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| Not broody - having a dust bath |
Well it looks like the birds have done the business and now we are reaping the first eggs. My only experience of this was a few years ago when I kept hens and a broody hen decided to defend her nest to the death! In the interests of preserving my hands, I decided to let her be. However, this is not what I am seeing in the pheasant aviaries. The eggs seem to be dotted around and none of the females seem overly broody.
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| Eggs ready for collecting |
Most are have some dirt and ground debris attached and require washing with a special egg wash. And they have to be put into the trays 'pointy' end down. Apparently to help prevent the yolk sac from sticking to the side.
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| Egg wash required |
After cleaning they stand in the trays for about 10 days at an angle and are turned daily. The temperature is regulated at 15c. Then they get put into a large incubator where the temperature is increased to about 37.5c and humidity maintained at 65% using ionized water (to prevent disease).
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| The incubator |
The trays that the eggs sit on, rock every 2 hrs, again to stop the yolk sack setting on the edge of the eggs. The door remains firmly closed to maintain the correct conditions and is only opened when absolutely necessary, so I had to peer through the viewing hatch! However, they will be checked half way through to check that the eggs are fertile, by shining a light through the shell.
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| Viewing hatch into incubator. |
After 21 days the eggs should start 'pipping', when the chick starts to crack the shell ready to hatch. So I now have to be patient before we can move to the next stage.
