chrissy0705

I will definately rest them first and move them to the larger cage, but if you are thinking that SHE may be ill, I don't know if I want to risk her life by breeding her again? Can anyone else comment or add to the concern of her elongated beak or possible liver issues as KAZ has pointed out? She seems healthy? Makes a lot of noise, eats well, gets around, etc.... she doesn't seem to show any other signs of being sick.

They are in a standard cage at 18"d x 21"h x 12"w with a nest box wired to the outside of the cage... BUT... I was telling Neat that if I tried them again that I would put them in the new breeding cages I just built that are 48"l x 24"d x 16" h.... with a choice of two nest boxes.

Let me take recent pics of them both tomorrow and post them. These pics are from a few months ago when I first got them (besides the one in the nest box, that's from a week ago). You mentioned illness, liver, ?????? I thought her elongated beak was due to her previous owner not having proper stuff for her to file it down??? What is it that you think is wrong??? Can she die?

They were when I got them, but not anymore. They are growing back, if not almost all the way grown in now.... I won't clip them, especially during breeding. I know the one picture shows him clipped, but that was just as he was growing back in. Non of my flock get clipped but if they are clipped when I get them I let them grow in.

Give me a minute for the picture, I'll post it in a second. As for the leg ring, NO, neither on has a leg ring. She is recessive pied so no iris, but her cere is very milky tan and his is very silky deep blue and he has an iris. Here come the picture. Here's a few pics I already had in my photobucket... if you need better ones it will have to be done tomorrow they are 'bedded" for the night already. Let me know if this helps at all. http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/dscn2828.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3114.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3098.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4213.jpg

They are not "fluffy". Do you mean clear the vent feathers to help assure fertilization???? I did not do that the last time nor did the previous owner. I got her from the previous owner in June of this year, but she didn't say how long ago her first clutch was laid. She just said they were both about 2 years old and had a clutch of 8 but they didn't make it?????? The only thing I can say that may be different about this pair of birds is that this female is the largest bird in my flock. She is a big bird, bigger than all my other hens and even bigger than all the cocks. Does her size play a roll in things, where the male can't properly reach her vent area?? But other than that they are not fluffy and I did not clip vent areas......

I have candled all the eggs at this point and there are NO viens in any of them. All but one, look like they are clear on one half of the egg and "shadowed" on the other half, divided almost perfectly down the centers. This cock seemed to do everything right. He continued to mate with her between eggs, fed her, checked on her, sat with her in the box, etc..... ????? I hate to think it is him, he's one of the prettiest birds I have (and the only YF2). As for pairing her with another cock.... I don't have one right now. I have two mature hens but no mature males. The only male I have unpaired right now is too young (only a few months old). ALL BUT ONE EGG ARE INFERTLIE? so the one egg that is sounds like DIS? Remove the other eggs leave that other egg till Day 30 still not hatched remove and let them have another go .. I had prince that after 2 rounds of 5 eggs per clutch were empty - 3 round 5 eggs all fertile all hatched and BEAUTIFUL .... double check his Cere is should be a POWERFUL BRIGHT BLUE there is a FAQ's page that shows you the difference in Breeding conditions - you may have paired them a little too early or late 1 egg filled is a good sing I will try this... The egg that you think is DIS was the first egg she laid (the only one I know which is which because of the shape of it) and it will be 30 days in a day or so. That was the only one I thought I knew for sure was not fertile because it never seemed to changed appearance. I think it is actually an egg with a yolk (just like you eat for breakfast). Never had viens or movement that I ever saw???? But if you think I should leave it, I will. I think I will change their breeding cage though. I currently have them in a regular store bought cage on a table with a nest box wired to the side. I used this cage when I first pulled her out of the aviary for being aggressive. And then when I brought her mate out to her I added the box and just let them be. I am going to put them into one of the new breeding cages my husband and I made and see if they fair better in there. It's 48"lx24"dx16"h. They is room to fly around and two nest boxes to choose from and I know my cats and kids and other "distractions" won't bother them. Thanks so much. Oh and I just double checked his cere and its silky bright blue right now. So maybe they'll "try again".......

