PREPARATION
Before i start i treat my birds with ivermectin spot on. One drop to be placed at the base of feathers at the back of neck.
The breeding season normally starts towards the end of March. By this time i ensure the birds have at least 14 hours of light. I use double breeding cage per pair and seperated with a slide in the middle of the cage. I like the pairs next to each other for at least a month before pairing together to access that pairing is correct. I pull the slide away about 10 to 12 cm so the birds can see each other. I also put nesting material in with the hen to see if she starts carrying the nesting material around with her. Once i see the hen and cock feeding each other threw the gap, i will then introduce a nest pan and see the hen start building the nest.
NEST PANS
I use the Quiko plastic nest pans, the nest felts are sown into the pans with a dusting of anti mite powder and are placed on the wall of cage, my hens should soon start buiding if they are in peak condition. Once the nest has been built introduce the cock. They should tred straight away, if there is any aggresiveness, separate the cock and try again the next day.
REMOVING THE EGGS
The hen should lay her first egg within about 7 to 10 days. I remove the egg and place it in a egg draw and replace it with a dummy egg. This is done for each egg she lays. A hen could lay upto 3 to 5 eggs. After she lays her last egg remove the dummy eggs and replace them with her eggs from the egg draw.
HATCHING OF THE EGGS
After 13 to 13 1/2 days the eggs will start to hatch (see picture above) The next five days is a critical part of a chicks life. The hen should then feed her chicks in earnest. Thats when your soft food diet is essential. You should not put your soft food in before all the eggs have hatched the same day.
Chicks at 21 days old (mum is the photo above), soon to be removed onto their own. At this point they are "rung" with split alluminium rings with the current year colour and number.
WEANING
When they are 21 days old they may be ready to be removed from their parents. This should only be done if they are eating and are beginning to be independent. Normanlly they are ready at 24 days old. The youngsters are then put in a cage where they can be watched. On the first day put them in the cage with news paper on the floor without perches, with a tray of egg food, broccolli a wedge of apple diped in blue maw , which encourages them to peck at. Also a water bottle. Second day introduce a low perch, once you see the youngsters eating independantly put a second perch in the cage higher. You must clean cage out every day from stale food. After a week transfer to flyte cage. Put seed in but they wont usually eat this till about 5 weeks old. The youngsters are given a supplement of fruits and veg pureed with egg food perella which is there main diet until they can eat the seed. Once i have seen the youngsters eating the seed the soft food is reduced until they will be just having small amounts of soft food each day through the moult which starts 10/12 weeks old.
