Fertility question

[desertbirds]

I read on the forum a few days ago that a hen bird that produces eggs must be a fertile bird. I didnt think this was true but can someone enlighten me please.

[MadOzzie]

I would think that 'fertility' is applied to eggs not the birds.

This leaves the question as to how do we describe a bird that is able to produce eggs or sperm? I guess adult or mature would be suitable but then what about aged birds which it would seem are less productive than the young?

MadOzzie

[SamDavis]

I always assume people really mean it is significantly more likely to be the cock who is the issue when infertile eggs are laid.

[Tiaris]

Good question. Many women who have difficulty falling pregnant still ovulate and a bird egg is just an ovulation. Short answer I don't know, but it doesn't seem enough for a hen to just lay an egg to meet all of her physical requirements for fertility.

[desertbirds]

Anymore takers on this one ?

[Canary]

My thoughts are that if a hen lays eggs then she is fertile.

I have had hens that did not lay eggs, and if they are good birds I will give them a second chance next season, and if they don't lay eggs then they are infertile or baren.

Sometimes a hen will not accept the cock and the result is clear eggs, but in all cases if you put in a new cock that the hen accepts then the result is fertile eggs.

I cannot recall ever having an infertile cock.


With the example of a women above, if she ovulates and has trouble then that alone doesn't mean she is infertile, as she will often have a child through IVF.

[finchbreeder]

Expanding on my comment elsewhere that a hen who lays an egg is fertile. This seems from my observations and study of information from vets and other breeders over time to be a fact. However. Canarys example of a woman still not giving birth to a health live baby is an excellent one. Because. The egg can be faulty just as a human baby can. The mother is fertile because it exists in both cases. The egg may have too thick or thin a shell but the chick still exists inside the egg. So the cock is not at fault. How do you better work out what the problem is? If an egg has not hatched and is 28 days old. Gently break it open, if there is a yolk that is the viable part of an egg. If you find a chick inside even though it did not hatch. Then the cock is probably not at fault. The hen may have failed to turn the eggs as she needs too. The chick may have been weak or defective in some way and not hatched. One parent may have been sick and passed this illness to the chick through contact with the shell, or genetically. But if there is a nice yellow yolk and no chick the cock did not do his job. And if she pushed him away that is not his fault.
LML

[jusdeb]

In my experince as a female type person I would say that if a she produces eggs then she is fertile and as said if the eggs are infertile it is a problem with the boy bird or a problem with getting the little swimmers from A to B .

Easy ...

[Tintola]

One way to find out who is infertile is swap partners. I have a Yellow Throated Scrubwren cock who last year had 5 nests of 3 eggs in each all infertile. This year 4 nests so far with 2 to 3 eggs in each nest WITH A DIFFERENT HEN, every egg infertile. The hen from last year is with another male and has had two successful nests (4 chicks so far) and is on eggs again. I think it might be he who has the problem!

[Tiaris]

My earlier point is that simply ovulating is not sufficient to produce fertile eggs. There are processes within the female's body during the act of mating (apart from the male delivering his sperm correctly) and shortly thereafter which if not functioning properly will not result in fertilisation of her eggs.