Help......Daz, Nerwen, Rainbow, Lovey, Homer...Someone please tell me what my next move should be.

 

Chook hatched her 5th baby today (she is a first timer) and still 4 eggs to go.

I was hoping the first were infertile but she is hatching them all on their due date.

 

Should I let her hatch the lot?

Should I remove excess eggs, and if so how many should I remove.

 

My other hens babies are between 4 and 5 weeks old so I dont think I could put the eggs with them.

Or could I?

 

My birds are all too too fertile this time around, had to give away 6 from the other 2 hens.

 

All advice will be appreciated

 

(Oh I'm getting too old for this baby stress (just kidding, I think)

 

Cindy

is she feeding them okay?

 

I think she should be able to cope with them all if she isn't having any troubles.

 

Are one of the others starting a second round?

Yes, she is feeding them all well, Nerwen and No, I dont want the others to have another clutch as this is their 2nd. I want them to have a long rest as they both had big clutches.

Cindy

leave them to it if all nine hatch it will be hard and i wouldnt be suprised if the last two didnt die but there is a chance they will all survive as she is a first timer i wouldnt let her have another clutch till she has a rest

I have found that with big clutches that by the time the last ones hatch the older ones sometimes squash the tiny little newly hatched ones, as there is quite a big difference in size.

wow Cindy, pics please when you have a chance and I would let nature takes it course, and be ready to hand feed if you have the ability. One question to any of the breeders out there if the clutch gets so big wouldn't it be better to remove the eggs right after she is done laying to reduce the size? Therefore the baby is not already formed like it is now, I would think it would be more cruelity to the almost formed chick. Just asking .

you could take eggs out at the beginning but are all of them fertile will any die in the shell you could end up with only one chick hatching and the hen might not feed that one+

so really a catch 22, you don't know if they are fertile at that point but if they are at the end the chick still dies because you remove the egg so late in the stage? But I see want you mean hath, if you remove them too early it is an issue and in the end too. Breeding can have some difficult decision for sure to make.

for a breeder like me it isnt a massive problem as i usually put 4 to 5 pairs down at the same time so usually have some place to foster a chick out but for people who breed one or two pairs at a time it is a catch 22 but personaly i would always let them hatch some hens will raise 9 chicks

right, Karen does that too (Bubbles)

Thank you Hath for answering my question

Thanks Hath.

I did have 3 sets down, but as i said before they all had big clutches, so I had nowhere to put these extra ones. I was gping to give them to Aaron again, but his hen has a full nest of eggs too.

 

Also Hath, I will not be breeding again until next year as our Summers here in Penrith are a killer and developers have lopped all the trees behind us so now the Aviaries have no summer shade at all. Blast them.

Cindy