Why is there such a low hatch rate?

[Little Red Birds]

And the incubator at a friends house was incubating other eggs and those hatched just fine

 

[CluckNDoodle]

It may be an issue with the flock you're getting hatching eggs from then. I don't have any experience with the breed but sometimes there are health or genetic issues that cause low hatch rates.

 

[Little Red Birds]

It may be an issue with the flock you're getting hatching eggs from then. I don't have any experience with the breed but sometimes there are health or genetic issues that cause low hatch rates.

I ordered 24 from a breeder in Florida and of them only one survived (Cleatus Pictured above). I have talked with a local breeder who has AMAZING Millies and only does a few porcelains. He says it’s because they are hard to hatch... Right now he isn’t hatching anything because of show season and he has no hens and roos together. I was more or less posting this thread to see if anyone knew why they are. Thank you!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

View attachment 1804381
I ordered 24 from a breeder in Florida and of them only one survived (Cleatus Pictured above). I have talked with a local breeder who has AMAZING Millies and only does a few porcelains. He says it’s because they are hard to hatch... Right now he isn’t hatching anything because of show season and he has no hens and roos together. I was more or less posting this thread to see if anyone knew why they are. Thank you!

So cute!! I wish I had an answer for you. There may be a common genetic issue with the porcelains then. I've also heard that Seramas are difficult to hatch and a have a local friend that has them popping out like popcorn so I really don't have a good answer for you other than maybe asking your friend if they can put a little breeding pen together for you so you can try setting those eggs instead with a possibly better outcome and you can decide if it's something wrong with your flock.
I bought Silkie hatching eggs from 3 people local to me and had great hatches in the same incubators with 2 of the batches but ZERO from the other person successfully hatched. So for me it was clear she had something wrong with her flock because it wasn't a storage issue as she had collected them that morning.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

If only half are fertilized to begin with that is the place to start.....determining the cause for low fertility can be a process of elimination. How old are the breeding birds? M/f ratio? Feed? Environment?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

View attachment 1804381
I ordered 24 from a breeder in Florida and of them only one survived (Cleatus Pictured above). I have talked with a local breeder who has AMAZING Millies and only does a few porcelains. He says it’s because they are hard to hatch... Right now he isn’t hatching anything because of show season and he has no hens and roos together. I was more or less posting this thread to see if anyone knew why they are. Thank you!

Well, yes, it would be hard to hatch infertile eggs......

 

[Little Red Birds]

If only half are fertilized to begin with that is the place to start.....determining the cause for low fertility can be a process of elimination. How old are the breeding birds? M/f ratio? Feed? Environment?

The woman said she has 6 hens and 1 rooster. And that she has been able to hatch her own rather successfully. I honestly don’t know. I’m talking with the local breeder now and he is saying that in the fall we will put a breeding pen together to see how many will hatch and try to determine the problem. My Ag teacher says she’ll probably give out an extra credit project in the fall semester about it

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Well, yes, it would be hard to hatch infertile eggs......

You just made me laugh out loud! Not for lack of trying on our part though!! I have tried so hard to get some of those duds to be fertilized with will power alone! Haha!

 

[Little Red Birds]

I talked with my poultry leader just a moment ago and she has some interesting theories... like maybe since there aren’t that many porcelains, they could be inbred too much or for the sake of still having them breeders used stock with bad fertility.... there is just too many things that could be happening!!

 

[BreanneRN]

Well, some breeds are just not as vigorous as others... Possibly there is something genetic related to this color variety that causes this? Perhaps that Porcelain? gene is carrying something along with it that creates non-viability. In horses, the overo paint gene (a recessive) can lead to an all white off-spring that always dies because of digestive problems... I guess though the people to ask would be hatcheries and others who raise this variety. One way to get a hint would be to see how much hatcheries are charging for the little fellows. The more they cost, the harder they are to produce, generally.