A Study of Certain Factors Affecting Fertility in the Turkey

THE incidence of low fertility in turkey breeding flocks has created a serious problem for the turkey industry. At the present time relatively little is known about the factors contributing to infertility in the turkey. The fact that our knowledge of fertility in the chicken following forty years of investigation of this subject remains incomplete indicates that the problem of avian fertility is not a simple one. In the past few years a number of studies have provided information concerning some of the factors which appear to contribute to apparent infertility. Wilcke (1939) and Milby and Thompson (1945) reported that preferential mating was frequently responsible for low fertility in single male matings. It was also noted by Milby and Thompson (1945) that some hens remained infertile after rotation of the toms. However, Hale (1951) observed that although the differential fertility of female turkeys typically fitted the criterion of preferential mating, …