Monday, April 23, 2012

How many Stafford Mosaic Chicks in this nest?

Guess how many chicks are in this recently hatched nest?



The handsome Stafford male was given to me by Dian and John Clark in November 2010. What a beauty!!!


He was paired with this lovely Stafford Mosaic hen (not color fed last year) in the hopes of producing offspring with a full neck and rounded hen like the hen but retaining the color of the male.

She laid five eggs but after replacing them all on one day, I noted that even with the male in the cage, she was not sitting very well. So a dish of hulled hemp was provided with just regular seed mix, no greens or high protein foods and the nutrena 22@ crumbles were also  removed from their cage.

Even though all the eggs were returned together on the same day, they hatched over a three day period and consequently the size difference in the chicks are enormous!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

there are 5 in that 'knot'-nest of chicks

D

Anonymous said...

Looks like 5 to me!!

Anonymous said...

Linda,
what was your reason for not giving KDCleaner to setting hens...

ED

Linda Hogan said...

Your are right five chicks and two are much bigger than the others.

Linda Hogan said...

KD is a fantastic product for all birds outside the breeding season.

During breeding season, I do not use it is while the hen is setting as I have observed the hens losing incubation temperature if KD is given during setting. In fact, this is actually a good way to stop hens that want to sit past when you want them too. I give it to them every day to stop breeding.

I also give it to the hen or couple once the last egg has hatched. It encourages the hen to get off the nest and feed rather than just keep setting on them and not feeding. I keep KD in their water till around the 14th day or when the hen starts thinking about nesting again.