I have candled all the eggs at this point and there are NO viens in any of them. All but one, look like they are clear on one half of the egg and "shadowed" on the other half, divided almost perfectly down the centers. This cock seemed to do everything right. He continued to mate with her between eggs, fed her, checked on her, sat with her in the box, etc..... ????? I hate to think it is him, he's one of the prettiest birds I have (and the only YF2). As for pairing her with another cock.... I don't have one right now. I have two mature hens but no mature males. The only male I have unpaired right now is too young (only a few months old).

okay as some of you know from previous posts I have a hen currently sitting with 5 eggs. At least 4 if not all of her eggs should have hatched by today but NOTHING.... . Her previous owner said she had a clutch of 8 eggs (with this same cock) and none of then hatched either.... So I'm thinking I don't want to go through this again with them. Do I try a new cock with her and or do I try a new hen with him????????? They were both great with the whole process (doing everything they were suppose to), but the eggs have diaginal "1/2" lines in them (some with dark spots no movement or floating effect) in them and one of them has this "floatiness" about it, like a yolk or something? I'm almost 100% sure that none of these eggs are good especially cause they should have hatched by now, but also because my other hen's eggs you can see strong red viens or you can't even see through the egg anymore cause the baby is just about due. I don't know if they were fertile and die in early stages or what. Do I need to crack them open to tell if they were fertile? If they were what should I look for? If they were fertile but didn't develope, what might be the issue? Is is something with one of the birds themselves or the conditions or something I did wrong???? When it comes time for me to face that all the eggs are no good (I will wait the 21-30 days just in case), how and when do I remove them and the nest box? I do not want her to lay another clutch (at least not with this cock). When do I seperate them and introduce a new mate to whomever you think I should re-pair? I am sad to see this pair has gone through the stress of a clutch with NO results at all, but don't want to give up on both of them if there hope.... is two dud clutches two too many or should I let them try one more time?

Thanks KAZ this is an unbelievable read!!! Thank you.

I don't want to let the hens lay another clutch. Is there a way to prevent this without getting rid of the next box too early. My parents were telling me that their birds would actually start laying the next clutch and the babies from the first clutch were incubating them. I don't want to do that right now. This first time has been stressful for me (a learning process) and I'd like to make sure I have homes for those I am not keeping before allowing more breeding. About how old will the babies be when they stop going into the nest box? PS THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE REPLY!!!!!

I loved this video... I remember hatching chicken eggs in an incubator for 4-H as a child and forgot how amazing it is so see a new life in the palm of your hands. I have a question. What happens if you didn't mark your eggs??? I didn't mark my eggs cause I was too afraid of damaging them. Now I have two clutches and my first clutch should have started hatching on Sept 1st (day 18) but nothing yet???? Can I pick up eggs and just listen to them and if I hear chirping help them out??? I (although I was petrified to do so) finally candled ALL ten eggs in both clutches today. I was too afraid before and tried to candle one or two eggs but got nervous and put them back. My first clutch I feel a bit hopeless with cause I can't tell anything on them. Some are clear, some have half dark and half clear areas, and all of them seem to be "swirled" and not viened??? .... but my second clutch I can tell everyone of them are fertile. They all have very dark viens running through them and some have dark masses in them other have small dark speck (I asume the bigger the dark spot the older the egg). But as I was saying I didn't mark my eggs so at this point one if not two of the eggs from my first clutch should have hatched by now, but nothing has happened. Now watching your video and knowing you can help a "late chick" I fear that I may have really screwed up by not marking them and "opening" the over due eggs. For all I know they aren't even fertile, but now the "what if" kills me. :hap:

So I have two clutches right now, 5 eggs each, nothing has happened yet but by next week the second clutch should be starting and the first clutch should be well under way if anything comes of them. These are my first clutches and I just want to get some advice on the do's and don't when they first arrive. If I peek in and see a baby has arrived, what should I do first if anything? When can or should I touch them for the first time? When should be their first vet visit? What age should they be weaned by? When do I remove the nest box completely? When can the mother and father and the babies be moved out of the breeding cage into a holding cage? Lots of questions, but wasn't sure where to find all these answers.

With a good torch you do not need to pick up or handle eggs for candling. You just put the torch against them in the nestbox and you can see what you need to look for :hap: And that would be????????

The first one looks like it could be in the early stages of development, the second looks infertile. You should leave them untill the last egg is over 21 days old to be sure before giving up on them, unless you're absolutely sure about your candling I'm not absolutely sure about anything when it comes to this, so I will not remove anything until all hope is lost. According to other post on this site is says to wait 30 days from the date of the last egg being laid... so sometime between the 13th and the 23rd will be 21 to 30 days for me so I will wait until them. Thank Neville. Anyone else care to comment or give me any kind of hope, please feel free. :hap:

I won't clean them, I'm too scared to anyway... i don't even like to pick them up to candle them in fear of cracking or dropping one and the death be of my own doing instead of something I couldn't control. I just did an edit and attached two pics above of the candling I did... maybe you can give an opinion based on those pics too.... ???

