Highlights And Disappointments

TONY EDWARDS continues his breeding season update (see January 31 issue) with a commentary on his favourite pairings, foster families – and some remarkably early starts.

BENGALESE

I HAD quite an exceptional start to the 2018 breeding season. Many of my hens in the first 30 pairs started laying much earlier than usual, some six days after being paired, with a clear majority before 10 days. Normally most of my hens start laying 10-14 days after being set, with a few taking up to three weeks. I attribute the earlier laying to the fact that my hens had been held in stock cages for a few weeks – normally they are taken directly from my internal flight, which has an adjoining outside aviary.

All birds at this time of year are given an enriched diet, so I don’t think diet is responsible. With eggs laid earlier than 10 days I generally expect lower levels of fertility, but the results this year were not conclusive. However, it is clear that eggs laid as early as seven days can be fertile, because I had one hen that laid seven eggs and all of them were.

Sadly, I lost the hen from my best chocolate & white pairing. She had laid three eggs before I found her dead on the cage floor. Although a 2014 hen, she looked fit when paired and even on the evening before she died I saw nothing wrong with her. She was replaced by a 2017 hen; visually not as good, but the new pairing looks excellent on paper.