March 2015

Tuesday 3rd March. A busy weekend in the bird room as the cages were given a thorough clean and spray with poultry shield and the birds were treated with ivermectin prior to being singled off in their breeding cages.

Almost all of the cocks, with one or two exceptions, are in really advanced condition singing lustfully and feeding the wires. A number of the hens are starting to pull and looking like they're not too far away.

The lights are on for 12 hours 30 minutes now, I'll continue to increase them to a maximum of 14 hours the heating is set to keep the frost off but a cold snap over the last couple of days will knock the birds back a bit.

The nest pans are prepared and ready to go in, I'll do this after I've seen the first mating. For now even with the birds that are to run as pairs I'll keep an eye on the condition, run the cocks in and after the first mating will remove the dividers and let them get on with it. I'll keep an eye on the cocks to ensure they're not overly aggressive but I imagine based on what I've seen this morning in a weeks time I'll have half a dozen or so pairs mated up and in the throws of nest building.

For me this is one of the best times of year it's interesting talking to fellow fanciers to see who's paired up, who's got eggs and indeed who's got young. I imagine for some novices (and indeed some champions I know) it all gets a little bewildering. The impatient amongst us will try and drive the birds to nest and wonder why they have so many clear eggs in the first round. Slow and steady and methodical is my approach, my own birds have been brought into condition gradually and when the time is right they'll go to nest, so for me whilst I'm always keen to hear what other fanciers are doing it won't influence what goes on in my shed.

The other thing I'm always keen to point out is that birds will go to nest at different times, whilst I always like to set three or four or five nests at a time I know now that there are a couple of hens that are still 3 to 4 weeks away from being ready. They'll need a little more warmth before they'll consider going to nest, but that's absolutely fine, even if it means only getting one round from them.

Friday 20 March And it's all systems go! The variegated pair who are featured on my selective pairings , we're the first to go to nest earlier this week and they're one of 6 pairs who are now laying. There are a further 6 hens who have built up and should lay in the next week, still one or two who are some time away from being ready (all flighted birds).

Interestingly I'm about 8 to 10 days ahead of the first egg from last year, obviously still very early days but I'm hopeful of a good start to the season. It's interesting to hear from other fanciers some of whom have chicks some are, like myself just getting the season on the way. More updates and photos to follow