Oh blast .....I have to look for the book
Hagedoorn If I spelt it right....also wrote on this subject & observed observed chicks were sired by the new sire from eggs collected the day after putting him in the pen. That's from memory; looking for one book is enough for right now
. There's also a paper, somewhere discussing males releasing more sperm upon mating with new females & the mating frequence is greater.....I think I've got that right but as I can't remember where I found that so I cannot check it.
Right...... about the name...From
Poultry Breeding & Genetics (for ease PBG).... "The sperm storage tubules located in the infundibulum have generally been referred to as sperm nests & those in the uterovaginal (uv) region have variably been referred to as uv sperm host glands, uv sperm storage glands & uv sperm storage tubules."
There are quite a few pages in PBG devoted to the findings of research on this subject. It is interesting to read but far more than I can type. I'll just type a few bits which seem relevant to the topic.
Right....again from PBG "Compton et al. (1978) found that when genetically labelled spermatazoa inseminated sequentiallyinto the domestic fowl, the spermatozoa became stratified by genotype within a sperm host gland over time, & emptying of a gland occurred as a sustained leakage of the most superficial sperm cells. These were significant observations, for they demonstrated that the spermatazoa from the last insemination were the first sperm cells to be released for purposes of fertilisation. Stratification of spermatazoa within the sperm host gland explains earlier observations whereby the majority of of progeny were derived from the most recent mating or insemination. It was erroneously concluded in the earlier studies that the result was the result of a competitive advantage for the fresher spermatazoa.
Compton et al. (1978) also found that the storage capacity of the sperm-host glands can exceed the functional life span of the stored spermatazoa. These observations taken together have very important genetic & evolutionary implications, for they demonstrate that the great majority of the progeny will be derived from the most recent mating, which may, in many instances not be the most dominant or desirable sire.
Van Krey et al. (1981) proposed that sperm cell agglutination may be the basic mechanism controlling the storage & release of spermatazoa from the uv sperm host glands. The ability of sperm cells to agglutinate is dependent upon intact plasma membranes. Accordingly, as spermatazoa age & lose cellular integrity, they also lose the ability to agglutinate & are selectively eliminated from a gland.............."
There are pages & pages on this & related subject such as seasonal decline in fertility..... which is quite interesting.
I'm pretty sure, without rummaging through PBG again that sperm life is variable. If my memory serves decreased sperm life is one of the pleiotropic effects of the rose comb gene when homozygous....I don't really remember but it may also have a lesser adverse effect when heterozygous.
Best wishes
Krys