Diamond Dove Egg

:(
I was candling the egg today and accidently made a crack in the end of the egg.
The shells are so thin and the eggs so small that I was concetrating on not dropping it that I pushed the candlee too hard against it.
Fortunately (if there is a fortunately) it was on the end with the air sac, so I sealed the hole with some uncoloured nail varnish and hopefully it will stop any bacteria getting in.
I've read about people using nail varnish, melted candle wax and ever sellotape to fill in cracks on eggs, but because this is such a small egg I'm not sure if it'll work.

It was fertile because I could see tiny little veins growing on the inside.
Good luck chick!

Leg Rings

I bought some leg rings for the new chicks today off the internet. I got a few sizes in mixed colours, so hopefully we'll be able to tell which bird is which by the colour, and as they grow up we can swap it for a ring the next size up.
I got an email to say they've been dispatched so hopefully should be here within the next few days.

Eggs

The doves have laid another egg and have been sitting on it for a few days. I've candled it really quickly and I can see veins, meaning its fertile and so hopefully it'll hatch. I'll try and get some photos of the fertile egg later :D


I sent some quail eggs out today for someone to try and hatch!!
It felt a bit strange to think back to when I got my little eggs, hatched them and raised them and now they'll have babies of their own and will never see them! Thats one of the good things about eggs, you can send them to another part of the country and introduce new bloodlines really easily.

OU has arrived

My OU stuff came through the post today :)
Theres a few CD/DVD's, a big text book and a few little books.
I haven't had a proper read through or anything yet, but will later :D

Tiny Egg

I've just candled the tiny egg and it is clear. I've taken it off them so they don't sit on it for no reason.
Thats it on top of a 5p coin, its tiny.

School Hatching Eggs

I've been looking at hatching eggs today for school. We want blug egg layers, and will have to decide wether to do for a pure breed or a hybrid.
Pure breeds are more likely to go broody, lay fewer eggs but for a longer amount of time.
Hybrids are egg laying machines so will lay lots of eggs but only for a couple of years, some hybrid breeds tend to have more health problems, they don't often go broody because its seen as unproductive so they've had it bred out of them.

Cream Crested Legbars are the pure breed I think I'll go for and there is a new hybrid breed that been developed called the 'Brilley Blue' which are blue chickens and they lay blue eggs. They are quite an unusual breed because they're a pure breed hybrid, they breed true to type so their chicks would be the same as the parents.
Both of the breeds are auto sexing, so will be able to sex them as soon as they hatch because the different sexes will be different colours.

The incubator holds 12 eggs, so I might get 6 of both breeds :) I've emailed a few breeders and found the eggs so its all a waiting game now :D

Tiny Egg

Judy has laid a tiny egg in the nest. It's about half the size of all the other eggs, and because its so small I doubt it will successfully hatch.
I'll let them keep it though.

Update

The last eggs didn't hatch. Judy laid another egg so there were 3, then a few days later they all fell out of the nest onto the floor and went cold. One was cracked, so I pulled it open and there was a tiny chick in it even with little feathers! So I know they are fertile, just unlucky :/
She laid another egg the day before yesterday and last night it cracked while she was sitting on it so she was covered in yolk. I washed and disinfected the whole cage and nest and made sure she was cleaner.
I think she might get a lack of calcium if she keeps laying like this, so I've made sure they always have grit and cuttlefish, so hopefully will be ok.

Matilda + Theodore the chickens went walkies next door today. I looked through the gap in the fence and they were on the lawn eating all the grass!