Increasing fertility in my rooster?

[Clsikes]

I have a white Cornish trio that I am trying to hatch eggs from. The eggs are fertile when cracked, but out of the 30-40 eggs I have incubated, only 5 have hatched, and one of those died. I hatched some eggs from another group of chickens, and the whole batch hatched, so I do not think that it is a problem on my end. Any suggestions?

 

[sourland]

Is there any possibility that your birds are from a heavily inbred line?

 

[Clsikes]

I am afraid that is a possibility. I am hoping to get some different blood, but they are kind of hard to find.

 

[sourland]

Many years ago I hatched WCB Polish eggs for a friend who started with one pair of birds and line bred/inbred from these two birds for 20 + generations. Egg viability was low, roosters went sterile while still young, chicks frequently had to be helped out of the eggs. If he got 5 out of 30 eggs he would be delighted because the type was so good that he was almost guaranteed a show winner even with so few chicks. For him this was satisfactory - for most it is not. Good luck at obtaining an outcross bird or so.

 

[donrae]

What are you feeding? I remember Fred posted a link about how layer feed with the increased calcium could decrease fertility and maybe sperm motility? in a rooster. Sorry I can't recall right off, it's been a while since he posted it.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
You could try sprouted forage oats. History : when fed as green feed at 4-7 days old, they help the cock produce more robust sperm, thus more robust chicks. Also helps bring them hens into lay. Feed 1 cubic inch per bird per day. I use Plotspike Forage Oats. $25. for 50 lbs. at Tractor Supply. Non-GMO, created circa 2002 at Louisiana State University by specialized linebreeding. On the 4th day, a nutritional change takes place in the sprout. It becomes green feed, fed as a supplement to the daily ration instead of grain feed ( 1-3 days old) which is fed as part of the daily ration.
Best,
Karen

 

[gjensen]

It is not the feed, if the others are doing fine.

The first thing people blame is the feed, but usually it is in the incubation process or the birds. You cannot beat a good breeder ration, mixed for the purpose.

You should still get a hatch with a basic ration.