Hatching rate issue

[Predoggg]

Hope I am in the right forum section with this. It does not really fit in incubating.

I do have a flock #1: of 9 deathlayer hens, 1 deathlayer rooster, 1 olive egger hen, 2 Giant Jersey hens and 1 Light Brama hen. I do have a terrible hatch rate of 0 to 10% of the eggs from this flock.
My second flock has 10 hens and 2 roosters and I have a better hatch rate but not happy with that either.

Both flocks are free range. They get some meal worms as treat beside oyster shells and chicken grit. We have clay ground and no stones.

How can I improve the hatch rate on my flock #1? I am willing to add another rooster but difficult to get my hands on one. Any other ideas?

 

[fuzzymonkeez101]

What climate are you in, and how do you handle the eggs you select for incubation?

 

[fuzzymonkeez101]

I have about the same ratio of hens to roos and my fertility/hatch rate is above 90%, so I think something else is going on

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is a horrible hatch rate. From what I've read Deathlayers are fairly small and you have some big hens in with him but he should be able to fertilize those eggs. And that has nothing to do with the 9 Deathlayer hens' eggs. So that is not your problem.

How thick are his feathers? Some breeders have to trim the vent feathers of certain roosters and hens to give the roost a clear shot at the target. Might be worth a try.

Some roosters are not fertile, just something wrong with them. Or they do not mate with the hens, no desire to do so. This is more common with old roosters. A relatively young rooster may be able to keep 25 to 30 hens fertile but an old one may struggle with 4 or 5.

An immature cockerel may not have the respect of the girls so they may not allow him to mate.

Are you feeding them anything other than free range and a few mealworms? Dad had a free range flock of 25 to 30 hens and one roost. He never fed them anything during laying and hatching season and practically all of the eggs we incubated were fertile and hatched. People have been raising them like this for thousands of years and they have not gone extinct. But maybe yours are missing critical nutrients. I doubt it but I'll mention it.

How are you incubating the eggs, broody hens or an incubator? How are you collecting and storing the eggs for incubation? Since it is both flocks could it be a common thread like this?

How many eggs have you tried to incubate and how many efforts? Have you ever had good success? If your data set is limited well, stuff happens. If you have enough attempts then there may be something wrong with your procedure.

I have no idea what is going on with your flocks. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. Good luck!

 

[Sic]

My deathlayers have very high fertility and hatchability, 100%. Have you checked that your eggs are being fertilized? If they are then your problem might be the incubation process. Just a thought.

 

[Predoggg]

We have 1 or 2 chickens who like to lay their eggs in the woods but I do not use them. We discard them. We collect at least twice a day and I have collected like 3 days in a row from multiple hens.

I am in SC and close to the NC border. We currently have nice warm sunny weather. It feels very much like spring here.

 

[Predoggg]

That is a horrible hatch rate. From what I've read Deathlayers are fairly small and you have some big hens in with him but he should be able to fertilize those eggs. And that has nothing to do with the 9 Deathlayer hens' eggs. So that is not your problem.

How thick are his feathers? Some breeders have to trim the vent feathers of certain roosters and hens to give the roost a clear shot at the target. Might be worth a try.

Some roosters are not fertile, just something wrong with them. Or they do not mate with the hens, no desire to do so. This is more common with old roosters. A relatively young rooster may be able to keep 25 to 30 hens fertile but an old one may struggle with 4 or 5.

An immature cockerel may not have the respect of the girls so they may not allow him to mate.

Are you feeding them anything other than free range and a few mealworms? Dad had a free range flock of 25 to 30 hens and one roost. He never fed them anything during laying and hatching season and practically all of the eggs we incubated were fertile and hatched. People have been raising them like this for thousands of years and they have not gone extinct. But maybe yours are missing critical nutrients. I doubt it but I'll mention it.

How are you incubating the eggs, broody hens or an incubator? How are you collecting and storing the eggs for incubation? Since it is both flocks could it be a common thread like this?

How many eggs have you tried to incubate and how many efforts? Have you ever had good success? If your data set is limited well, stuff happens. If you have enough attempts then there may be something wrong with your procedure.

I have no idea what is going on with your flocks. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. Good luck!

Thank you for the information. I will check the rooster and hens if I have to trim them. I currently have 1 egg in the incubator from the deathlayer (set 10 eggs).

All have access to layer feed and the rooster is about 9 month old. Maybe he is lagging the respect of the ladies. We have seen him mating with hens.

We use the NR360 or the Brinsea incubator and I had good success with these incubators. I just had eggs shipped and a 78% of the eggs is fertilized.

Flock 2 has one rooster about 2 years old and the other is 9 month old. One roster of flock two has two favorite hen in flock one and sometimes we find him with the hen in the other coop over night.

All eggs are stored with the pointy end down at room temperature in the room where the incubator is. The room is general dark and temperature is maintained constant.

I have incubated 2 times eggs from the deathlayers and so far 1 fertilized egg. I waited some time after the first attempted because I thought the rooster is not mating with the hens due to cold weather.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can't see that you are doing anything wrong. With that many hens it has to be something to do with the rooster. I don't know what that is.

 

[Sic]

Thank you for the information. I will check the rooster and hens if I have to trim them. I currently have 1 egg in the incubator from the deathlayer (set 10 eggs).

All have access to layer feed and the rooster is about 9 month old. Maybe he is lagging the respect of the ladies. We have seen him mating with hens.

We use the NR360 or the Brinsea incubator and I had good success with these incubators. I just had eggs shipped and a 78% of the eggs is fertilized.

Flock 2 has one rooster about 2 years old and the other is 9 month old. One roster of flock two has two favorite hen in flock one and sometimes we find him with the hen in the other coop over night.

All eggs are stored with the pointy end down at room temperature in the room where the incubator is. The room is general dark and temperature is maintained constant.

I have incubated 2 times eggs from the deathlayers and so far 1 fertilized egg. I waited some time after the first attempted because I thought the rooster is not mating with the hens due to cold weather.

1) I've never had fertility issues, however I do give my flocks spirulina which boosts fertility and hatchability.
2) Before I ever set eggs, I do check fertility by cracking eggs open to confirm they are being fertilized.
3) Eggs being held for incubation are kept pointy end up ( https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1079/WPS19840011) in paper egg cartons at temps between 50-65°F and 50-70%Rh for a maximum of 10 days and do not turn them before incubating.
4) Currently using a young 8 month old Deathlayer Cockerel
5) I spray my eggs with a fine mist of 3% hydrogen peroxide and let them air dry on the day incubation will start.
6) I set 22 eggs on 3/20 - added another death layer egg on 3/22 - 3 different breeds (7 deathlayer)100% fertility and growth on all 23 as of today. I hand turn my eggs every 2 hours. I keep my eggs touching each other during incubation which requires hand turning.
7) Deathlayers have tight feathering and should not require trimming.

I asked if you were checking your eggs to confirm that they were fertilized. You mentioned everything but cracking the eggs to confirm. Do you know what a fertilized egg should look like?

Note: Your roosters should not be eating layer feed, therefore if your roosters/cockerels are being housed with your flock, the flock should not be fed layer feed. Give them an all flock or a grower feed and oyster shell/crushed eggshells for calcium on the side, they will eat what they need.

 

[Predoggg]

Yes, I have cracked eggs and they are fertilized. We give crushed oyster shells.

I don't hold eggs for incubation past 10 days and do not turn them. I collect them a few days in row, inspect them for shape and cleanness. They are stored in the same room where the incubator is.