It is four weeks since the latest batch of silverlace wyandottes and lavender araucana chicks hatched. 11 out of 12 fertile eggs hatched, and so far all have survived. A great result for me and now I am itching to work out if I have a nice mix of male and female.
I hope I have. It will enable me to match up with the earlier hatches and create one or two breeding pairs or trios.
I do need to get into gear with the enclosure as my current pen is full to capacity.
But I am also itching to get à trio of Welsh harlequin. I think I have found a good breeder so really it is all down to how quickly I can create space. I can then be collecting duck, hen and quail eggs. How lucky!
Talking about quail, I have 24 mixed colour courtnix eggs arriving shortly.
It is a little unplanned, as I was more than comfortable with the group I have.
With the loss of two of my hens recently I decided it was time to keep egg production at a reasonable level as we have become quite a quail egg obsessive family since they started laying. If we were to run out of quail eggs I can see there being a revolt in the household from the children.
Introducing new quail to an existing group is very difficult and many say impossible as the established group will pick on the newcomers and can seriously injure them. So the hatching of a new group has been something I have been thinking carefully about. I have allowed for the new hatching's o be kept separate permanently, although I believe with careful management I could integrate two larger groups once the younger birds are of a good age. Say 3-4 months old. Watch this space.
Thanks for reading.
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