May 9, 2010

A heavy variegated chick that is about to leave the nest. There were 3 chicks that hatched in this nest and I almost lost all 3 chicks to mites that came back when they were a few days old. Luckily I was able to kill the mites in time to save 2 of the 3 chicks. I think the mites are gone now but I have to keep treating the nests and birds. The chicks don't grow when there are mites in the nest sucking their blood. They look pale and weak. After the nest and birds were treated with anti mite products, the chicks immediately started to gain their strength and grow again.

The only hen that I bred last year with 4 of her chicks that I have already banded. It is still early but I didn't expect that all 4 would survive to 7 days old. She only produced 1 chick from the previous nest. Borders are so difficult to breed. Their fertility is not very good and when the eggs are fertilized, some chicks die before hatching and when they do hatch, some die within the first few days...very frustrating!

These two chicks from two different nests are both 31 days old. So far I like the one on the right a lot and the mother of this bird is the hen pictured above.

A nest of healthy 2nd generation fife/border crosses. I am trying to produce a few hens to use as fosters for next year. They hatched several hours after the nest of 4 border chicks pictured above but they are bigger and look healthier. There was a 5th chick that hatched almost 2 days after these 4 chicks but it was squashed by the bigger chicks.