The Effect of Body Weight in Broad Breasted Bronze Turkeys upon Fertility and Hatchability

MOST comparisons of Bronze or Broad Breasted Bronze with smaller breeds show that hatchability of all eggs set is lower for the larger variety (Sampson and Wilson, 1944; Walter and Hoffman, 1947; Marsden and Olsen, 1950). Somewhat poorer results from hatch of all eggs were reported from larger than from smaller Bronze hens by Funk (1950) although Parker and Harper (1950) found no convincing evidence of such differences among somewhat smaller Bronze hens. Fertility is at times a factor in the low hatchability of turkey eggs and when such low fertility occurs in healthy flocks it can be improved by artificial insemination (Stotts and Darrow, 1955). The experiment reported here was designed to compare fertility and hatchability of hen and tom turkeys of different weights in a commercial flock of Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys under conditions of supplemental insemination. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The Broad Breasted Bronze hens were divided into six …