R&t's Breeding Journal

[**KAZ** 0]

Can you pinpoint any particular reason why you seem to be getting more than your fair share of addled eggs ?

[renee 0]

Can you pinpoint any particular reason why you seem to be getting more than your fair share of addled eggs ?

 

Nope, not really.

 

I don't think it is a nutritional issue. They have all got Budgie Breeder in the aviary and then soft food in the Holding Cages plus broccoli plus bottle brush. They got Soluvet early on in the drinkers as well as Calcivet and Iodine plus Moulting aid. I have ordered some Vitamin B12.

 

But maybe it is a physical thing. I am very careful when I check eggs but I do have a lot of cocks in the nest box.

 

 

I am open to suggestions.

 

 

As things stand I am not checking the newly changed nests. I will wait till Saturday and then I am going to take a leaf out of John Kobilanski's book and in the nests that are showing fertile eggs only look every 5-7 days till hatching time.

 

 

[**KAZ** 0]

If you only check every 5-7 days how will you know if you have an egg eating parent ?

[GenericBlue 0]

Can you pinpoint any particular reason why you seem to be getting more than your fair share of addled eggs ?

 

Nope, not really.

 

I don't think it is a nutritional issue. They have all got Budgie Breeder in the aviary and then soft food in the Holding Cages plus broccoli plus bottle brush. They got Soluvet early on in the drinkers as well as Calcivet and Iodine plus Moulting aid. I have ordered some Vitamin B12.

 

But maybe it is a physical thing. I am very careful when I check eggs but I do have a lot of cocks in the nest box.

 

 

I am open to suggestions.

 

As things stand I am not checking the newly changed nests. I will wait till Saturday and then I am going to take a leaf out of John Kobilanski's book and in the nests that are showing fertile eggs only look every 5-7 days till hatching time.

 

 

well my personal opinion would be the kitten litter

to be honest it would suck the eggs dry of all moisture as thas what litters for so i would suggest that even though i know you will say its not that to change your box material

Edited September 13, 2011 by GenericBlue

[renee 0]

If you only check every 5-7 days how will you know if you have an egg eating parent ?

 

Well for starters there won't be any eggs in the nest - that's a dead give away

 

No, seriously .... I won't know if one of my hens starts to eat eggs, well not straight away .... But none have to date and that's a pretty good indicator

 

well my personal opinion would be the kitten litter

to be honest it would suck the eggs dry of all moisture as thas what litters for so i would suggest that even though i know you will say its not that to change your box material

 

You assume correctly

 

Though I have to say I am way more concerned about the high incidence of Addled Eggs than DIS.

[**KAZ** 0]

Maybe eggs get kicked around and move around more easily on kitty litter than other nesting materials ?

[renee 0]

Maybe eggs get kicked around and move around more easily on kitty litter than other nesting materials ?

 

You might be onto something there - I hadn't thought about that combined with the cocks being in the nest box.

 

Okay off to get some Flaky Bran.

[**KAZ** 0]

I just bought a 30 kg bag..........if you want some off me, I can bring you some to the auction on the weekend..........cost is $10 for 10 kilos if you want.

[renee 0]

I just bought a 30 kg bag..........if you want some off me, I can bring you some to the auction on the weekend..........cost is $10 for 10 kilos if you want.

 

Thanks for the offer - I've just stocked up.

 

I am only going to use it while the hen is incubating the eggs. As soon as all chickies hatch out then it is onto the Fussy Cat Litter.

 

 

Just topped up as many nest boxes as possible, ie. the ones that are going down again.

 

 

Excellent news insofar that Magic's hen has laid an egg with no issues and the Greygreen DP hen is now on 2 Fertile eggs.

 

 

I have made 3 pairings changes. A new 11 Recessive Pied hen to the tailless JL Green boy and I swapped some Green hens.

 

 

And it is now official that I am not going to get any DF Greens this round - 1 DIS, 1 Addled and 2 Clear.

Edited September 13, 2011 by renee

[**KAZ** 0]

Believe it or not, Renee, despite my tragic attempts at breeding since moving, I have chicks in nests at last. So far 4 greywings, a spangle and chicks hatching in a YF sky cock to cinnamon grey hen nest.............fingers crossed they make it to the perches.

[renee 0]

Believe it or not, Renee, despite my tragic attempts at breeding since moving, I have chicks in nests at last. So far 4 greywings, a spangle and chicks hatching in a YF sky cock to cinnamon grey hen nest.............fingers crossed they make it to the perches.