Anyone else care to comment? One opinion says they look fine. none of them look drastically different in color like KAZ's pics .... but, when candling them I can't see any movement or "body images" like on the video links given on this site... one seems clear and two of them have a line around them... almost dividing the eggs in half, one length wise and the other width. I've tried to take pics of the candling and it's not working I just get this blury dark glow picture... here are two of the eggs i did and tried to take pics of.... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4132.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4459.jpg None of my eggs are as discolored as KAZ's picture above, they all seem to be the same color like the one on the left. My first egg was due to hatch yesterday and nothing yet. Can anyone else look at the pics I posted previously and tell me what they think. See if you can see the line I'm talking about in the 4th picture on the top left egg and the bottom left on the 5th and 6th pictures.... let me know what you think. Thanks.

then he is a sbyf2 then??? happy happy joy joy !!!

It looks green in the photo but the camera doesn't always get the colours right. If you look under the wings and if there is blue or white showing then he's type 2 yellow face, if there's yellow and green then he's a green looks blue under there to me..... ??? take a look http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4718.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4719.jpg Let me know what you all think now?

is there any way he's a YF1 green then?????? is there a such thing ? Two questions then.... one if my grey wing is not sky blue yf2 then the out come of what I was toldmy babies are going to be will be different. My greywing is paired with #4 my dark green recessive pied hen... they have five eggs right now... so what will the babies be?? This is what the guess was when the cock was thought to be sbyf2.... "50% Dark green, 50% Light Green unless Sunny is split for blue. If she is then 25% each of Light Green, Dark Green, Cobalt & Sky Blue Half the chicks will be recessive pied and half normals, no greywing unless Sunny is split for greywing. All the chicks will be split for greywing. All the green chicks will be split for blue. All the chicks that are not recessive pied will be split for recessive pied Half the chicks will be recessive pied and half normals, no greywing unless Sunny is split for greywing. All the chicks will be split for greywing. All the green chicks will be split for blue. All the chicks that are not recessive pied will be split for recessive pied"????? What will they be now ???? The second picture of # 3 helped you so here is a second picture of # 1 the one Neville thinks sf dom pied green hen..... you asked for a better picture of her back.... this is a picture when she was just a few months old.... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/dscn1350.jpgthis is from not too long ago.... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3700.jpgSF ? DF??

Wing clipped is from a while back... he was in the process of growing them back in. He had them clipped when I got him and I was letting them grow in. The one side seemed to grow back much faster than the other. He is fully "feathered" now. No worries. So the green on his rump says he's def. green???? No, yellow face.... man, I thought I had a chance. Does everyone else agree... .no sky blue yellowface II... definitely green??????

the third one I agree with the split to recessive... but Neville says is green??? I was also told sky blue YF2.... ? anyone want to give some opinion on that? blue yf2 or green? Here's another photo of him.... http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN3063.jpg

Just wanted to update you and let you know that my hen has not "screamed" at night for the past few nights now. Either the light is helping or her mate has learned to back off. Also, I wanted to ask a questions about her eggs. If all went perfect today should have been the hatching of her first chick, but nothing yet. Because I am a first time breeder, with her clutch being the first for me personally, I did not want to handle them more than I had to and was afraid of damaging them so..... I did NOT mark her eggs. I know what one was her first cause of the shape of it (really pointy at the one end). I tried candling once, but don't know enough about candling them to see what is fertile and what is not. Some of them seemed to have a "dark spot" in them, one looks clear and another looks like it has a line down it (half hollow half cloudy) Out of her 5 eggs I'm really not sure if I'll get any chicks.... without me having to handle them, is there any way to tell from these pics, if any of these eggs are firtile??????? Either way I will wait until Sept 23rd before removing them (30 days from the date of her last egg) but if I know for a fact at this point that one or all of them are not fertile should I get ride of them now or wait???? http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4457.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4468.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4708.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4715.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4716.jpg http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n400/ch...5a/DSCN4717.jpg

Teach me something please???? What markings make it DF. Is it the amount of yellow on the wings? Most pics of DF I see seem to be almost solid with only a few markings... is this what makes it DF?

** 1. Iris rings are now present...For your information