Hi All,

I have a breeding pair who HAD 4 eggs. Unluckily the nest box lid dropped onto eggs while checking nest. 2 eggs were broken, one looks clear, leaving 1 fertile egg.

 

My query is if I remove that egg to an adjoining nest with eggs laid at the same time.

Will the hen lay another round?

Go nuts and continue to sit on nothing? OR

Leave her to hatch last egg?

Or should I put them back into aviary, as it seems a waste to have her rear only one chick, if she would, maybe, lay another round. She is a show stock hen and first time I've bred her.

 

Any help gratfully received.

Foster the egg to the other nest and let her start again. She will

Thank's Kaz. I was thinking along those lines as she and partner are still bonded etc. she's a nice skyblue opaline spangle. He is a rec pied/cobalt or maybe violet. I didn't have a "normal" to try her with so don't know what I will get but only pet's so it's a lottery I quess.

Update on egg.

Fostered egg hatched to-day, I'd marked egg before fostering it and it and one of foster Mum's eggs both hatched so I have 2 new pinky's, now 3 chicks and 2 eggs in nest.

Will you be able to tell which is the fostered chick ?

Hi Kaz,

Probably, when they feather up. Mum is w'f sky opaline spangle, Dad is Dom. pied violet opaline (I think).

Foster Mum is Y'F rec cobalt pied. Dad is cinnamon Olive. So any spangle or opaline should be fostered chick. As mine aren't show birds it doesn't really matter only for future breeding of chick. Mum and foster Dad are from show stock so size could go either way, if I can't tell from colour.

Hi Kaz,

Probably, when they feather up. Mum is w'f sky opaline spangle, Dad is Dom. pied violet opaline (I think).

Foster Mum is Y'F rec cobalt pied. Dad is cinnamon Olive. So any spangle or opaline should be fostered chick. As mine aren't show birds it doesn't really matter only for future breeding of chick. Mum and foster Dad are from show stock so size could go either way, if I can't tell from colour.

 

Dads can be split for opaline. Foster dad could be split for opaline and blue

 

Either way......many a time we have to try and work out which ones are the foster chicks

Edited September 8, 201014 yr by KAZ

Hi Kaz, I'm fairly certain, in this case he's not split. He's the long feathered fellow I tossed up whether to breed him or not. Both his parents were cinnamon, one olive, one lt green. I'm waiting to see how his own chick's turn out. The hen is only a little pet type so I'm hoping long feather gene will be lessened.

so if a male is showing opaline, he is a double factor opaline. Just a question to reinforce my hunches lol

Hi tomlou,

I'm not up with genetics either but I think a Cock can be split opaline but a hen can't be- she either is visual opaline or she's not, she can't be split opaline as it's a sex linked gene. BUT don't quote me, Kaz and others could tell you more than I.

Don't know about the d/f bit. either sorry.

yeah, I am learning as I go, Just recently found out that spangle is dominant, but only a double factor one will produce all spangles lol. Learned heaps about Genetics, and got heaps to go. Got lots of help from this forum and I refer alot to Ken Yorke's Budgie Variety Bible.

so if a male is showing opaline, he is a double factor opaline. Just a question to reinforce my hunches lol

 

 

Yes, tomlou, this is true, he must have two factors for it to show.