Finally my breeding pairings have been completed for 2016 all the cages are filled and the birds selected seem to be fit and well, records are up to date. This will be the first time since coming back into the hobby l will be using my own bred hens.
Having a small setup is really frustrating at times and this is one of them times, l only have a maximum of nine breeding cages when l could have done with twice that amount. As with everything it is a work in progress and its about improving the stud not just producing petshop size birds.
one pair of Lutino’s was used last years that but l only managed to breed three birds from this pair not enough offspring but what was produce was quality in my eyes so we allow them to have another go. So far from the first two breeding pairs we had four fertile eggs but only three hatched. Some needed help as the chicks seemed to struggled to break out the shell but l did not act fast enough so we ended with a DIS ( dead in shell ), the chick was perfectly formed but it seems the shell was to thick for it to breakout but l did help the next two chicks by just cracking the shell a little once it was time to hatch and l could hear the chick inside the egg.
A note has been made on the record card and l cannot stress how important it is to know your birds,
Signs are promising as other pairs are now laying eggs and we should soon be able to tell whether we have fertile eggs or not in a day or too other cage the hens are already exploring the nestboxes after only one day. To say l have been holding the birds back is under statement.
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