I have two clutches... one hen has sucessfully hatched out 4 of her 5 eggs (the 5th egg was no good), the other hen has sucessfully hatched out 4 eggs out of her 8 eggs. I think 8 babies are going to be too much for her and was wondering what you suggest with fostering? Do you suggest moving one of her eggs to the other hen or one of her bubs... or not doing anything at all? I'm worried because this hen had 5 eggs last clutch and only 3 hatched and of those 3 only one chick survived. I think 1 chick vs. 8 chicks is going to be too much for her... or am I just being overly worried.... HELP?

Best bet is as the next egg hatches foster one about the same age as the other hens chicks over (the oldest is best if they have pretty much hatched at the same time.) Keep doing this until you feel they are at the right number of chicks each. You may find the second hen has less trouble this time around anyway as she will be more eperienced

Thanks MB... :yes: Transfer the eldest from her clutch to the other hen, IF need be. Gotcha.

 

FYI.. they hatched all at the same time... it's just that the one hen only had 5 eggs and the other had 8 so the first hen is all done and the other hen has more to go... :yes:

 

Thank you again.

I would do the same as MB has suggested :yes:

I would also do the same but beware because i have a budgie that had 8 eggs she hatched seven of them and the youngest was squashed by the others so maybe only six under each hen would be good..That is still a lot for them to cope with goo luck with it though.

Can I ask is there a way in the future to get a hen to "stop laying"? What made her lay 5 the first time and 8 this time? Do they have an instinct that she only got one baby out of the deal last time so she made sure she'd have more by laying more? I know this sounds really stupid, but I myself was surprised when she just kept going after the 5th one, because actually she dropped two eggs from the perch before I gave in and put in the nest box... so she really laid 10 eggs this time.

I would also do the same but beware because i have a budgie that had 8 eggs she hatched seven of them and the youngest was squashed by the others so maybe only six under each hen would be good..That is still a lot for them to cope with goo luck with it though.

I have an odd number of eggs... 13... so if all eggs hatch one of the hens will have 7 and the other will have 6... I hope they can keep up. The dads are both really good with feeding and sitting in the nest box with the mums so hopefully they will have it covered. Fingers crossed.

Edited December 8, 200816 yr by Neat

Can I ask is there a way in the furture to get a hen to "stop laying"? What made her lay 5 the first time and 8 this time? Do they have an instinct that she only got one baby out of the deal last time so she made sure she'd have more by laying more?

 

A hen will lay what she considers her Ideal sized clutch. The only way to stop her is take away the nestbox and she will then lay an egg or two off the perch and then stop. But it doesnt help if you then want her to continue with the eggs she already has.

Best solution is breeding multiple pairs at once so you can foster eggs and chicks with no real issues.

Best solution is breeding multiple pairs at once so you can foster eggs and chicks with no real issues.

 

I had three pair down. This hen laid 8, the other hen laid 5 and the third hen laid 1 egg and never laid another and never sat on the egg either. I didn't want to start anymore sets at the time because I didn't want an "overstock" of babies coming in and not enough room to house them all. So I lucked out having at least two pair down that can help each other out, but being there's a total of 13 eggs between them... they are both "overwhelmed" I guess even with help. I thought three paid down would be enough and never expected the other hen to just say "I quit"?

Edited December 8, 200816 yr by Neat

All fertile ?

All fertile ?

 

Oh, that's right KAZ... I forgot, thank you... my hen with 5 eggs had one bad egg I just discarded this afternoon so that will work out even 6 chick in each nest. She had 4 bubs and the other has 4 bubs hatched with 3 eggs to go and they are all fertile.

 

So can I ask... would it be good to take the three oldest chick from the hen with 8 eggs and give them to the other hen and take her one youngest chick and give it to the other hen so that the one hen has the the 6 oldest bubs and the other hen has the 6 youngest chicks? Would that be best to avoid the newest hatchling from being crushed? Can I do that, "trade babies" instead of fostering?

Edited December 8, 200816 yr by Neat

All fertile ?

 

Oh, that's right KAZ... I forgot, thank you... my hen with 5 eggs had one bad egg I just discarded this afternoon so that will work out even 6 chick in each nest. She had 4 bubs and the other has 4 bubs hatched with 3 eggs to go and they are all fertile.

 

So can I ask... would it be good to take the three oldest chick from the hen with 8 eggs and give them to the other hen and take her one youngest chick and give it to the other hen so that the one hen has the the 6 oldest bubs and the other hen has the 6 youngest chicks? Would that be best to avoid the newest hatchling from being crushed? Can I do that, "trade babies" instead of fostering?

