102 Present address: 1 Scientist (dr_shan@rediffmail.com), 2 Scientist (drbhukyaprakash@gmail.com), 3 SRF (pradeep.biochem@gmail.com), 4 Principal Scientist (akpanda59@rediffmail.com), Directorate of Poultry Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. Trace minerals as a part of many enzymes are necessary for normal biochemical reactions. Supplementation of minerals in organic form is more bioavailabe than in inorganic form due to absence of any interaction or antagonism between minerals or other dietary constituents. Furthermore, organic trace minerals are efficiently absorbed in the gut necessitating lower level of supplementation in the diet (Rao et al. 2013). In pullets organic Zn supplementation increased gonadal maturation at placement in broiler breeder males (Suchý et al. 1998). Shanmugam et al. (2014) found that organic Zn supplementation at 100 ppm improved the sperm metabolism in layers. In chicken, studies on organic Se supplementation have focussed on sperm morphology (Edens and Sefton, 2009) and semen quality during high ambient temperature (Ebeid 2009). Apart from the effect of supplemental organic Zn and Se on rooster semen quality there are no report of supplemental trace minerals in males on fertility and hatchability. The objective was to investigate the dietary supplementation of organic Zn and Se on semen quality, fertility and hatchability in layer breeders. The experiment was conducted at the experimental poultry farm of the Institute located at Hyderabad, India with the approval of the Institute Animal Ethics Committee. Thirty Dahlem Red roosters (29 weeks) were assigned to 3 groups in individual cages in an open-sided house. A practical male breeder diet was prepared to contain 2,665 kcal/kg ME, 16.4% crude protein and other nutrients (Table 1). The diets of experimental groups were supplemented with organic Zn (zinc proteinate) and Se (selenomethionine in yeast protein) as follows - group 1 (0 Zn/0 Se), group 2 (100 mg/kg Zn/0.15 mg/kg Se), group 3 (100 mg/kg Zn/ 0.35 mg/kg Se) for 8 weeks. The birds were provided with weighed quantity of feed (100g/day) and had free access to water. By abdominal massage (Burrows and Quinn 1937) semen was collected from the birds at fourth and eighth weeks after selenium supplementation. The semen collected was evaluated for different gross and biochemical parameters. Immediately after collection semen was diluted 4 times using high temperature diluent (Chaudhuri and Lake 1988) and used for further analysis. The volume of the ejaculated semen was assessed by using a 1 ml syringe. The appearance of raw semen was scored 1 to 5 visually (McDaniel and Craig 1959). Percentage of progressively motile sperm was assessed subjectively by placing a drop of diluted semen on a Makler chamber and examining at 20 × magnifications. Sperm concentration was determined in a colorimeter at 540 nm of wavelength (Taneja and Gowe Short Communication Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 85 (2): 202–204, February 2015/Short communication Dietary organic zinc and selenium supplementation improves semen quality and fertility in layer breeders M SHANMUGAM 1 , B PRAKASH 2 , E PRADEEP KUMAR REDDY 3 and A K PANDA 4 Directorate of Poultry Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 030 India Received: 3 July 2014; Accepted: 2 October 2014 Key words: Fertility, Organic selenium, Organic zinc, Semen Table 1. Ingredients and nutrient composition of basal diet Ingredient g/100g Yellow maize 70.535 Soybean meal 24.993 Salt 0.444 Shell grit 1.611 Di-calcium phosphate 1.866 DL-methionine 0.133 Choline chloride, 50% 0.111 Vitamin premix A 0.022 B complex 0.028 MnSO 4 0.010 FeSO 4 0.013 CuSO 4 0.001 Mycotoxin binder 0.111 Antibiotic 0.056 Tylosine 0.056 Nutrient composition (Analysed) Metabolizable energy (ME) (kcal/kg) 2665 Crude protein (%) 16.4 Lysine (%) 0.71 Methionine (%) 0.37 Calcium (%) 1.02 Available phosphorus (%) 0.41 A Supplied (mg/kg diet): thiamin 1; pyridoxine, 2; cyanocobalamine, 0.01; niacin, 15; pantothenic acid, 10; a tocopherol, 10; riboflavin, 10; biotin, 0.08; menadione, 2; retinol acetate, 2.75; cholecalciferol, 0.06; choline, 650.