Fertility

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Any advice in this section should not be taken to overrule advice by a certified licensed veterinarian. You should always consult a veterinarian for treatment or diagnoses of animal disease or injury. The information in this thread is simply the experience of board members and is not to be taken as a substitution for veterinary advice or treatment.
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kenya
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Re: Fertility

Post by kenya » Thu May 10, 2018 8:38 pm

Well the spinach is just a bust, the only ones who eat it are the quail. Will have to try honey drizzled over bread, I know they like bread.
They are spending more time outside and the male is flirting with the girls but not breeding them, stupid boy.
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Jaye
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Re: Fertility

Post by Jaye » Thu May 10, 2018 9:06 pm

Really? Quail like spinach? Thanks, @kenya , I will have to try that out. So far, my quail don't seem to like anything green.
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kenya
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Re: Fertility

Post by kenya » Sun Jun 17, 2018 4:04 pm

Well my boy is finally trying to mount them, from the wrong end but at least he is starting to try!
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Kbr42
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Re: Fertility

Post by Kbr42 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:03 am

Ok, when does fertility stop? Anyone know at what age Rooster should be retired? I've run several tests.....sticking eggs under Broody girls....and my Olive Egger Oliver is 0% I just checked the last batch - young pullets and an old boy. Any thoughts? My guys are free ranging when I'm home......

Cheers,
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Killerbunny
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Re: Fertility

Post by Killerbunny » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:36 am

I still have ZERO fertility in the Wyandotte pen! Chunky isn't an old guy either. He is mounting and apparently breeding them but.....
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Killerbunny
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Re: Fertility

Post by Killerbunny » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:50 am

Is Oliver with the wyandottes? I am not sure at the moment whether the fertility problem is Chunky or the girls. I don't have any fertile Wyandotte eggs even from the ladies with Frank. Odd since there was fertility in January.
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:iheartpto:
Beltsville Small White turkeys.
Mutt chickens for eggs
RIP Stephen the BSW Tom and my coffee companion.
RIP Lucky the Very Brave Splash Wyandotte rooster.
RIP little Muppet the rescue cat.
:turkey:

:bat:

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kenya
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Re: Fertility

Post by kenya » Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:21 am

One breeder has told me the problem is we don't like the aggressive roosters so we get rid of them only keeping the milder roosters which he says in the end drastly reduces fertility as the more aggressive roosters have much higher fertility.
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Ontario Chick
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Re: Fertility

Post by Ontario Chick » Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:49 am

kenya wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:21 am
One breeder has told me the problem is we don't like the aggressive roosters so we get rid of them only keeping the milder roosters which he says in the end drastly reduces fertility as the more aggressive roosters have much higher fertility.
Makes sense, there is a fine line between a gentlemanly Rooster and a wimpy one.
When I kept Ameraucana roosters, who always had a bit of an attitude, there was no need to check for fertility, they were always fertile, bur they weren't rough with the girls, simply didn't take no for an answer. ;)
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WLLady
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Re: Fertility

Post by WLLady » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:03 pm

so....i have had roosters that were great at 1-2 years, and then nothing. and my barred rock boy just stopped being fertile at 6....so....guess it depends....lol
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windwalkingwolf
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Re: Fertility

Post by windwalkingwolf » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:28 pm

Roosters are hatched with the potential to produce viable sperm for their entire lives. Whether or not they DO, depends on a lot of things, including any illnesses or major stress, especially if they happened before maturity, the amount of light they receive, especially just before breeding age, and body condition/food quality and protein level. Something as simple as a minor bout of coccidiosis, can negatively affect how large the testes become and how many sperm they are capable of "ripening", and for how many years. A rooster with small testicles is capable of producing trillions of sperm per day, but they won't all be swimmers!
Breeder barns feed their roosters nutritious but low-protein feed, between 9 and 13 %, because higher protein in rooster feed can negatively affect organ development and function, including testicular.
Most backyard keepers feed grower rations, which is formulated for birds such as meat chicks and layer pullets, and this can shorten a rooster's length of service. So can layer feed, as surplus calcium stresses kidneys and then other organs, and the effects are harder to mitigate at the rooster gets older.
Decline in viable sperm numbers does happen with age, even when all other factors are optimal. Like all of us, some things just slow down a bit. Both testosterone and sperm start to get a little lazy around 5 years old (sooner or later, depending on the individual rooster). He mates less frequently, and fewer strong, viable sperm are produced.
So-called aggressiveness *CAN* be a sign of high testosterone, but it can also be a sign on a prior head injury or a brain infection. You want an alert, strutty, cock-of-the-walk fellow that's always keeping an eye out for threats to his hens, but you don't want one that's so wound up that he can't tell the difference between you as his keeper, or your child, and a fox in his yard. Such boys often turn nasty to the hens as well, sooner or later--the drive to mate is so strong that they seemingly forget how to best accomplish their goal, and will just drive a hen into the ground in what looks like a blind rage. Nobody wants to get stabbed by spurs or have dead hens, so most people cull roosters for any aggressive tendencies, perceived or otherwise.
All that said, whether or not a rooster can get the job done, is also up to the hens--they have some ability to selectively eject the semen of a rooster they don't like, so even if he's forcing himself on her, few of her eggs will be fertile, if she doesn't quit laying altogether.
There has been some research that suggests that vitamin E and Selenium supplementation can help increase a flagging sperm count
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