Emmy 528 Report post Posted October 30, 2014 Was out in the shed checking the cages and the birds in the inside flight this afternoon. Wished I had had my camera with me. ALL the birds were in the inside flight, cockatiels, canaries, Bengalese, zebra finches and diamond doves. outside flight was empty apart from the CPQs Can't understand why this had happened because although there has been an occasional drizzle its not exceptionally cold. Was wonderful to see though- Thank goodness I have a BIG inside flight. I then went on to check the cages and decided to remove the eggs from the Heck's nest box , 2 eggs had been fertile and 4 empty but they weren't incubating them. I now have a new pair of Begalese so next time the Hecks have eggs I'll foster them out to the Bengalese. I was prepared to do the same with the eggs in the BC nest box because when I checked yesterday there were at least 10 eggs in the nest box and this afternoon I found some broken eggs in the cage but when I took down the nest box I got a lovely surprise-- two eggs had hatched out and when I had another look the 'broken eggs' on the cage floor were the empty shells from the two that had hatched. I didn't stop to check how many eggs are still in the nest or if they are fertile Just got the nest box back up ASAP. Thank goodness both birds are back in the nest box again. I will be very surprised if all their eggs hatch out but even if its just two BC chicks I'll be over the moon. Hen is a normal BC but I think she will be split for other colours because neither of her parents were BC -- Cock is a fawn BC don't know its history. Question: I you have a visual BC hen and a visual BC cock even if they are split for other colours will the chicks be visual BC? Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andyn 534 Report post Posted October 30, 2014 I believe that the chicks will be 100% BC but like you said they could be any colour too. That will be interesting. I bred a BC to a hen carrying BC they had 5 chicks, all hens and not one of them BC. I know the hen was BC carrier because I bred her. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norfolk flyer 208 Report post Posted October 30, 2014 Emmy, Well done, if your pair were only BC and nothing else then it would be 100% BC, But as other colours are involved there poss will be other mutations depending on how strong their genes are between the pair, It's basicly done on % over a time, so if you bred these 10 times you would be surprised at the outcome, All the best, Trevor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted October 30, 2014 It's going to be very interesting to see what happens just hope they survive I've also paired up the BCs I bought at Stafford: 1st pair: Pied BC hen with white BC cock they already have one egg in nest box. 2nd pair: White BC hen with pied BC cock (only put the nest box up today for this pair) Next time round I'll maybe try the two white bc together not sure what to get from that was hoping it would be all white? Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted November 1, 2014 Just an update: today when I checked the BC nest box I found that a fourth egg had hatched out and the chicks are getting fed. I've just left all the other eggs in the nest without candling them- so its a waiting game to find out just how many of those eggs will hatch. If the whole lot hatch out (think there must have been at least ten eggs) will I have to foster some of the chicks? or would they be able to feed ten chicks? Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted November 2, 2014 Now have FIVE chicks in the nest - really chuffed with this. Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clare L 175 Report post Posted November 2, 2014 Well done Emmy, well spotted as well 100% BC split for who knows Hope they all do well for you will be interesting to see what you get. All the best Clare Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted November 2, 2014 The other BC I bought at Stafford are laying too. So in the very near future I should have a nice wee group of BC none of 6 BC I have at the moment are related so that gives me lots of scope for trying out other pairings in the future. (I can see my other shed having to be converted in the near future ) Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clare L 175 Report post Posted November 2, 2014 Oh Dear!! That would be such a shame If you have any split BC's try and put a few of them with the full BC's, I have found the size and colours are better this way, especially with fawn BC. Good luck with them Clare Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted November 2, 2014 Thanks Clare I know the BC I bred is definitely split for other colours - neither of her parents had visual BC so she was a real surprise when she hatched the others I have no idea of their background or if they are split for anything. Will be f un finding out. Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emmy 528 Report post Posted November 5, 2014 Seems their will just be 5 BC chicks -- the other eggs in the nest haven't hatched. (I haven't removed the other eggs yet but I will remove them when the chicks are a little bit bigger) In some ways I'm glad its only 5 that has hatched - I cant be sure but it looks like its the 'dad' that's doing most of the feeding re the chicks. In my other BC nests (the birds bought at Stafford) one has 5 eggs and they have started incubating them. The 2nd nest only had one egg and its only been the one for about 4days and today there is a 2nd egg Looking forward to seeing what hatches out from those two nests. (The nest boxes are on the outside of the cage so its easy to check without disturbing the birds) Emmy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
