# 6 eggs so far



## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

*7 eggs now*

i have been breeding this pair for 3 years now and they have always laid 4 eggs, but this time we are up to 6 eggs so far and wont know until monday if they are done laying, 3 are definetly fertile 2 wont know until tuesday if they are fertile and now i have to count five more days until i can check this egg, for a pair that is used to raising 4 chicks will they have much trouble if all eggs turn out to be fertile? ive never had a problem with dehydration in there chicks but now im concerned that they are just adding to their stress, i know that the first three eggs should hatch really close together as they started brooding the day before egg number 4 showed up, any helpful advice for big clutches.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Keep an eye on the youngest babies to make sure they are getting enough fluids and that they are being fed as the older chicks will tower over them.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

ok, who knows maybe there luck wont hold out and they will only have 4 fertile eggs, but then again ive never gotten a non fertile egg from this pair.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*a pair that is used to raising 4 chicks will they have much trouble if all eggs turn out to be fertile?*
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Do you have any other pairs setup? What I do is setup my best parenting pair first, and a week later I setup any other pairs. Or if I am setting up several pairs I will space the setup dates over several days. 

This way if you have a pair with infertile eggs you can foster eggs from the other pairs. if you have a pair that is used to feeding only a certain amount of babies you can foster the excess eggs under another pair. 

I once had one paired that was awesome feeders. They would have 4-5 chicks in the nest. What I would do is what I called" The Beby Shuffle What this was is rotating chick betwen nests so that the babies were the same size. If I had a pair that were poor feeders I would pull the largest chicks from the best feeding pair and replacve it with a smaller baby. sometimes my best pair would have feed 12-15 babies during the time they were set up.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

> What I do is setup my best parenting pair first, and a week later I setup any other pairs. Or if I am setting up several pairs I will space the setup dates over several days.


srtiels, I was going to try to set mine up like this this year...my only problem is Fuzzy and Snowball and how close they are. Should I let Snowball have babies first then let Fuzzy so they'll help each other out and one hen isn't left alone by herself?


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

the only pair i have up with them is the pair with a singleton chick, but it is 12 days old, i was planning on resting this next period cause she seemed to have problems laying the eggs, not egg binding issues, she just took 3 days to lay eggs after 1st was laid, i was planning on putting my other virgin pair up, im not sure how patches and jewels would feel about adopting, lol, due to this is there first clutch, and the only pair i would have fostered these other babies with lost her mate recently and so i am letting her mourne before i repair her up. By my calculations the first chick will be one week old by the time that the last chick hatches, so mommy and daddy will be checked on and i will give help feeding the older ones so they feed younger ones and then when the 3-4 oldest reach 2 weeks i will pull them, hopefully mom will have an easier time, the first 4 chicks wont even have a day between their age because thats when mom started brooding, do you think this might help, since i dont know if i can trust my other pair to raise more chicks when there only baby will be like 3-4 weeks old.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*Should I let Snowball have babies first then let Fuzzy so they'll help each other out and one hen isn't left alone by herself?*
*------------------------------------------*

Yes....that is a good idea.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*i was planning on resting this next period cause she seemed to have problems laying the eggs, not egg binding issues, she just took 3 days to lay eggs after 1st was laid,*
*---------------------------*

Ok...a few problems I saw with the inside of the nest with the lone chick was not enough bedding. The egg shown was also odd shaped, which could be a problem with utilizing the calcium. I'm not sure why she is taking 3 days to lay.

OK...place several inches of bedding in the box. What type of lighting do you have in the room or above the breeding area? Fill Spectrum Lighting *is essential* and helps to reduce and eliminate the most common reproductive problems such as malformed eggs, egg-binding, prolase, etc.

As to the pair that will feed 4, you can assist feed the youngest ones a couple times a day.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

okay, the pair with the singleton have more nesting material, i added it on friday, and for supplement feedings of the younger chicks what size of syringe should be used i only have 5 and 10 cc syringes and even though the singleton is 12 days old i have started supplement feedings once aday which i will double when it reaches 2 weeks old and then when i pull it at 3 weeks there shouldnt be any problems to it accepting it but even my 5 cc seems big. as to lighting i have a lamp in one corner of the room and a big bay window on the other side, i have never had a problem with a pair breeeding in these lighting circumstances, as to calcium, i put the calcium vitamins in their water daily and they have a cuttle bone, the pair with the singleton went through 2 cuttle bones.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You need to be feeding the baby 10% of its body weight when you pull it for hand feeding so I would use the 10cc one.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

i understand that, but my question was for supplement feedings of chicks younger than there older siblings so that until the older chicks were old enough to be pulled it would help mom and dad keep the younger ones fed and not have them get the left overs in what mom and dad have to offer which can cause dehydration.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Well for supplement feeds, use the 5cc because there will be food in there from the parents...you would only need to give a little bit of fluids so that they aren't dehydrated. I wander if pedialyte would be better to give than just water since it has electrolytes. That would be something to ask srtiels about.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

*Srtiels what do you think*

Thank you i will definately as srtiels that , thank you so much for all your help, oh does anyone know how i can ask srties that since its against the rules to private message them


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

A visitor profile message on her page is ok I think.


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

thank you for your help, there are now seven eggs i swear toby needs a condom


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

nwoodrow said:


> thank you for your help, there are now seven eggs i swear toby needs a condom


:lol::rofl: lol


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## nwoodrow (Feb 13, 2011)

*7 eggs now*

Well i checked the nest box on a regular basis to see when the last egg would be laid the last egg was laid february 28th, making for a grand total of 7 eggs, and i checked this morning and all 7 are fertile. Mom and Dad started incubating on the 21 of february (so first 3 eggs) fourth egg was on the 22, fifth on 24, 6th on the 26th and 7th on 28th, so the hatching should start around the 11th of march and end the18th(18day mark) or 21st(21day mark), which to me means that the oldest 3 or 4 could be well on the way to 10 days before the last egg hatches, ive handfed 10 day old chicks before, does anyone have any other suggestions, im really not comfortable feeding before 10 days unless its an absolute must. please any help will be appretiated.


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