Tips:
Sunday
1. When feeding broccoli, peel back the tough outer skin or quarter the stem or use the food processor to avoid waste. The tough skin strips are fed to competitive flight cages who nibble on the edges and play with it.
2. When making cornbread for the birds, use the whole egg including the shell! The food processor will grind it up when you process the cornbread.
3. George Traveria shared that he likes to put the hen in the breeding cage and introduce the male when she builds the nest. In his system, she usually is cooperative and lays in three days.
Questions:
Monday
1. Robert writes: I breed Fifes. I use a Treble Breeder, say Hen A on the left , Cock Centre, Hen B on the Right.(Assuming that both Hens are fit at the same time).I pull the slide 1/2" for 2hours in the morning for Hen A, then Hen B likewise in the afternoon.as the Hens are nearing completion of building the nest, I put the Cock in with one of the Hens late afternoon. Leave him all night,andtake him out at 7.30 in the morning. Shut the slide completely.Pull the slide on Hen B 1/2" in the afternoon. Then about 2hours before dusk let him in with Hen B ...Repeat this process until Hens lay. Sometimes both hens lay on the same day.Now, what I would like to know is. After the hen lays her first egg, if it is fertile, will the rest of her eggs (say 3 or 4) have been fertilized,or do i still need have to put the Cock back in to the Hens again for him to fertilize the rest of the eggs ?
Sunday
1. Linda - do you have a recipe for egg food that you would recommend? Also if you purchase yours what brand do you use. Janet
Click on comments for my current nestling food recipe.
Janet, their must be a zillion nestling food recipes out there. Each breeder develops one based on the birds feeding it well and the chicks are healthy and growing so that they are banding size by five or six days.
ReplyDeleteI have used a number of products over the years and liked several of them such as CeDe. My old standby, ABBA green, is hard to beat for a less expensive base and it seems I use an awful lot wants chicks are hatched.
This morning when I make egg food, I will start with about four eggs and four cups ABBA green, two cups of cous cous with 1/4 cup poppy seed with some olive oil and covered with boiling water and cooled to room temperature, one cup of Petamine breeding formula, one tablespoon soy protein powder, one cup brewer's yeast, one tablespoon vitamins (I still have some miracle vitamins but when I run out I will use breedmax or superpreen.), One baked recipe Jiffy corn bread, one cup of the processed cooked whole wheat/carrot mixture.
Is this a lot of work? You Betcha! When I get done it will likely fill that largest yellow tupperware plastic bowl. I will package it in ziploc bags and keep in the refrigerator what I will use today and tomorrow. The rest I freeze and them move to the frig the evening before for the next day.
Once chicks hatch, I watch the skin color and growth rates and make adjustments. I have a number of pictures and blogs on that subject in last years blogs.
Clarification: when I say start with about four eggs, I meant hard boiled eggs!!!
ReplyDeleteClarification: In the cornbread, I add the whole egg with shell. Also when using the hard boiled eggs, I do the same use the whole egg with shell. The food processor is used to process the various items after they are cooked etc.
ReplyDeleteRobert
ReplyDeleteIf the first three eggs are fertile, the cock is not needed to fertilize the rest. The ideal time for mating is five days before laying and if a good mating takes place then, it will fertilize them all. The problem is when the first good mating takes place close or during laying...then poor fertility results as it is hard for sperm to fertilize eggs when an egg is coming down the tract...
Have you tried an easier technique of leaving the divider pulled so he has access to both till they lay their 3 or fourth egg? This will greatly improve your yield. Often I get all fertile eggs and with both hens this way... I have written quite a bit about trio pairing on my blog both last year and this past week.