biotin or bird age. Overall, differences in TGF-β or CA abundances did not affect fertility of broiler hens., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementary CoQ10 in the diets of aged broiler breeder hens on productive and reproductive variables. A total of 128 hens)44 weeks of age) were randomly assigned to one of 16 groups (eight hens per group). The hen-groups (with equal mean egg production and egg weight) were randomly assigned to one of four diet-groups to provide four pen/groups per treatment. There was no CoQ10 supplementation or supplemental amounts of either 300, 600 or 900 mg CoQ10/kg added to the basal diet. Egg production, weight, and mass were determined weekly. To assess fertility, hatchability, and sperm penetration (SP) rate, the hens were artificially inseminated on a weekly basis (from 47-54 weeks of age). The hens were weighed and killed at the end of the experiment for evaluation of the ovarian morphology, oviduct histology, utero-vaginal junction (UVJ) total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and Pdss2, GDF9, and BMP15 mRNA transcript abundances in the germinal disc regions. The results indicated that there was a linear response curve to increasing amounts of supplemental dietary CoQ10 on fertility, hatchability of eggs, SP rates, TAC of the UVJ, fold height and surface epithelia of the magnum and isthmus, and abundance of GDF9, BMP15 and Pdss2 mRNA transcripts in the germinal disc region. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicate diet supplementation with CoQ10 had beneficial effects on the productive and reproductive variables of aged hens., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose for this study., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Avian spermatozoa are characteristically high in polyunsaturated fatty acids which predispose them to lipoperoxidation, thereby diminishing their fertility. As a by-product, well-known for antioxidative properties, dried apple pomace (AP) was fed to aging Ross 308 breeder roosters (n=80) at the dietary inclusion levels of 0 (AP0), 10 (AP10), 20 (AP20), or 25 (AP25) percent for 14 consecutive weeks. Seminal traits were studied every other week. At the end of the trial, sperm fatty acids profile, seminal plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC), fertility, hatchability, and hatchling quality were evaluated, using 240 artificially-inseminated young hens. Dietary AP increased sperm motility and livability and decreased the seminal content of thiobarbituric acid reactive species. Dietary treatment and age interacted to positively affect sperm concentration and sperm membrane integrity. Feeding AP was associated with an increase in C20:4(n-6), C22:4(n-6), and total unsaturated fatty acids percentages. Birds in the AP25 and AP20 treatment groups respectively showed 6 and 7% increases in fertility rate. Interestingly, a higher hatchability rate was found for AP20 group, associated with a higher number of sperm penetration holes in the perivitelline membrane and a lower rate of early embryonic mortality. However, hatchling quality was not affected by dietary AP. Overall, these data suggest that AP could remarkably improve several sperm characteristics, seminal TAC, fertility, and hatchability rate in aging breeder roosters. These improvements were also associated with a higher content of total unsaturated FA in the sperm plasma membrane. Future studies are needed to disclose the causal mechanisms involved., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)