From what I've heard, my fertile eggs may not hatch from Duchess since the first baby that hatched is 9 days older than the other eggs that are due to hatch. And this may cause issues with such a long difference in hatch dates. So I'm looking for advice, as I want these fertile eggs to have the best possible chance to survive. Should I foster those eggs or leave them with the hen?

 

Duchess (hen with the baby chick) has still been nesting tightly to her eggs so far (she's a good mom), I put a false egg under her to keep her from sitting too tightly since I'd removed the 2 infertile eggs. The other eggs under her aren't due until Jan 3rd (the same day as Dawns 1st egg is due to hatch if it wasn't clear).

 

Would it be better to leave the fertile eggs under Duchess and let her try to hatch the rest of the eggs herself with the early chick and just remove the infertile eggs from Dawn next week and start new round of egg laying? Or would it be better to swap Duchess's fertile eggs with some of Dawn's infertile eggs and let her foster them since they are due the same day?

 

Here is the info on the two pairs, they've both stopped laying eggs for this round. Advise is welcome

 

 

Duchess: (currently has 1 baby and 3 viable eggs)

 

1 - L: Dec 07 // Hatched: Dec 25

2 - L: Dec 09 // Clear - removed egg 12/23

3 - L: Dec 14 // Clear - removed & replaced with fake egg 12/23

4 - L: Dec 16 // Due: Jan 3 (Fertile 12/23)

5 - L: Dec 19 // Due: Jan 6 (Fertile 12/23)

6 - L: Dec 21 // Due: Jan 8 (still showing clear 12/23, probably fertile)

 

 

Dawn: (currently has 5 clear eggs)

 

1 - L: Dec 16 // Due: Jan 3 (clear egg 12/26)

2 - L: Dec 18 // Due: Jan 5 (clear egg 12/26)

3 - L: Dec 20 // Due: Jan 7 (clear egg 12/26)

4 - L: Dec 22 // Due: Jan 9 (still showing clear 12/26, too early)

5 - L: Dec 24 // Due: Jan 11 (still showing clear 12/26, too early)

Edited December 27, 200717 yr by Ravengypsy

there is a chance the younger babies being squished by the older sibling. If you want to foster then you are looking at a full clutch for Dawn to handle, do you feel she is able to care for the babies (I'm not sure if this a first timer or not)

 

If you foster these eggs then Duchess would be ready to lay again sooner and still strong with only caring for one baby.

One problem is that Hens sit differently and keep eggs at different temperatures. Fostering in the middle of incubation can addle the eggs due to differences in temperatures.

It is best to foster a day or two after they are laid or just before they are due to hatch.

both hens are first timers, thanks for the heads up Daz I didn't realize that. So if I were to foster them right before hatching, I should swap the day before it's due?

Edited December 28, 200717 yr by Ravengypsy

However if the chick is fully formed inside the egg and just needs to grow, then it couldn't get addled.

I have fostered eggs halfway through their incubation, with 100% success rate

Edited December 28, 200717 yr by Sailorwolf

you can foster the eggs in the middle if need be, but becuase you had 100% success doesn't mean the next person will, the big issue is with the differance in heat which can kill the chick in the shell.

 

As will all things it's best to be on the safe side.

you can foster the eggs in the middle if need be, but becuase you had 100% success doesn't mean the next person will, the big issue is with the differance in heat which can kill the chick in the shell.

 

As will all things it's best to be on the safe side.

I agree with Nerwen here....as fertile chicks in eggs have failed to hatch due to swapping nests in the middle of incubation in my breeding room too. It is an issue and a hard one to guage whats best. You just do the best you can, cross all your fingers and toes, and hope it all works out. :hap:

would it be better then to just let the hen with the older chick try to hatch her fertile eggs... then just remove the clear eggs from the wouldbe foster hen and have her try again?

 

I'm not sure why Dawns eggs are all clear, the pair may have all clear the next batch too... which was one of the reasons I thought of letting her do the fostering and give the fertile pair a chance to have more fertile eggs in the next round since she'd be better rested with only one chick.

I would try leaving the hen on the clear eggs and as each new chick hatches in the other nest, I would place chick and broken eggshell in the nest of the hen with the clear eggs as you remove one of her clear eggs. She should think the chicks are hers and get on with feeding them . The shell helps her think they are hers as well...remove it after she begins to feed the chick.

Edited December 28, 200717 yr by KAZ
spelling glitch

thanks Karen, I'll probably try that then. The first egg is due to hatch on Jan 3rd so hopefully it will work out.

I would try leaving the hen on the clear eggs and as each new chick hatches in the other nest, I would place chick and broken eggshell in the nest of the hen with the clear eggs as you remove one of her clear eggs. She should think the chicks are hers and get on with feeding them . The shell helps her think they are hers as well...remove it after she begins to feed the chick.

 

That's good advice

I don't think placing the eggshell with the baby is necessary, I have never done that & had lots of success, in most cases the original mother has already eaten it anyway. I don't' think that hens "think" like us "oh a baby has hatched" I think it's just a natural instinct or response to the presence of the chick, it's more like a chemical reaction…chick present so feed…that's if she is a good type Mum.

