Probably a silly question but i am wondering do the parents notice when you take chicks away from them or they seem to forget how many they have?

They dont seem to notice.

I love reading these threads with such high fertility and hachablility!!

You have some amazing hens!!!

I love reading these threads with such high fertility and hachablility!!

You have some amazing hens!!!

I have some real DUD hens too

WOW is that okay for the hen. She has a HUGE family!

 

Congrats

WOW is that okay for the hen. She has a HUGE family!

 

Congrats

Yes....but I have fostered some of her chicks into other nestboxes with foster parents. She wont be raaising all of them

Great news, at what age do they feather up enough for you to tell if you got recessive pieds.

I can already tell that the eldest two are recessive....you can see the different coloured splotches on the wings and back even before pin feathers come in. I will take some pictures tomorrow to show.

 

 

okay so where are pics? i would love to see the early signs that show you have a pied in the nestbox.

Great news, at what age do they feather up enough for you to tell if you got recessive pieds.

I can already tell that the eldest two are recessive....you can see the different coloured splotches on the wings and back even before pin feathers come in. I will take some pictures tomorrow to show.

 

 

okay so where are pics? i would love to see the early signs that show you have a pied in the nestbox.

Sorry Deb...have to go visit my father in law in hospital.

Great news, at what age do they feather up enough for you to tell if you got recessive pieds.

I can already tell that the eldest two are recessive....you can see the different coloured splotches on the wings and back even before pin feathers come in. I will take some pictures tomorrow to show.

 

 

okay so where are pics? i would love to see the early signs that show you have a pied in the nestbox.

Sorry Deb...have to go visit my father in law in hospital.

 

 

 

I will patiently wait for pics then Hope your father in law is okay and it is nothing serious.

Please excuse my ignorance, but in relation to fostering, did the other nests already have chicks in the nests, eggs, or were the foster hens just preparing the nest. Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

Chris

Please excuse my ignorance, but in relation to fostering, did the other nests already have chicks in the nests, eggs, or were the foster hens just preparing the nest. Sorry if this is a dumb question. Chris

There is no such thing as a dumb question Chris. The thing is with fostering...it works best if the fosterparents already have chicks and that their chicks are around the same ages. You can foster a newly hatched chick to a hen with eggs when her eggs are nearly ready to hatch also as she will think the newly hatched chick is hers. You cannot foster eggs or chicks to a hen with no eggs or chicks.

I will patiently wait for pics then Hope your father in law is okay and it is nothing serious.

Thanks Deb...I will get photos done tomorrow. I have two father in laws in hospital right now and each in a hospital a long way apart...so we have to alternate visits. One ( an ex father in law ) went in for a hip replacment and had a heart attack while in there so he will be in for longer than first thought. The other father in law I took to hospital a couple of days ago as he could not breathe and had chest pains so he is in for awhile too. Both of them at different ends of the out limits of the city. Keeping us busy

Edited November 20, 200816 yr by KAZ

looking foward to pictures and I hope your father in law is okay Kaz.

okay so where are pics? i would love to see the early signs that show you have a pied in the nestbox.

Here is the chicks from this nestbox transferred to another nestbox for fostering

 

This one shows a lot of pied markings coming in

showing the patchiness over the wings with pin feathers coming in

 

This one is showing pied...but it will be a very lightly marked recessive pied. See the dark spots coming in on the wings and a tail feather or two is dark also

 

This one has more recessive pied markings

 

 

as the others start to get their pins I will try and show them as recessives at a younger age.

Here is a group in that nestbox...6 in there and 1 egg to go. # are fostered in one nest and the youngest is fostered in another nest.

All eleven eggs hatched.....fostered into two other nests as well as theirs. One chick died so we have ten chicks.

Now, from what I understand, a recessive pied is meant to have under 25% of its body colour dark. Is that right? So technically, the one with the fewest markings is better in terms of show markings, though maybe not size, etc.?

Now, from what I understand, a recessive pied is meant to have under 25% of its body colour dark. Is that right? So technically, the one with the fewest markings is better in terms of show markings, though maybe not size, etc.?

Judges like to see about 30% markings.

This one looks good

 

This one is too lightly marked for show

 

Size is something to aim for in recessives. I have some nice recessive pieds in terms of size and type.

All eleven eggs hatched.....fostered into two other nests as well as theirs. One chick died so we have ten chicks.

 

that is incredible that they all hatched and one loss is a wonderful ratio (though it always sucks when you loss one ).

All eleven eggs hatched.....fostered into two other nests as well as theirs. One chick died so we have ten chicks.

 

that is incredible that they all hatched and one loss is a wonderful ratio (though it always sucks when you loss one ).

Great fertility for a hen bought from a top breeders cull cage

 

PS the ones we lose we always miss.

Here are some of the chicks from the hen with 11 eggs...

These are in the parents nestbox

These are some ( three ) in another nestbox

and here are some in this nestbox amongst others

looking cute.

Very cute babies, so are the black markings on the wings a early indication of a pied?

They are looking awesome!!

Very cute babies, so are the black markings on the wings a early indication of a pied?

Yes :hug: When the markings are patchy

Lovely Kaz

Theres something exciting you dont get with 'normals' when you see a pieds 'baldy patches' feather up. Its a good feeling

Interesting thing about this pairing, I have both yellow/green pieds and white/blue pieds now out of this nestbox.

On a sad note, the mother was dead when I came home the other day from the budgie auction. No sign of illness at all, no pooey bottom, and bright and energetic when last attended to, ...........she looked like she fell down dead from the perch. Her chicks are in 3-4 foster nests.

Edited December 3, 200816 yr by KAZ