What to Do About Low Hatch Rates in Female Turtles? Cause Analysis and Solutions

Artificial turtle farming has sprung up in many places in recent years, especially as the soft-shelled turtle market has flattened while the turtle market has held firm, prompting many soft-shelled turtle farmers to switch to @#@238@#@. But farmers have found that although some female turtles lay a good number of eggs, the fertilization rate is not high and the hatch rate is low, especially with eggs from turtles at their first laying age, where the fertilization rate is even lower. Many people assume the female turtle is the problem, little realizing that the cause does not lie with the female turtle at all, but is mainly related to factors in the male turtle itself.

Through practice, people have found that in nature many animals show differences in the timing of sexual development between the two sexes; generally the female gonads mature early while the male gonads mature late and mature later still. The same holds true for turtles: female turtles reach sexual maturity early and male turtles reach sexual maturity late, which means that the early-maturing female turtles lack effective mating with sexually mature male turtles, resulting in a lower fertilization rate of turtle eggs.

In response to this characteristic of turtles, measures such as adjusting the sex ratio of female to male turtles, raising female and male turtles in staggered groups, and adding nutritional supplements for male turtles can effectively raise the hatch rate.

(1) Raise the female-to-male sex ratio: adjust the conventional female-to-male turtle ratio for turtle farming from 2-3:1 to 2:1-2. This ensures that every female turtle has a male turtle to mate with in time; because the two sexes are roughly equal in proportion, more mating opportunities can be provided, thereby raising the fertilization rate of the female turtles.

(2) Stagger female and male turtles by one year in mixed rearing: for female turtles that will reach sexual maturity in the first year, pair them with male turtles that reached sexual maturity the previous year and raise them together in the same pond; this prevents male turtles from losing effective mating opportunities because of their late sexual maturity.

(3) Combine separate and mixed rearing of female and male turtles: first keep female and male turtles in separate ponds for a long period; once the turtles enter the age window for estrus, immediately put these turtles together in the same pond so that the turtles become sexually excited, which can stimulate turtles to complete gonadal development quickly and mate. After the mating period, separate them into different ponds again for rearing.

(4) Add nutrients and Chinese herbal medicines: add vitamin-rich malt, freshwater shrimp, silkworm pupae, and pig, cattle and sheep afterbirth to the feed; vitamin A, D, E and zinc can also be mixed directly into the feed; Chinese herbal medicine powders such as pine needle powder, chopped chives, Epimedium (barrenwort) and Yangqishi (actinolite) can also be mixed into the feed. All of these can effectively improve the sexual function of male turtles, promote successful mating, and raise the fertilization rate of female turtles.