Duration of Fertility and Hatchability Following Natural Matings in Turkeys

A POSSIBLE relationship between mating behavior and hatchability of fertile eggs was indicated by Nalbandov and Card (1943) in chickens. On the basis of these observations, Parker and Barton (1945) suggested that more frequent matings might result in higher hatchability in turkeys. Duration of fertility in turkeys has received attention previously. Scott (1937) and Marsden and Martin (1949) reported fertility following natural matings and more recently Lorenz (1950) and McCartney (1951) observed the duration of fertility following artificial insemination. The data for fertility following natural matings are somewhat limited in that duration was measured from the time of removal of males. Information on the relative fertilizing capacity of semen from successive ejaculates in a series is not available. Of the above investigators, McCartney (1951) was the only one to include data for the duration of hatchability. Therefore, more critical information on the patterns of fertility and hatchability was desired preliminary …