I bought seven show type birds at the local bird sale last year, from a guy from Grafton. The two best cocks have been total failures, never produced a fertile egg yet.

 

Then there was a lesser looking bird that I bought at the end of the sale when the guy came to me & said he only had three birds left would I like them for $5 each, they weren’t that much, but thought for that price I can’t loose & bought them. Thinking they might have some genetic potential, as being bred from show stock. Well one of them a Grey Normal that has a pretty nice type head was mated with one of my pet types mainly to see if he could prove himself & he was fully fertile two batches of about 6 chicks. Then when the second batch was about half reared I found the hen chasing him around the cabinet & it looked bad, so I removed him to another cabinet & gave him half the chicks, they both raised their halves well.

 

Then I had the best hen from this group that had first been mated with one of the cocks I bought with her, which has proven its self-infertile. So I mated her with one of my cocks that had proven him self fertile, they produced four nice chicks, so then I put another better type cock with her that I had bought from the pet shop, all the eggs were infertile. I hate it when you get a cock that’s infertile, as it’s hard to get good hens & then to have them waste batches with infertile eggs is not good. Some will destroy the eggs themselves & then go straight down again, but I have had some go into a sort of depression & not lay again for sometime. I found it’s better to give them at least one chick from someone else for them to raise, then they will go down again. After this second failure with this hen I removed the cock & put the Grey Normal with her, but she went into a sort of depression & took little notice of the cock, but seeing my cabinets are quite large I just left them together for a month or more.

 

Then about a week ago she started to darken up on the cere & began being pally with the cock, then she started going into the nest again. So I was hopeful, as a fellow breeder was visiting me the other week & commented on what a good pair they were & that they complimented each other. Then the day before yesterday, when I went to feed them, I found the hen was in the nest box & there was the cock with blood all over his head near the cere & his right eye. He wasn’t happy but looked like he would be okay, so I took the risk & left him with her, as on inspecting the nest I found her on one egg. Then yesterday I found her chasing him all over the place & him panting like mad, so I removed him to save him.

 

So the questions are, I wonder if the hens can see something wrong with him? This is the only case I have had of a hen savaging a cock & it’s the same cock in both cases.

 

Will the hen produce a complete batch & sit on them? Will the eggs be fertile? If they hatch I can foster the chicks. Has anyone had experience where a cock was removed at such an early stage & the hen produced a successful clutch? I thought I might put the cock back while I’m feeding a couple of times & watch how things go, then remove him again. I know these are difficult questions, but I’m interested in what anyone thinks thanks.

OH Norm, I am so sorry to hear the rough patches you are going thru ....

 

I haven't had this experience so really can't give any advice However in saying that.

I would have reservations in putting the cock in and out as this may actually interupt your hen ...

 

I would let her be, and have fingers crossed that they are infact fertile. Which is a pain as I know how heart breaking

it is to see infertile eggs seems such a waste of a good hen ...All the best mate, I hope she pulls thru for you

Thanks Neat

One of my best breeding cock birds died while the hen was on 5 eggs. There was unfortunately only 1 fertile egg so he must have been at the end of his fertility. She hatched and raised the chick all by herself and the chick is a handsome fellow who just fathered 2 chicks.

 

I have had a case where a hen has killed a cock bird placed with her. There had only been 1 cock bird she was happy with and when I took him out and replaced him with another cock, well she was fine with him until she went into condition - then she completely tore his scalp off. I placed "her" cock bird back and she was perfectly content after that.

I have not had a case where 2 different females have rejected the same male. I'd say neither fancied him - maybe he wasn't really interested in "hens" and they were offended?

I think here you must be careful placing cocks with hens that have paired up previously as these hens become protective of their area and if a new cock is placed it this area she will attack him and he really has no place to get away from her.

I have more success when changing partners by changing the birds to different cabinets aswell.

Norm do you pluck your birds , sometimes this will help with fertility.

Also I dont wait for the clutch to be laid and then check fertiliy and start them again. What I do is when the third egg is laid the first egg should be Showing signs of fertility , if it isnt then I remove it , then when the fourth egg is laid the second egg should be showing fertility , if not remove it .The hen will keep laying as she is trying to lay a full clutch to sit on , I once did this method with one hen that laid the 10th egg when finally the seventh egg showed fertile signs .

