Improving fertility

[lildinkem]

This is a form of dry incubation--which works well in areas that have high ambient humidity--but in areas such as the desert where we have very low ambient humidity, it does not work well at all.

The inside of an incubator does not know you live in a desert IF you keep the humidity between 60% and 35%, the egg only knows it is in between 60% and 35%. You might get to 35% faster then me. But, then add water.​

 

[Smoky73]

No but if you have any kind of vent or air hole open you will not be able to keep humidity up at all in our dry climates, you really cannot argue with proof and we have proof that dry incubation just does not work where we live. I do not live in Arizona, like Sonoran, but I live in Northeastern Colorado, which has similar humidity as Nevada, we are rarely above 30%. In my incubators, if I do not have the outlet where the turner plugs in sealed off, I cannot get the humidity raised at all. When I had a styrafoam one, I couldn't hatch a thing with the vents open. As it is, I can't get any broodies to hatch eggs themselves it is just too dry.

 

[halo]

Quote:
That is not true.

 

[lildinkem]

I live in Northeastern Colorado, which has similar humidity as Nevada, we are rarely above 30%.

Buddy IF your having incubating trouble cause of the desert maybe you need to start another thread. This person is in Tennessee. NOT the SONORAN DESERT.​

 

[TimG]

If the mixed eggs are hatching and the BO eggs are not, then it would seem the trouble is with the hens, not the rooster.

It seems to me that it is possible that these hens are not producing great eggs and/or not tending them as best they could. These might be traits that they pass on to offspring. Unless there is something special about these hens, I think you should consider new hens.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Okay, I have trimmed tushies (and let me just say THAT was fun with a cranky rooster dancing about!

) Cheeto the rooster has been actively doing his part in this little experiment with great gusto. Hopefully fertility will go up now that we all have the right hairdo (tush do?).

Now about the food- my TSC doesn't carry game bird or quail food. When I asked for game bird food at the co-op, they brought out samples that looked like pellets with sunflower seeds and lots of corn added. Is that right? Seems like if they are upping protein with BOS seeds and corn I can just do that myself. They sold me what I thought was gamebird layer, but turned out to be just regular old layer, I think. It's 21% protein. Isn't that like regular old pellets?
What does your game bird feed look like and where do you get it?

 

[speckledhen]

Game bird feed looks just like any other feed, in starter or pellets. If I didn't know what it was, I couldn't tell.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Buddy IF your having incubating trouble cause of the desert maybe you need to start another thread. This person is in Tennessee. NOT the SONORAN DESERT.

The point is that people from all over the country, indeed from the whole world read this forum and learn from it. If the comments made by Cara & myself were not there, someone else who lives in the desert or other dry areas would logically expect that dry incubation would work for them. It won't.

Dry incubation takes into account the humidity of the environment surrounding the incubator and factors that into setting the humidity levels. It works great (or so I have heard) in areas with high humidity. It doesn't work everywhere, which every article I've ever seen written has either implied or outright said.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
There are some types of cock feed mixes that have various seeds and pellets in it. One I use is called Chavez Mix. It can be a good additive, but most people I know do not feed it straight.

It is not the same as gamebird feed, which is mash, crumbles or pellets. The ingredients are a bit different than chicken feed, and it is more likely to contain animal protein (fish oil and/or meal) than having soy as the sole protein source as in chicken feed.

I don't know what BOS means. Corn would lower protein levels as do most (but not all) grains.

Gamebird feed is typically higher in protein than chicken feed. Layer feed protein varies dramatically. I've seen it as low as 14% (way too low), 16% and 18% are common. 21% or 22% can be found, but are not common.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Oops, sorry. BOS is black oil sunflower seeds. My girls LOVE them!

The stuff he sold me is 21% protein. Perhaps it is gamebird layer after all. (The little man at the co-op is sometimes hard to understand. He's about a million years old and kind of mumbles. He's sweet though, so I just went with it.)
The feed with the most corn and sunflower seeds is called Rooster Booster. It was definitely gamecock feed. I skipped it because of the high corn content.

Why would you not just add chick crumble to the adult food if you are only wanting to up protein? Clearly mine still love it as they pilfer it whenever they get a chance. It has 18% protein, I think. What else does the gamebird feed have that helps chick growth in shell?