Can sum1 please explain what's going on

b · Snr Member Joined: Feb 10, 2009 Posts: 78

My new breeding pair of kakas have had 2 clusters. 1st cluster had 3 chicks but 2 die, 2nd cluster 4 hatched but 2 died on saturday they were nearly ready to leave the nest & now she is sitting on her 3rd cluster & im worried it might happen again.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Got 2 nesting boxes?
The hen lays in the 1st, just after the adult feathers come out, she lays in the 2nd box...these hatch shortly after the 1st batch emerge

and so on.
Some hens get very defensive to older chicks entering her new box. or if only have 1 box, can attack the old chicks as the new ones start to hatch.

On the other had we have had hens with one box, quite happy to lay a 2nd batch with the older chicks, but these have been larger shoe type nesting boxes.

If this is not the case I would suggest you have an issue of too much in breeding and defective birds/genes.

We have only ever had 1 chick still in the nest with adult feathers ever die...it was defective.

b · Snr Member Joined: Feb 10, 2009 Posts: 78

l have 2 boxes. How do you know if they are defective or is that a chance you take coz both parents look fine or is it in their genes.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Could be in the genes too much inbreeding of the parents or diet envoriment...particularly calcium in the diet, or a combination of both.

What you are describing, and it is very difficult from a distance to actually see, we have not actually experianced after 100s of chicks.

foxman · Snr Member Joined: Sep 22, 2009 Posts: 38

Hi B, did you notice if the dead chicks had food in thier crops, I have had one cock that stopped feeding his chicks when his hen started to sit in the other box, he was good while she was laying but when she sat he called it quits, he did it twice so I culled him out. Cheers Laurie.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Thats a real good posiblity
The male doesnt feed the chicks till the female starts to lay in the other box....
We have never had this...but going from experiance of other breeders who hand feed, after a couple /few generations they have issues with parents raising chicks...they seem to loose some of the instinct???

b · Snr Member Joined: Feb 10, 2009 Posts: 78

no l never thought to look but he has always fed them until they came out of the box.
She has just hatched 2 more over the last couple of days should l try hand feeding them even thou l have never done it before and don't know how to?

foxman · Snr Member Joined: Sep 22, 2009 Posts: 38

Hi B, I would give them another chance, but keep an eye on the chicks and make sure they are being fed, they should have full crops in the evening before they bed down for the night. Good luck Laurie.

b · Snr Member Joined: Feb 10, 2009 Posts: 78

Thanks Laurie, Will try that and see what happens?

bigbeak · Member Joined: Oct 13, 2009 Posts: 13

our kaki babys fed them selves after leaving the nest at six weeks old see dad feed them once then they went straight to the egg food and fed and mum is looking at new nest so you may hav bad genes it's possible we also have teils in the same flight and they do not feed them selves and they left there nest first so who knows what goes on if all else fails try a different female or male partner in case they are related good luck

b · Snr Member Joined: Feb 10, 2009 Posts: 78

l got them both from different states so l would not have this problem but sounds like l do have a problem so l have decided just to take the eggs from now on coz they are to close to part.