This is pretty interesting to me, because up until now, I have been colony breeding, but intend to change to cabinet breeding in the near future. Most of my pairs have picked their own partners and stayed with them pretty much whenever they have been in the breeding aviary. So, I guess what could possibly happen, is I could take a hen who has previously chosen her own partner and put her in a cabinet with a cock of my choosing and she could be territorial about who she breeds with and I might loose a cock........

This is pretty interesting to me, because up until now, I have been colony breeding, but intend to change to cabinet breeding in the near future. Most of my pairs have picked their own partners and stayed with them pretty much whenever they have been in the breeding aviary. So, I guess what could possibly happen, is I could take a hen who has previously chosen her own partner and put her in a cabinet with a cock of my choosing and she could be territorial about who she breeds with and I might loose a cock........

What you need to do is break the bond, by either spliting the cocks and hens into different avaries , or put the hen in the breeding cabinet first for a day or two then introduce the cock . The hen fighting the cock I believe is mainly due to her already having a nest prior to the new cock .

Thanks for that lonebudgie. Noted

Yes mine was the same Karen, they had been together maybe two months, weren’t that friendly, but the attack started the day she laid her first egg. The week before that they had been getting on well together. She had been with two cocks previously & no aggression shown at all. He had been very attentive with his first mate & was a real good feeder until she turned on him.

 

Lonebudgie: I have only trimmed one bird so far a TCB I bought for $50 he has so much feather in the vent area & I wanted to be sure to get one or two young from him, but he has been with two hens so far & not a sign of breeding, Sadly I think he’s passed it, he is only 4 but doesn’t look hopeful. I don’t intend to trim too many birds, only some special ones I buy to at least get some young to work with, but I don’t want to have birds that I regularly do this with, as I think it’s crazy…if it means I wont breed show winners so be it. I think this hen had been long enough separated from her previous partner for the bond to be broken.

 

Sunnie: Yes that is one of the few advantages with colony breeding they choose their own mate & also have plenty of room to escape if the hen gets aggressive, but I think it’s pretty rare, previous to this I have had very little problems with hens.

 

Yesterday when feeding my birds I place the cock back in the cabinet, the hen came straight out of the nest, dropped to the cabinet floor & arched in the mating position…she was keen, but I think he was too scared… he showed interest in her, but mounting didn’t occur while I was present, I left them together for short period, he was still okay on my return, he was so happy to be back home, so I made a division from an old refrigerator shelf & have divided the cabinet in two, he can feed her through the bars, she has laid her second egg & is sitting, whether they are going to be fertile or not remains to be seen.

I pulled the division while I was feeding them again yesterday & straight away the hen came out of the nest & was desperate to mate. Which makes me not confident that her eggs will be fertile. But the cock seemed very scared of her, but after awhile he became more confident & started chatting to her & then when you would think he would mate, he attacked her & it was all off…Strange happenings.

not sounding like your having much luck Norm. Hope things start looking up for you.

Thanks Jimmy...

 

 

I’m living dangerously… after putting the cock back with the hen for a few days while I was there, I have now left him with her for a few days, she has 5 or 6 eggs now & things seem to have settled down. She’s incubating most of the time & now to see if any eggs are fertile.

Good luck Norm. Maybe she was taking her role of pretecting the nestbox just a bit too far.

Good luck Norm. Maybe she was taking her role of pretecting the nestbox just a bit too far.

 

THANKS kAZ, I HOPE YOUR RIGHT THEY HAD BEEN TOGETHER FOR QUITE AWHILE, just as soon as she laid the first egg things happened, would like to get some chicks from this two...hoping for not another infertile batch.

The cock is still okay, there has been no more fighting, now things have calmed down, but sadly all the eggs are infertile, but I have given them a couple of fertile eggs. Now I don’t know if it’s worth leaving him with her, as they had been together for quite awhile, but none of the eggs were fertile, I would like to get some young from these two, which have both proven they can do it with other birds. I wonder if they raise a batch together whether that will make them bond better.