 

I also think that the risks of leaving the eggs where they are & moving it to a foster Mum are similar. In your case you only have one chick in the original nest, so it might not be too bad, but I have found there is a great risk to late eggs in large nests, as they often get fouled by droppings & rolled around that much that they go rotten [addle] anyway & then in others they hatch successfully & are even fed & raised even if there are 7 or 8 chicks before them & then in other cases they just die, either from lack of food or being jostled by the larger chicks.

Edited December 29, 200717 yr by Norm

Norm, that's what made me concerned to begin with.. that the fertile eggs might get addled in the original nest which is why I thought of swapping eggs for incubation. But my concern with that is as Daz pointed out the fact that this change in possible temperature could cause the eggs to not hatch either.

Since there is only one chick in the nest and with a good amount of bedding material the eggs should be fine, as long as they are still being incubated.

Edited December 30, 200717 yr by KAZ

I got a surprise with one of my batches yesterday, it was one of my TCB pairs, she had only hatched one chick out of 10 eggs, so a week ago I had placed two older chicks with her, as their batch had too many young. I had left all the eggs in case one still hatched, the eggs looked real dirty & I didn’t expect that to happen when on checking yesterday, I found a newly hatched chick it had been fed, but all the other chicks had feathers, so I removed it to another nest who’s eggs hadn’t hatched. So you can never tell. I have transferred eggs at all stages, especially in cases where hens have got ill & stopped sitting, some have hatched other haven’t.

good to know Norm, I'm thinking what I'll do is let Duchess raise the older chick and egg #4, then let Dawn raise eggs #5 & 6.. so they both have only 2 chicks and then neither will be too bad off for round 2 to start around the same time in case of issues. Since I only have 3 pairs breeding right now, but only these two have eggs.

good to know Norm, I'm thinking what I'll do is let Duchess raise the older chick and egg #4, then let Dawn raise eggs #5 & 6.. so they both have only 2 chicks and then neither will be too bad off for round 2 to start around the same time in case of issues. Since I only have 3 pairs breeding right now, but only these two have eggs.

 

Sounds good to me, I hope it all works out...good luck.

no it is good to leave them the parents will look after the youngest as if it was the oldest budgies dont lay there eggs all in the one day it could take a week or more so leave them and interfear only if realy needed

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by budgie-babe

update: I ended up leaving egg 4 with Duchess and fostered egg 5 & 6 to Dawn. As it worked out only egg 6 hatched (4 & 5 were DIS at an early stage), so both hens only have one chick each. All are healthy and strong and the fostered chick has been happily accepted by Dawn & Dusk.

 

This will work out to my advantage though, as both hens should start their second round about the same general time and this will be good if needed to foster eggs/chicks for next round. I also have a a third pair who was just put into a breeding cage, and hopefully will be laying eggs around the time that the other two pairs start round 2.

 

And depending on how large or small round 2 is, might be able to get a 3rd round from them since they only raised one chick each in the first round. But I'll play that by ear depending on the health and condition of the pairs after round 2.

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by Ravengypsy

All sounds good. A very good plan to breed a few pairs at the same time. I have over 30 breeder cages and it really helps save chicks to be able to foster eggs and babies

 

I have a pair that had four delightful chicks for round one. She went down again and I let them as they were brilliant parents and the chicks were large and healthy. She is currently sitting on 10 new eggs

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by KAZ

(Laughing out loud) I envy you Kaz, I would love to have more breeding pairs.. but we all have to start somewhere I guess. I'm hoping I can get quite a few pairs next year from these chicks. I'm also getting 5 more show types shipped to me from another state with the same bloodlines of spangles and violets. Which will be paired for breeding once these three pairs are done and are in condition to breed. I just need to get one hen to pair with the brownwing (brother to Dawn) I'm going to be test breeding. Then I'll have 3 pairs breeding in the spring here. So I'll have 6 pairs total which will be the basis of my future show birds. I am already looking forward to next year when I can start pairing up the chicks and have a breeding season like yours! (Laughing out loud)

LOL I envy you Kaz, I would love to have more breeding pairs.. but we all have to start somewhere I guess. I'm hoping I can get quite a few pairs next year from these chicks. I'm also getting 5 more show types shipped to me from another state with the same bloodlines of spangles and violets. Which will be paired for breeding once these three pairs are done and are in condition to breed. I just need to get one hen to pair with the brownwing (brother to Dawn) I'm going to be test breeding. Then I'll have 3 pairs breeding in the spring here. So I'll have 6 pairs total which will be the basis of my future show birds. I am already looking forward to next year when I can start pairing up the chicks and have a breeding season like yours! LOL

You will begin to notice a big difference in the type and size of chicks from show type parents, if not already. It is quite exciting.

(Laughing out loud) yeah my 3 week old chick is already quite a bit larger than the adult pet variety I have!! 46 grams !! Blew me away with how large they are! The parents are both around 55-60g each and that's after they lost the extra overweight pudge they had from the breeder. My pet budgies are only 30-40g each.

 

My hubby's idea of funny when he first saw my show budgies:

 

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by Ravengypsy

 

:hap: