Improving fertility

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I have a buff orp rooster who is clearly doing his job. I easily hatch out mutt babies with him as the daddy. What I can't seem to get to hatch out well are my pure buff orps. What can I do to improve fertility?

Here are the current statistics-
Hatch of 5 BOs, 1 BO mix- 1 BO and 1 mix hatch (4 BOs failed to hatch)
Hatch of 4 BOs, 4 mutts- 3 mutts hatched, 1 BO hatched with help
Hatch of 6 mutts- 3 hatched
Hatch of 3 BOs in incubator- 1 zipped but died in shell, two are showing no indication of hatching at the end of day 21.

So of 12 possible Buff orps (9 of which were set under hens), only two hatched out and one of those needed help.
Of 11 mutts 7 hatched (and I think more would have except the two mostly mutt hatched were in the dead of winter)

My odds aren't great there. The buff orp hatches have been pretty wretched. How do I go about inproving my hatch rate? Both of my buff hens have pretty fluffy tushies. Should I clip them?

The baby that I helped out (who is doing fine today) and the one that died in the shell in the incubator were both really large chicks. Could they perhaps have been too big to get out? My buff orp rooster is a big fella. Is he throwing babies that are too big to hatch? Could be, but his mixed breed offspring hatchout fairly well.

I don't know what to do. Up the protein in their feed? Switch feed brands (currently they eat Dumor)? Something that I haven't thought of?

What think you, the hatching experts?

 

[chicken master]

Are the buff orpintons brothe sister?If they are that always results in poor fertility.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

If the hens are fairly fluffy...I'd say it may be time to try clipping them. That seems to be the issue since the other hens are able to successfully be bred by the same male.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

The roo and hens came from a hatchery. Who knows who is related to whom?

The hens are very fluffy in the nether regions. That makes sense in uping fertility overall. The roo has torn back feathers up on both of them so clearly he is doing the deed with them. I'll try trimming them.

Why do we think the babies are dying in the shell though? The one I helped out clearly wasn't going to make it if I didn't intervene. The one today was completely formed and looked perfect. It just zipped halfway and then quit. If I hadn't helped the other it would have done the same.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

What is the humidity throughout the entire incubation...and the very last day?

What position are the eggs sitting in during hatching?

 

[lildinkem]

IF the problem is not the fertility but hatching them out. I do well playing between 30% and 60% humidity for the first 18 days and then I can't get enough humidity for the last 3 days. Plus other things with these big bird breed is they get stuck in their shell and can not turn around and thus croak in the shell. After 12 hours of hearing the chick in the shell I cut a perferated line around the shell pip hole to help in a minor way for the chick to get out. I had them die in shells too. It happens. Also Roo's get lazy after 2 years of age and might play favorites. You might have that going on too. I run two cockerels to each of my flocks. Alternating them every 2 days. I no longer have fertility issues
Good luck!

 

[Ravenna]

You could try introducing hatchery stock, I know some people do such to improve fertility rates (if they aren't hatchery stock). You could try a new roo with your hens, or new hens with your roo. But, if the breeding aren't working out fertility/large chicks I personally wouldn't do that breeding and would switch it up with new stock. I would breed a new roo to my hens and/or my original roo to a new BO hen and see who has the genetic issues and then retire the ones that do if that is the case. If you bred your roo to a new BO hen and got a good hatch rate, then you would know your hens have the issue (which is what I feel is).

Simply my opinion, but I think worth the time to do then having disappointing results in the bator every 21 days.

All you may need is new blood with the BOs you have to solve the issue.

 

[speckledhen]

When I started to have hatching issues with my BBs Orps, I changed their feed to Game Bird Breeder Crumble. The wrong end pipping pretty much stopped and I was back to normal with my hatches. That feed is made to start feeding about six weeks before you want to hatch the chicks, specifically formulated for the health of the babies that are coming. So many times, no one mentions the diet of the parent birds, but I bet a better feed for breeding flocks would help.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I had heard that quail feed was higher in protein and was specifically fed to up the quality of hatching eggs. I assume it is the same as Game Bird Breeder crumble. My TSC doesn't carry either. I'll have to do a little research to find a local source.

These three are hatchery stock. They are a year old. There is one BO roo and 2 BO hens (plus another 5 assorted hens).

I think the problem seems to be both fertility and hatching. Most of the buffs don't seem to be developing. I'm guessing trimming the tushies and adding higher protein feed will help with that.
The ones that I have hatched have been both under hens and in the incubator. The hen hatchs are under broody silkies. They successfully hatch everything but the buffs it seems.
It's likely that the bad incubator hatch was my fault. It was my first time incubating. Temps were fine until yesterday and today. It spiked yesterday while I was gone and then the power went out this morning and dropped temps dramatically. I'm pretty sure the one that partially zipped was dead by last night though. Eggs were laid flat until day 18. On day 18 I put them big end up in a partial egg carton.
Humidity on days 1-18 was around 40-45%. On day 18 I jumped it as high as I could get it (75%-80%). Of course, when the power went out this morning it shot up to 99%. Ack!

So what do you do about big chicks getting stuck in the shell when you hatch under a hen? I don't that has ever happened here, but it is an interesting thought.

Thanks for the help all. I'll keep trying. I just hate it when the poor babies die in the shell. It's so sad.

 

[lildinkem]

The spike will kill the eggs before the turned off incubator. I had a plug unpulled on my incubator a week ago. I had 3 eggs in it and it dropped down to 73 degrees. ALL 3 eggs hatched despite my best of lack of efforts to keep them alive. All three are developing well too.
I have large fowl. And on those chicks that I want to make sure get out okay. I wait to listen to hear for them while in the egg. Once they crack open a hole, I wait for anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to see IF the chick has gotten any further. Then I take my steak knife out and cut a line around the egg, making sure to NOT crack open or crack off any part of the shell. If all goes well the chick has less a problem to get out. On my Buff Eggs and my Black Orp eggs, I take no chances. Their too valueable to me. And I guess the same for you too...