 

Oh I am so happy for you Kaz Fingers Crossed indeed.

 

 

 

I find it hard to believe that what seemed only yesterday I was anticipating 60 chicks hatching. Here's hoping I get 25 from this round.

[renee 0]

Alright, here's a thought.

 

What if they are all sick with something?

 

Obviously none are showing signs of illness and did all get Doxy for 2 weeks in the aviary before going into the Holding Cages ...

 

But is there anything out there that could account for this?

[renee 0]

Alright, here's a thought.

 

What if they are all sick with something?

 

Obviously none are showing signs of illness and did all get Doxy for 2 weeks in the aviary before going into the Holding Cages ...

 

But is there anything out there that could account for this?

 

okay I am going to answer this and say Very Unlikely!

 

Besides I have had a think on it over night and I have decided that what is happening is the hens are getting off the nest and staying off long enough for those fertile eggs to die.

 

How long would that take? Does anybody know?

 

 

Another chicks arrived to the light Green Spangle nest and I opened a blackened egg in the Sky hen nest only to find a chick about 12 hours off hatching .... still a little yolk sac attached but I have popped it back and hopefully then hen will look after it any way.

 

 

I have moved some more chicks around. No more deaths in the chicks that were in the Lute nest but a couple are still looking a bit pale so I fostered them on again, this time to the Violet split Opaline nest where the eldest chick is doing fine.

 

And I have lost track of where almost all the fostered chicks are - already. So my ringing plans are down the gurgler.

 

 

Also I have brought forward the Rehabilitation of Medusa Plan and popped a little chick in with her this morning. Seeing as she didn't feed any of her chicks last year I'm figuring she may need a few days at this to get the hang of things. Her one and only egg showed fertile on the 29th.

 

 

Today is the 7 day milestone for some chicks but alas no Stat report as they are still too small for ringing.

Edited September 14, 2011 by renee

[renee 0]

Well. Whadyaknow - Medusa is feeding the foster chick from the LG Spangle nest!

 

Once more I have to credit the Fantastic cock she is with, who, by the way, was in the nest box with her - no doubt showing her how.

 

Now it is fingers crossed that egg of hers hatches.

 

 

You know if I have to find a positive it would have to be that all my Maiden hens to date have acquitted themselves marvellously in the feeding department and I do credit the cocks they are with for that. Yes, they are very hands on and continuously are in the nest box but they do seem to be supervising their nubile partners.

 

As much as it goes against the grain ('cause I do like to monitor) I am going to have to adopt a more hands off approach and let nature take its way for a while and not check on them so often.

[Dave_McMinn 0]

How often do you check?

 

When there are chicks, I am simple checking morning and night, once each time.

[renee 0]

How often do you check?

 

When there are chicks, I am simple checking morning and night, once each time.

 

Up until very recently I was checking all nest boxes at around 9am and 7pm.

 

With hatching nest boxes again at 3pm and if a chickie has hatched to a Maiden and it is not fed yet I swap in a foster for 3-4 hours and then check again.

 

Is that too much?

[Dave_McMinn 0]

I do not think so. I think that all sounds fairly normal.

[renee 0]

I do not think so. I think that all sounds fairly normal.

 

Mmmmm. I didn't think so either.

 

But I suppose you have to add that I do soft food collection at 5-5.30pm and then return the dishes at 7pm plus Seed Hopper top ups and poopy scooping in the morning at around 10am - not that often though, maybe 3 times a week for the poops and once every 3 weeks for the seed.

 

Any way I can't account for the addles eggs other than to think that the hens are getting off the eggs - although I haven't seen any evidence for it.

 

The only other thing is of course if they are all sick with Chlamydia Psittacocis (low fertility/DIS) but surely I would see signs of illness ... ? They did all get the routine summer flock treatment of 6 weeks Doxy.

[Dave_McMinn 0]

I said what you told me was normal. You then added in 3 other things.

 

I try to disturb my birds as little as possible, so only twice a day.

 

You disturb your birds 5-6 times a day.

 

Do not worry about after the chicks are born, that will be fine. You are looking at addling eggs. Try to minimise the impact on the birds.

 

Once the chicks are born, checking them multiple times a day is fine I think. Can you not clean the poop at 7pm before you put the soft food mix back in? Try to do tasks together.

 

I still think the idea that the kitty litter is not that stable as other nesting material is something worth considering.

[renee 0]

I said what you told me was normal. You then added in 3 other things.

 

I try to disturb my birds as little as possible, so only twice a day.

 

You disturb your birds 5-6 times a day.

