Hi MOKO.
When i checked AJ's nest box on the 31st Aug she had 2 eggs. She now has 5 eggs and is in the box all the time. Im hoping the 1st ones will hatch anytime around the 21st / 22nd Sept. Sarah ( male) is spending alot of time in the spare nestbox, is this normal ? as he didn't before. My main worry is will the chicks ( if they hatch) survive the colder weather as you know the nights are drawing in . At the moment my Zebbies are still breeding but only a few pairs. Thanks.
Our kakariki go to nest, start of the breeding season in the middle of winter.
They are fully sitting during the coldest week (3 weeks after the shortest day) frost on the ground, puddles frozen and these are out door open avaries with the nesting boxes screwed to a random wall.
Dont go by dates or number of days, they are just a guidle line....birds weather nature are not programable macines....just leave them to it untill the chicks hatch and raised...or when the hen abandons the eggs and trys again in the other nesting box.
And rem I have a theory that not all eggs are meant to hatch, at lest 2 or 3 are infertile and are ineffect hot wate bottles for the other eggs and young chicks when the hen is not around. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Just been into the avairy and as always i say morning to all the Kakis. AJ popped her head out and started calling and then landed on my shoulder. Still calling she then kept going to the nest box and back to me so i thought id have a look in the box. She was showing me that 2 eggs had hatched im hoping that these chicks will last more than a couple of days. They seem stronger and more active than the last lot. Im going to leave her alone now and then check on her/chicks and the other eggs on Saturday.
good luck buddy
it's great to see other hobby colleagues enjoying the birds and having good interaction
this is not possible with other species, they are less friendly
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
AJ now has 3 very active chicks. Ive seen her feeding them today. They seem to be using the other 2 eggs as pillows and for keeping their heads steady, and ofcourse keeping the eggs warm . Will let you know if any more hatch.
They seem to be using the other 2 eggs as pillows and for keeping their heads steady,
This is where my therory comes in...these are not meant to hatch..but rather be 'hotwater' bottles forwhen the hen is not in the nest to keep everything warm.
Every batch we have and others have had, there are alway 2 sometimes 2 eggs that dont hatch...it is strange that this is so consistance and no one ever gets 100% hatch rate..they are generally infertile to. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
All 5 of AJ's eggs have now hatched. Ive checked them this morning and she was just feeding the latest addition. What a size difference between the first 2 that was born over a week ago and the last one. AJ is calm and letting me visualy check the chicks. You can even here the older ones calling to be fed from outside of the avairy.
it's been 1 year since I had chicks for the last time so I'm not 100% sure, but the chick in front looks a bit skinny and pale to my taste.
I hope to be wrong tho.
Sorry about the other chicks. I hope these 2 go forward.
Cheers / Pablo _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
Yes i agree with you pablo. The smaller chick is around 9 days old, I know AJ is still feeding it as ive seen food in its crop the night before. Hopefully it will make it. Do you think it might be worth trying to hand rear it or let nature takes its course.
We have not lost a chick for several seasons now..thats out of a total of several 100 chicks....If it hatches it becomes an adult....
We still take the few that if it doesnt make it it was meant to be.
Some yrs back we had the odd chick die or it would leave the nest but was not quite right...These where culled , and the parant line they came from was culled from our breeding /holding stock.
This could be consisdered rather drastic, but did so on the advice of a couple other breeders here...withing 2 seasons the results in the quality and quantanty of our birds was dramatic
This is all well and good, but I still believe the biggest issues as to successful raising to adulthood..and not in any order
1/Diet in the 6 months leading up to going to nest right thru to end of last batch of chicks
2/Parents raise the chicks
3/Leave them to it, check a nest box only every 7 to 12 days..If the hen doesnt move, dont force here
4/Dont handle the chicks or eggs.
Yes kakariki are very tollerant to interferance. but chicks are very delicate, a female getting a fright when opening a box, moving chicks when its suddenly gone from dark to light, temp blindness....bit of scrambling step on chicks etc...none of that helps.
At the moment we have 13 chicks hatch from 2 pair...weaned...2 eggs in each nesting box didnt hatch
These 2 pair have now hatched 5 and 6 more chicks...2 and 3 eggs not hatched
Another 5 pair (4 of these pair are new blood yellow crown) several hatching at the moment
1 pair has 11 eggs, another 9 or 10 eggs, 2 pair 8 eggs another 6 _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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