Tips to increase egg fertility?

[Handywork Farm]

We're looking for suggestions of how to increase the fertility rate of our eggs -- we tried a hatch in the beginning of march and had no fertile eggs, then tried again and had 8 out of 42 eggs. We have one rooster to a dozen hens.

 

[sonew123]

I had only 2 out of 13 hatch-first try a few weeks ago-Ihave 1 roo and 3 hens-I think he has a favorite-I noticed her back is alot more ripped apart than the others-In fact it doesnt look like he is mating with the others at all!--

 

[Cuban Longtails]

How old is your rooster?

 

[Mrs MIA]

If they're a young flock, just be patient... they slowly work their way up. If it's an older flock, and only one roo, it may be too many hens. What breed are they? If the birds are really fluffy, like orpingtons, you may have to trim their pantaloons so that they're able to make contact. Can you give us a little more information on ages/breeds, etc...?

 

[halo]

Make sure its not an incubation problem first. Maybe give some eggs to someone else and see how they do.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

Good Quality Feed helps also along with all the other suggestions. I was out watching the flock the other day and I noticed one of my hens doesn't let any of the roosters mate with her so that may also be an issue. I kept wondering why all my other hens eggs were fertile but I couldn't seem to get a fertile egg from her.

 

[Johnboat]

Keep two roosters and switch them every three days. They both will favor different hens.My fertility has doubled since starting to do this.

 

[camalianus]

As someone already post use a different feed, one with at least 20% protein to increase fertility and vitality in both the roo and hens. Also give the roo's favorite hen a rest move her to another pen by herself for a few days, so the roo will give attention to the others. Also there are some hens that alpha and won't let a roo mate them. I had one hen long time ago that she used to fight with the roo when he tried to mate her

. Anyway that type of hen has a trait you do not want to reproduce.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
Actually, that is a trait I look for in hens I have on my yard. It means the rooster must best her before she allows him to mate with her. She seeks a mate stronger than herself. Weak hens + weak roosters = ever weakening prodgeny.

This is my personal opinion, I share it only to provide another thought on the matter.

 

[Handywork Farm]

The hens and roosters are all a year old and a variety of breeds -- the rooster is a Delaware, the hens a mixture of Delaware, Barred Rock, White Rock, Black Star, and White Leghorn. (We got a kindergarten class hatch last year to fill in when our hatch was ruined by poor humidity.) It does not seem to be an incubator problem -- we put 11 of my sister's eggs in with the last batch and had 7 of those fertile, 6 of them hatch.