Monday, June 30, 2014

Surely These Stafford Chicks Are The Last Hatches of 2014


The two chicks on the left hatched yesterday and the one on the right hatched today. By now I had quit taking the eggs out and was thinking yesterday, I needed to finishing separating hens and cocks. Boy was I surprised to see two well fed chicks in the nest when I moved the hen off to check her eggs! The last egg looks good so I might have another chick tomorrow.

With unbanded chicks in the nest, I will wait awhile to drop my lights as I do not want to take a chance on the mom not feeding although the feeding hormones should prevent even dropping the lights from putting her into a molt.


July 3, 2014


July 10, 2014

Wow! This crest is looking pretty round for this stage. Wonder if he would like to fly to Dayton Ohio for the National Cage Bird Show?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Linda,

How late do you usually breed and when was the lastest date you ever bred.

Ed

Linda Hogan said...

Generally the weather reaches 100 F in June and that seems to discourage breeding. This year we hit 100 in May but for a short time and then no more 100 days in June.

I let the birds stop on their own most years but stop wheat germ oil coated seed around the 1st of June.

It is not uncommon to have a late nest July 4th some years.

The advantage of late nests is that it seems to produce a higher percentage of hens.