Apr 21, 2012 20:15:21 GMT
marleen4
Normal Green
Posts: 334
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Post by marleen4 on Nov 29, 2013 20:10:29 GMT
I am colony breeding in 2 large aviaries, one with 4 pairs and another with 3 pairs. Of course there are issues at times, but nothing that we cannot handle. The main problem recently has been the loss of 2 males, with their hens sitting on eggs. They died of different causes, and it was a stroke of bad luck. This situation is pretty tough going for the hens, and replacement of cocks does not always work straight away. One hen now has 2 chicks with her new mate, so she's happy enough. The other one is a single mum (sitting on eggs) at the moment, as the new cock is too young to help. She has been a single mum of one chick before, so I know she's pretty tough. The other issue is that not all hens are built equally. Some are natural breeders, some are not sure quite what to do and leave their eggs too often so they get too cold to produce chicks. Not sure whether there is anything that can be done about this? I suppose it's just nature doing it's own thing, and I do not worry too much. I have not noticed much aggression. I think this can happen when a hen is stressed. A first time mum can at times get stressed as she does not always know what to do, or perhaps the aviaries are not large enough to give her space. When very stressed hens can also become quite possessive / territorial, and when aggression becomes an issue (this has happened once) I intervened by moving the hen to the other aviary to break the pattern. This worked well. Sorry for rambling on!!! These are my experiences at any case.
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