Livestock feeds and feeding system in Enset (Ensete ventricosum) dominated mixed farming system of southern Ethiopia. Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 4(6): 150-158

Indigenous chickens are an important source of animal proteins. Aseel is the very famous chicken breed of Pakistan which is facing the reproductive issues. Molting is economically used for the improvement of reproductive performance of male rosters. So the current experiment was designed to investigate the effect of molting on semen quality of indigenous Aseel chicken. Roosters (n=20) were divided into two groups, Group A molted (n=10) and group B non-molted (control) (n=10). Molting was performed through the method of feed restrictions. After the molting phase, semen was analyzed for six weeks. The semen quality was significantly (P<0.05) improved in terms of volume (0.34±0.8 & 0.16±0.4 ml), mortality (73.7±2.5 & 63.5±2.2%), semen concentration (3.36±1.2 & 1.63±0.2 x 115/ml), morphological defect of sperm, (6.5±0.5 & 8.7±0.6 %) and livability of sperm (75±2.3 & 64±2.5%) were significant (P< 0.05) better for group A as group B. It was concluded that molting could be used for improvement of semen quality of indigenous Aseel chicken to cover the reproductive problems.