 

Do not worry about after the chicks are born, that will be fine. You are looking at addling eggs. Try to minimise the impact on the birds.

 

Once the chicks are born, checking them multiple times a day is fine I think. Can you not clean the poop at 7pm before you put the soft food mix back in? Try to do tasks together.

 

I still think the idea that the kitty litter is not that stable as other nesting material is something worth considering.

 

Mmmmmm. Thanks for the feed back.

 

Actually they were consecutive activities, I have 37 breeding cabinets and it all takes time. The fastest I can do an egg check (without taking notes) is 40 mins. So poopy scooping was after the morning check and the evening check was happening after I replaced the soft food dishes.

 

But I hear what you are saying which is why I have cut back on checking eggs so that I am not disturbing the hens at all for now, my next planned comprehensive egg check is Sunday evening.

 

All hens going down again are on the flaky bran now.

[renee 0]

Today is D-Day otherwise known as Decision Day

And the big decision I have made is to kick it forward to Sunday when I do my next egg check.

 

So far I am happy with all my pairings and it is just a question of fingers crossed.

 

 

3 more chickies arrived today.

 

A fourth to the Grey Dommie Pied nest.

A fourth to the Light Green Spangle nest.

And ...... yes indeed Medusa's egg hatched out and the little one is being fed! (break out the champagne!)

So far so good and the Rehabilitation of Medusa Plan is on track - I'll make her into one of my best mother hens yet

 

 

On a sad note 2 more pale chicks died today, one that I left in the LGreen Spangle nest and another I moved onto the Violet split Opaline nest. That makes it 3 out of the 4 I fostered to the Lute nest. Ironically her own 2 chicks are thriving as fosters.

Edited September 15, 2011 by renee

[Pride 0]

Sad about the chicks that died renee but at least medusa is growing out of her reckless ways.

[renee 0]

Sad about the chicks that died renee but at least medusa is growing out of her reckless ways.

 

Thank you for the commiserations Pride. I am very upset about losing them, especially I was hoping they would pull through.

 

 

 

Yet at the same time I am thrilled about Medusa and her chick. I really, really wanted offspring from these 2.

 

It sucks that there is only one chick but the fact that she is feeding normally after letting 2 nests of chicks die last year is a real achievement. I am so glad I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Yipee!

[Finnie 0]

Mmmmmm. Thanks for the feed back.

 

Actually they were consecutive activities, I have 37 breeding cabinets and it all takes time. The fastest I can do an egg check (without taking notes) is 40 mins. So poopy scooping was after the morning check and the evening check was happening after I replaced the soft food dishes.

 

But I hear what you are saying which is why I have cut back on checking eggs so that I am not disturbing the hens at all for now, my next planned comprehensive egg check is Sunday evening.

 

All hens going down again are on the flaky bran now.

 

If I am reading this right, does that mean that you go through all 37 cages doing the egg check, then start over and go through them all again to do the poopy scooping? And the same in the evening with the soft food dishes and egg checks? I've always wondered how those of you with so many nests can manage to get around to all of them. (My max is 6, and I know I am a slow person, but that's probably all that I could handle.)

 

Would it be too unwieldly to do everything for one cage before going on to the next one? And then you would just be disturbing each cage the one time? But perhaps that would really lengthen the amount of time it takes to get through all 37.

[Dave_McMinn 0]

Mmmmmm. Thanks for the feed back.

 

Actually they were consecutive activities, I have 37 breeding cabinets and it all takes time. The fastest I can do an egg check (without taking notes) is 40 mins. So poopy scooping was after the morning check and the evening check was happening after I replaced the soft food dishes.

 

But I hear what you are saying which is why I have cut back on checking eggs so that I am not disturbing the hens at all for now, my next planned comprehensive egg check is Sunday evening.

 

All hens going down again are on the flaky bran now.

 

If I am reading this right, does that mean that you go through all 37 cages doing the egg check, then start over and go through them all again to do the poopy scooping? And the same in the evening with the soft food dishes and egg checks? I've always wondered how those of you with so many nests can manage to get around to all of them. (My max is 6, and I know I am a slow person, but that's probably all that I could handle.)

 

Would it be too unwieldly to do everything for one cage before going on to the next one? And then you would just be disturbing each cage the one time? But perhaps that would really lengthen the amount of time it takes to get through all 37.

 

I am with Finnie here, and that is the key point here Renee. Instead of disturbing them multiple times per day, why not do everything you can at one time and then they will be fine after that. One disturbance in the morning and one at night. Simple as that.