I had a hen like that, her crop was like a fully inflated balloon and she did make a croaky noice, sounded much different than he other birds, she was given tome , a real nice hen too.

More fertility showing up. Only one nest that I'm now suspicious might be infertile - shaping up to be a good season so far. Fingers crossed that it all goes along smoothly!

Cant wait to see all your fluffy spiky babies

First hatchees arrived today.

 

From this pair - actually it was interesting that this egg actually hatched. When it was laid I noticed that there were a couple of porous patches on the egg so I painted them with nail polish and hoped for the best. Ordinarily this sort of porous-ness would have caused the egg to addle but with the nail polish obviously it sealed those areas enough to allow the egg to develop unhindered. Yay!

 

 

 

And this pair. This hen laid 8 eggs all fertile. The first has hatched okay but it looks like the second is DIS.

 

 

And after the death of the violet fallow hen I replaced her with the Pisano fallow that I recently acquired and they have 2 eggs so far with the first showing fertility! This is soooo great as last year this cock didn't fill any eggs. So the year of maturity certainly helped his cause!

how can you tell that is a DIS jsut from looking at it?

Goes a much darker colour than healthy eggs. Almost has a black undertone to it.

That is what I thought. i have one egg like that in a nestbox at the moment, but I did not want to remove it, just in case

That is what I thought. i have one egg like that in a nestbox at the moment, but I did not want to remove it, just in case

 

Yep I'm with you there! I'll leave this one until it's certain it's not going to hatch, well past it's due date.

I had one like that and quite sure DIS but left it and it hatched I was quite pleased too.

Nubbly what type of pen do you mark your eggs with?

Sanford Sharpie - extra fine point permanent marker. Gave up on the "safe" water soluble marker as the numbers smudged too badly to read. Been using this marker most of last year with no apparent issues.

If I ever mark any eggs, I am planning to use a Sharpie, too. The packaging claims to be non-toxic.

And after the death of the violet fallow hen I replaced her with the Pisano fallow that I recently acquired and they have 2 eggs so far with the first showing fertility! This is soooo great as last year this cock didn't fill any eggs. So the year of maturity certainly helped his cause!

Gorgeous looking pair. Cant wait to see the babies. She's a lovely stylish hen

Yay! First red eye baby lacewing from my 3rd place boy and his girlfriend!

 

Also a cinnamon (hopefully cock so it's a split) from pair number 2.

 

One pair of BES got off their nest with one baby just pipping so I chipped into the pip to see if the baby is still alive - it was so I've transferred it and one other good egg to to pair of dark green spangle cock and dark green hen who now have 2 babies of their own and the dark green mum being an experienced and effective mother. BES babies will stand out in this nest!

 

Very exciting is a hatchee from my 10th place nats green x jean horrobin cobalt opaline spangle 1/2 sister to opaline nats winner.

 

Others here and there too....... yay! I love baby time.

Gorgeous birds! I think we all love baby time! I can't wait to see the babies from the last pair

Bloody cock birds that insist on going into the nest - THIS is why I don't like it........

 

3rd place lacewing cock I just noticed has been going into the nest a bit and had what looked like a bit of blood on is mask. When I checked the new baby it had been chewed on one foot and now looks very anemic as I closed the nest to decide what to do the cock went back in a towed the baby out of the nest by it's foot!!!! B*astard! He got grabbed and shoved unceremoniously into a show cage whilst I took the baby and all the rest of the fertile eggs (6 of them) and placed them under an experienced hen with a young cock that has a clear nest. I'll let the **** start again and then farm those eggs out somewhere else too....... gee they can be frustrating!

if my d/f y/f hen and violet dark green cock don`t lift their game i might have to try twisting

your arm ( with $$$$$$) of course.

Bloody cock birds that insist on going into the nest - THIS is why I don't like it........

 

3rd place lacewing cock I just noticed has been going into the nest a bit and had what looked like a bit of blood on is mask. When I checked the new baby it had been chewed on one foot and now looks very anemic as I closed the nest to decide what to do the cock went back in a towed the baby out of the nest by it's foot!!!! B*astard! He got grabbed and shoved unceremoniously into a show cage whilst I took the baby and all the rest of the fertile eggs (6 of them) and placed them under an experienced hen with a young cock that has a clear nest. I'll let the **** start again and then farm those eggs out somewhere else too....... gee they can be frustrating!

 

 

If he wasnt so good you would have felt like wringing his neck. Hope the chick isnt too damaged. Fingers crossed for the rest of the clutch

Cra*..... Sorry Nubbly It must be frustrating when you have fantastic birds, and they all seem to act up in the nest. But you do need two to tango, so the cock birds are needed.

Will the chick survive? If he does I assume he will have a foot deformity?

So annoying when that happens, hope chick is okay and the rest of the clutch hatch and all is okay.

Thanks for the pen idea because I have been using one that is a pain so will go shopping for a sharpie

bar..st .ard id flicked him in the head and told him he was a fathers ar#$%#@ole

i hope you get 6 more chicksfrom them

and yeah if he cant be a father well he will just have to be a dad like it or not

They do the most unpredictable things dont they, makes you wonder sometimes. I hope the chick is okay and the rest of the babies hatch for you.

The second one hatched in the other nest but the attacked chick looks very pale. Fingers crossed he didn't lose too much blood.

hope the little one comes through and not too damaged. I had a cock like that once....he removed two chicks from the nest and stuffed them through the bars of the cage and wedged in the drinker like he was giving them back to me.

I hope this isn't a trait of most cock birds who like to go into the nestbox - because one of mine is in there all the time!

I hope this isn't a trait of most cock birds who like to go into the nestbox - because one of mine is in there all the time!

No..........this is rare. I have a lot of cocks who sit beside their incubating hens. One cock who used to incubate the eggs while the hen was out stretching her legs, and others that feed the newborns from day one.