Yes...sounds like a good plan

All fertile ?

 

Oh, that's right KAZ... I forgot, thank you... my hen with 5 eggs had one bad egg I just discarded this afternoon so that will work out even 6 chick in each nest. She had 4 bubs and the other has 4 bubs hatched with 3 eggs to go and they are all fertile.

 

So can I ask... would it be good to take the three oldest chick from the hen with 8 eggs and give them to the other hen and take her one youngest chick and give it to the other hen so that the one hen has the the 6 oldest bubs and the other hen has the 6 youngest chicks? Would that be best to avoid the newest hatchling from being crushed? Can I do that, "trade babies" instead of fostering?

Yes...sounds like a good plan

 

 

Great KAZ, thanks. Just one more question... should I do this in steps or should I just do it all at once? Like right now, should I take the youngest from the one and trade the olderst from the other and continue to take another chick each time a new one hatches or should I just do all at once... take the three oldest now and trade out the one youngest and just let the last three eggs hatch? So the one hen would have 6 babies and the other would have 3 babies and 3 eggs??? What's better to do?

Just go for it...the hens dont notice

Just go for it...the hens dont notice

 

 

So I can do it now as I cover over for night fall? I don't have to do it in the morning? (it's almost 9 pm here)

Just go for it...the hens dont notice :hap:

 

 

So I can do it now as I cover over for night fall? I don't have to do it in the morning? (it's almost 9 pm here)

Best not to disturb nests after dusk...birds settle into nestboxes ready for the night...do it in the morning

okay so in the morning. Will it be okay for the one hen to have all 6 or her chicks and the other hen have 2 chicks and wait on other 4 eggs to hatch? The next chick is due to hatch overnight tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. Most of the chicks in her nest have been there first thing in the mornings when I come down to check on them.

Well I did it... I "traded" babies. And sure enough over night another chick hatched. So what I did was give the one hen the 5 largest chicks and the other hen has the 4 smallest right now (and still 3 eggs to go). When the last chick hatches from the 3 eggs left I will take the largest chick from her clutch and give it to the other hen. So thank you KAZ for all the help on this one.

 

I have a question about Ino/Lut - I have two of them between the two clutches. One was born on the 3d and the other was born on the 5th, but I have other babies that were born on the 3rd and the 4th and the Ino baby born on the 3rd is so much smaller than the others... are ino smaller than other mutations? I read that 2 ino bred together will produce small inos but are inos born to a split parent smaller too???

I haven't noticed that inos are smaller, in fact I had a nest of really big-feeted, large lutino chicks ... I think it all depends on the parents. Big parents=big chicks (most of the time).

I haven't noticed that inos are smaller, in fact I had a nest of really big-feeted, large lutino chicks ... I think it all depends on the parents. Big parents=big chicks (most of the time).

 

 

I don't know if it matters Renee but my keets are pet style keets so they are a bit small to begin with. I just noticed that the one albino chick is smaller than a chick born on the same day that is not albino or lutino so I thought maybe inos and luts are a bit smaller.

IT is possible that the ino was born a day early or the other one a day late and thatmight account for the size difference, it just depends how long t takes themto get out of the egg, etc and we all know how much they can grow even in just a day!

Small chicks come out of small eggs. In the nestboxes where the eggs are large so are the chicks and vice versa for smaller eggs.

They say ino to ino produces smaller ino chicks, but having seen the best albinos in Australia and them being bred ino to ino by a top show breeder I now do not think that way. The show breeder says its a load of rubbish too and he should know

I just wanted to say thank you for all your help on this topic. I am happy to report that all 10 chicks that have hatched out so far are alive and doing WONDERFUL :laughter: ... I am hoping to take some pics tomorrow and post them in the mutation or what am I sections... they are looking good though, even the lut and ino are thriving and getting bigger (still naked, but bigger). I still have two more eggs to go... and God willing they will hatch and be as healthy as the others... and that will be 12 babies out of 13 eggs... I couldn't ask for anything more. I am in my glory right now and if I didn't get the advice I got on this post, I may have lost a few. So thank you. Pics tomorrow after Christmas shopping.

What great news! I am just thrilled for you and will await photos :laughter:

Great news Chrissy!

As promised here are pics of the bubs... alive and doing well... and one more addition this morning... so now there is 11 and 1 more egg to go. :thanks:

 

The 5 smallest of the two clutches (mixed)

 

The 6 largest bubs of the two clutches (mixed)

 

I will have another post in mutations to see if anyone can tell what some of them are yet.

 

Happy Happy Joy Joy... I am THRILLED