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Intermittent Periods of Infertility Identified in Naturally Mated Broiler Breeder Hens

Department of Poultry Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0332; Phone: (703) 231-6124; FAX: (703) 231-3713

Reproduction data were collected from 500 broiler breeder hens over a 40-week egg production cycle. Hens were trapnested at monthly intervals for three consecutive days to assess egg production and fertility. Resulting data indicated that at any point in time, 43.2% of total flock infertility could be associated with only 4.1% of the hens. At 65 wk of age, 15 hens which had laid all infertile eggs during two of the last three sample trapnesting periods, were artificially inseminated (AI) with 0.05 mL of pooled semen. The improvement in fertility following AI indicated that fecundity was good, and suggested that sexual unresponsiveness by the females and/or preferential mating by the males were probable reasons for the intermittent periods of infertility. If true, such aberrant mating patterns could mask treatment effects with respect to fertility, especially in small research pens.

Key Words: Fertility • infertility • broiler breeders