I have a flock of 3 bourbon red toms and 10 hens and we were getting good fertility rates. Even when it was cold out we still got good rates until now. Of course now they decide to drop because now we are finally hatching our eggs. Any ideas on how to raise their rates right now it is at 33%? Weather for where I live is in the mid 30's but they were doing fine in the 10's.
Shave their bums, it works the best. It is often a two person job but I did it by myself. You can wrap them in a cloth first. use scissors very very carefully to trim down the feathers. I get ' nothing but net ' now with my specialty chickens and it lasts a year until they moult again, then too many feathers once again can be a problem, depending on the breed.
Turkeys don't really have issues making contact because of feathers (and I would not wanna trim a turkey butt ). I'd just wait for better weather/more light as suggested and try again.
