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- 5/25/12
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- JP
It may be that hand raising is an issue when it comes to the HR chick raising its own. But this was triggered, I am certain, by a new egg on the way. I've just been in the avairy now and her bum is the size of texas. Cha-Cha felt it coming and decided the new egg takes priority over her chicks. What triggered the new egg at this critical time? I have never heard of such a thing.Makes you wonder if you need to just snatch them right away from the nest and hand feed them from the beginning to give them the best chance at survival. But then again, that may be why some adults grow up and don't know how to raise babies? Ugh, that's tough. I hope it all starts coming together with subsequent clutches coming!
You are a good "daddy" JP! I hope you are soon over run with silly Caiques of all different pants colors! I myself didn't know of green thighs before you.....I always thought they all wore yellow pants!
Ironically the only Parent Reared hen I have - Soentjie - gave me 3 blank eggs earlier this year. nothing else yet.
Are we to believe that two hens, Cha-Cha and Eva, from two different species, decided one day to ignore their babies calls for food, having responded to those calls for more than ten days? Why?
And am I ( and the AA family) prepared for a season or two of dying chicks while these birds learn how to manage a family?. I suspect this is what would happen in nature.
And, this being Africa, the incubator is not as good a solution as you might think. While power is stable now, we have had many power cuts over the last year. one breeder I know lost two clutches when her incubators died.
Decisions decisions. I cant watch chicks die. I will have to pull them as soon as I think I can feed them
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