Low fertility of the Ameraucana breed

[Pedro Nunes Marques]

Hello friends, how are you?

Greetings to all creator friends!

I raise Ameraucanas in Brazil, we imported the final Black from 2019 and in 2021 we managed to bring Lavender, Azul and we are shocking Buff.

I have a lot of problems with fertility in eggs

1- In each paddock I have a healthy rooster for 9 hens, is that many hens for one rooster?
2- Do Ameraucanas have a lower fertility rate than common breeds?
3- Does every pure breed have a lower hatch rate?
4- Could it be consanguinity? (They are still in the second generation of birds that came from America)
5- What can I do to improve the hatch rate?

It's great to count on your precious contribution.

Thanks
Pedro N Marques

[Mike Gilbert]

For the benefit of other readers, Azul is Blue in Spanish and apparently Portuguese as well.  I'm not sure what "shocking Buff" means however. 

Pedro, many factors play into fertility.   I must assume it is winter where you are, or perhaps early spring.   Roosters need long hours of light for fertility; if they are not getting 15 -16 hours, that might be the reason.  Artificial lighting on a timer may help. Another possibility is excess fluff around the vent area.  You could try removing the feathers, one by one, just above and just below the vents of both roosters and hens.  Are your breeding flocks confined or allowed access to the out of doors?   Getting them out on green grass would probably help.    The other possibility is that the stock you received was already highly inbred before you received them, and low fertility is being caused by too close inbreeding.   If you can, try sourcing from another strain.    As a last resort, you could outcross to another black breed available in your area, and then breed the hybrids back to the pure stock you already have.    I would invite others to join in the discussion here.  Let's try to help solve Pedro's problem with fertility in his imported stock.

[Kalin McClure]

Hello Pedro! 

Could you give us some more details about the fertility and hatchability issues? 
Are you incubating eggs but finding no development? 
Or do they start developing but stop/die before hatching? And if so do you know approximately how many days they develop before they stop?

Some ideas to add to Mike's suggestions:
You may try reducing the number of hens in each paddock to 2-3 and retest your fertility rates.

If inbreeding to the point of infertility is in question, you could test breed between your varieties.  Example: your black rooster over your blue hens and your blue rooster over your black hens.  If that clears up your fertility problems, then it could indeed indicate that your varieties are experiencing reduced fertility due to inbreeding. 

Best of luck to you, keep us updated!

[Pedro Nunes Marques]

Hi friends, thank you very much for your help.

80% of eggs have no sign of embryonic development.

The temperature here is reaching 40 degrees, very hot.

In the beginning, a rooster with up to 17 hens hatched well, today I have a rooster for 9 hens.

My nutrition is very good, suitable for embryos

Accessed that it may be a high temperature.

But if for temperature it would not be possible to see that it hears early development and then died?

[Mike Gilbert]

If it is very hot, the problem may be seasonal.   I think I would separate the males from the females, and not put them back together until cooler weather.

[Pedro Nunes Marques]

Thanks friends, I spoke with a technician, I will receive a visit from him tomorrow.

But I'm believing it might be the feed. I am using a special core for stronger embryos and the rooster is eating the same feed as the hens.

I'll wait for his opinion and inform my friends

[John W Blehm]

Check out the Breeder Ration topic to get some ideas.

[Pedro Nunes Marques]

thanks!!

[Michael Muenks]

Pedro,

I have been enjoying this topic. I hope that your local expert was able to help you a bit. My temperatures do not hit 40 C for very long here in central Missouri, USA. My birds only experience extreme temperatures of 38-40 C for two to three weeks a year. During that time the fertility of my birds will be low. Fertility will normally rebound fairly quickly once temperatures drop back to the 28-30 C range.

I use the following strategies to help with fertility and chicken health in general.

1. When temperatures are above 30 C, I feed the chickens their entire ration approximately 2 hours before sunset.
2. I do my best to keep the chickens cool with moving air, shade, no stress, fresh water, and damp spots to dust bathe or lay in.
3. Use fresh feed
4. Up the protein in my feed. In the heat the chickens will eat less - probably a third less, but they need more protein in there feed. I tend to move to a game bird grower or starter feed, because that is what I can get locally that is fresh and has a higher protein.

Here is a little resource I found from Arizona which has climate conditions closer to what you are experiencing that has a few tips in it. https://extension.arizona.edu/managing-extreme-summer-temps-backyard-chickens

[Mike Gilbert]

Michael, thanks for sharing that article.   It includes some excellent information and tips.   I was surprised to see they spelled the word wattle as waddle.  A duck waddles.  Many chickens and other birds have wattles. 

[Pedro Nunes Marques]

Thank you friend.
In Brazil, the tropical climate has very hot periods of the year, especially in September and October, further aggravated by the lack of rain.

I will use a special paint to paint the walls and roof that can lower the heat by up to 10 degrees until I rebuild the shed with thermal tiles...
I currently have temperature controllers that turn on fans with temperatures above 33 degrees.

If one day any of my noble friends came to Brazil on a tour, I will have the honor of receiving them in my house.
I live in the central region of a Brazilian capital and I have a breeding of Ameruacanas that I am importing to the United States.

Thank you all for your kindness!

Pedro N Marques