I want to be available to assist if necessary (another reason to keep good records and pay close attention!). Personally, I never leave the house for more than a few hours if I think chicks are going to hatch. You need not intervene unless you suspect there is real trouble! Real trouble could be a chick in distress while trying to emerge from the egg, or the parents pecking at the chick or even tossing it out of the nest! Unless you see signs of trouble, it is best to leave the parents alone to take care of their chicks in peace. They will then either toss the shell out of the nest or eat it. The parents may assist the chicks out of the eggs by pecking carefully at the shell. My birds all act the same - they get weird! They can hear the tiny chicks peeping from inside the egg and know it's time for them to hatch. Or they may do nothing more than sit tight in the nest. They may make enough noise to get your attention with their beeping and calling. They may be bopping about or jumping in and out of the nest. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the parents may begin to act a little funny. My hens typically begin to brood after the 3 rd egg is laid meaning they will hatch 18 days from the date the first egg was laid. Eggs typically begin to hatch 18 days from the day the egg was laid, but that allows for errors in calculating when the hen began brooding consistently. In my aviary, I track eggs from the date they were laid. Therefore, once you have candled the eggs and know they are fertile it is best not to candle them again unless you suspect they are not going to hatch.įor more information about egg fertility and infertile eggs, please see our " Determining Egg Fertility" article. Using a high intensity light can damage their eyes or overheat them and kill them in the shell. This means the chick is growing and filling up most of the egg.Ī Note of Caution: It has been said that candling too often can injure the chick. Eventually you may even see the chick moving or opening and closing its beak! If you wait to candle beyond day 6-10, chances are you won't be able to see anything but darkness filling the egg. At that 3 day mark, you should see a tiny red circle or “comma shaped” blob often surrounded by a very fine mesh of blood vessels. If you've waited until about day 5 after the egg was laid and your hen is brooding regularly, you should see a tiny heart beat. You won't usually see larger blood vessels around the yolk until a little later, but if the hen has been brooding tight, you may see more than you expect! The longer fertile eggs are consistently brooded, the more growth you will see. If the hen has been brooding consistently, signs of viability typically begin to show at 3 days. When you "candle" an egg, you hold a very bright light called an Egg Candler to the egg and look for signs of life. For a clutch larger than 6 eggs, I will usually remove eggs and foster them under another Gould or Society pair, though I prefer to place them in an incubator and hand-feed the chicks once they hatch. Unless you have an "exceptional" pair, the parent birds will not usually be able to care for more than 6 chicks without detriment to the health of both themselves and their chicks. The best time to do this is usually first thing in the morning when the pair leaves the nest to relieve themselves and eat. But don't peek too often! If your birds are not accustomed to your hands in the cage constantly like mine are, or you are inexperienced at handling the birds and eggs, you don't want to upset them and have them abandon their nest.ĭon't be surprised if you see the cock sitting in the nest box with the hen! And don't be surprised if they don't brood until all eggs are laid!Īn average clutch is usually 4 to 6 eggs though I've had hens lay as few as two and as many as 13 or more. If you think your hen is brooding (sitting for long periods and not leaving the nest except to eat, drink and relieve herself), check the nest for eggs. Some breeders will pull the eggs as they are laid and replace them with dummy eggs, then replace all real eggs once the clutch is complete to ensure all eggs hatch on the same day or within a day of each other. Hens usually start brooding after the third egg is laid, though some of my hens will brood immediately and others will wait until the entire clutch is laid. In my aviary, eggs are typically laid five days after the first copulation. If you know your pair has been courting and are now spending time in the nest, chances are the hen is laying eggs or preparing to. Your Gouldians have chosen a nesting site and have begun to lay their eggs. Kristen Reeves, Meadowlark Farms Avian Supply, Inc.
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