quickspin
387 posts
Feb 26, 2008
8:46 AM
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When I use to foster I always put them at the same time the pairs. Usually they all would laid eggs in 3 days difference. I would wait 5 days to see if the eggs were fertile before fostering them. The eggs hatch in 18 days and you need to foster no later than 10 days to prepare the foster in making milk.
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SALAS LOFT
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420
13 posts
Feb 26, 2008
9:05 AM
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hello hillsida i used foster for my rollers and it work great. if it is done right. what i did is put down the main pair first and then the foster pair down the next day. you whant to try and get them to lay at the same time. some time that work out good. if the main pair lays first it is o.k. the foster should lay in the next day or the day after. you have up to three days to switch the egg's do it at night wen the birds are mellow. put down one pair of foster down for each main pair you use. after you switch the first set of egg's a day later you can put down the other pair of foster to switch the sec set of egg's and so on. you can do it three time. the last set of egg's let the main pair bring up the last set of babys. this work good if you are trying to start a family. hope go's good for. i hope it help you some. good luck
Last Edited by on Feb 26, 2008 9:05 AM
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Hillsida
33 posts
Feb 26, 2008
9:07 AM
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Thanks quick and 420 good info....will use in the future.
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quickspin
388 posts
Feb 26, 2008
9:18 AM
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I always prefer to change the eggs in the day not at night. I have done it at night but if the birds get spook they will not sit on the eggs. One thing to be prepare for a long night with a flash light waiting for the bird to sit again.
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SALAS LOFT
Last Edited by on Feb 26, 2008 10:18 AM
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Hillsida
34 posts
Feb 26, 2008
9:22 AM
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So quick, how many days after eggs are laid should they be removed from the original parents.
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maxspin
192 posts
Feb 26, 2008
9:59 AM
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You can store the eggs for 5 days with no problems. If you plan on storing the eggs pull them immediately so that incubation does not start, then be sure to turn the eggs at least once a day.
I try to time the fosters to lay one day after the breeders and then just swap the eggs straight over. Next day I pull the eggs from under the next foster pair that I want to use and they "should" lay a day after the breeders lay again. I let the breeders raise every third round.
Keith Maxwell
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420
15 posts
Feb 26, 2008
10:06 AM
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thank you max that what im trying to say
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Hillsida
35 posts
Feb 26, 2008
10:20 AM
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Max goodlookin out, I understand now thanks to all who responded good info.
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rollerpigeon1963
225 posts
Feb 26, 2008
4:25 PM
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Fostering,
Well when it comes to fostering and holding the eggs I don't like waiting at all. The longer you wait the less chances of it hatching. Not saying a 10 day old egg won't hatch but it's chances are smaller. I myself like for the foster parents to lay a day before the breeder pair. That way the milk will be there when the breeder pair eggs hatch. I use a 2 to 1 method with fosters and breeders. I will foster the breeder pairs eggs for two rounds. Before I allow the breeders to hatch around for themselves. So within a months time I can have up to 6 to 8 babies of my original breeders. And when your talking about the 4 months of breeding you can get anywhere from 24 to 32 babies for that year. This will allow you plenty of offspring to get an idea what they are producing. And if you wanted to switch it up around the last part of the breeding period well this will still give plenty of time to try something else and get an idea on what they can produce. For example you put the birds together around the middle of Feb. You can get some squeekers out around the first of March. So you have March, April, May, and June to get your birds up in the air. And if you wanted a few late hatch rounds you can use July and August before you have to lock them up in Sept/Oct for hawk season. If you have to lock the birds up you better have them on the wing good. Because I can tell you first hand if you don't they are more of a pain to get to do anything the next year. It's not worth the headaches and the grief they cause. I usually pull/place the eggs during the day. Because if you do it at night you take a big chance of the hen leaving the nest and not returning. Where if you do it during the day the mate will take over the nest if they see it empty. ANd this will the hen to gather herself and come back to the nest.
Hope this helps your good friend
Brian Middaugh
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rollerpigeon1963
226 posts
Feb 26, 2008
4:28 PM
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Foster Birds!
I have used foster birds for 3 to 4 years now and have had great success. Now using your good birds is a plus. I will tell you how I did it. I kept two lofts. One was a loft with 16 individual breeding cages in it. They were 4 foot wide. 2 foot deep and 18 inches tall. They were stacked where I could keep three pairs in each stack. there was a plastic tray between the cages to catch the dropping. Now I also had a open loft which I used for my fosters. This loft was a 12 x 16 open loft with an outside flight built on the back. I housed around 30 pairs of birds in this building. Now these birds in this building wasn't junk. They were either birds that I didn't want to loose to the hawks during lock up time. Or birds I didn't want to resettle after moving to our new house. Now I usually bred around 10 to 12 pairs. And if I used 10 pairs I would have 30 pairs in the foster loft, a 3 to 1 ratio. Now I would pair all the birds around the same time. So that most would lay around the same time. Once my breeders lay their eggs I would pull the eggs and place them under a foster pair and throw away the foster birds eggs. Then throw away the other foster birds eggs in the open loft. So that way all the birds would be on the same cycle {Laying}. The when the breeders lay a second round I would place there eggs under another foster pair that laided the same time. Or if the foster pair laided a day earlier. So now you have two rounds from the same pair under two different foster parents. Now for the third round I would let the breeders raise their own and any of the foster birds in the open loft. This way the breeders keep the parental care by raising one round out of three. And if there is any foster pairs that raise a few then that would be a plus. By using the 3 to 1 ratio it is easier to have the foster birds ready for the breeders eggs most of the time. Sounds hard but is pretty easy once you get everything worked out.
Brian Middaugh
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Missouri-Flyer
1380 posts
Feb 26, 2008
4:37 PM
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Excellent information Brian,
I use a 2 to 1 system when I foster, which isnt often.
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Jerry
Home of "Whispering Wings Loft"
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rollerpigeon1963
227 posts
Feb 27, 2008
2:57 AM
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Jerry,
I have to foster when it comes to the rollers. Reason why is because my breeding season is short because of the lockdown that comes around in mid-sept because of BOP. If I breed them say past june they don't have much time to get on the wing and they are a pain in the but to get back again after a 6 month lock down. So I quit breeding around the first week of june. This way they are at least 4 months old when I lock them down. And I really cant start earlier because they are still in lockdown until April. So the BOP tell me when I can fly and breed around here. But its still worth it being able to fly BOP free for 6 months.
Best of luck Brian
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Missouri-Flyer
1389 posts
Feb 27, 2008
4:23 AM
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Yes Brian,
In your situation, fostering is the best way to go. I am one of the more fortunate guys when it comes to being able to fly when ever I want. I breed from Jan. til I get the amount of birds that I plan to work with, which this year will be around the 50 to 60 mark. I still have 2 kits of holdovers, so I dont need to many to get where I want to be again. My experience has shown me that if you only have 1 maybe 2 kits total, and you have an overfly, as I have had the past 2 years, then that bascially wipes ya out, after the culling process, so with this years birds added to the holdevers, I should be around the 4 kits to fly ballpark.
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Jerry
Home of "Whispering Wings Loft"
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