Hi,
Does anyone here breed Indian Ringnecks? I have a single hen of unknown age who was acting broody but did not produce eggs. I'm trying to figure out if she maybe is just becoming too old to produce eggs or if something else might be wrong that I need to monitor for.
I have had her for 4 years. She was escaped and found outside. I was able to capture her but never able to find owners. So I adopted her and have no idea how old she is except that she is presumably at least 7, since she had adult coloring 4 years ago. But she could be much older.
She has laid eggs for the past 3 years that I've had her, often multiple clutches, between February and June.
This time, her weight went up by 30 grams and she was clearly protecting a preparing a spot on the corner of the floor of the cage. She started sleeping down there. Usually once she sleeps in her nesty spot, I expect an egg in a day or two - especially if her weight has also gone up. This time, she did it for 3 weeks - no eggs ever came.
I watched her carefully - She was eating, pooping, and playing during the day - no signs of distress.
Finally I decided to try fake eggs. I gave her 5 fake eggs and this seems to have moved her into the next phase. Her weight is starting to come down and she is no longer sleeping on the floor with the eggs. I'm not sure why she is not sitting on them, but maybe she will eventually. She has in past years.
But I'm still wondering what happened. I've been trying to keep her light at 12 hours as best I can. Is it possible I prevented ovulation even though she was ready? Is it possible she has become too old to ovulate (does that happen??) Is it possible she ovulated but something other than egg binding went wrong - internal laying??
Just wondering if anybody breeds IRNs - is this something that could happen in an older hen? Maybe I can use this to get a clue to her age.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Does anyone here breed Indian Ringnecks? I have a single hen of unknown age who was acting broody but did not produce eggs. I'm trying to figure out if she maybe is just becoming too old to produce eggs or if something else might be wrong that I need to monitor for.
I have had her for 4 years. She was escaped and found outside. I was able to capture her but never able to find owners. So I adopted her and have no idea how old she is except that she is presumably at least 7, since she had adult coloring 4 years ago. But she could be much older.
She has laid eggs for the past 3 years that I've had her, often multiple clutches, between February and June.
This time, her weight went up by 30 grams and she was clearly protecting a preparing a spot on the corner of the floor of the cage. She started sleeping down there. Usually once she sleeps in her nesty spot, I expect an egg in a day or two - especially if her weight has also gone up. This time, she did it for 3 weeks - no eggs ever came.
I watched her carefully - She was eating, pooping, and playing during the day - no signs of distress.
Finally I decided to try fake eggs. I gave her 5 fake eggs and this seems to have moved her into the next phase. Her weight is starting to come down and she is no longer sleeping on the floor with the eggs. I'm not sure why she is not sitting on them, but maybe she will eventually. She has in past years.
But I'm still wondering what happened. I've been trying to keep her light at 12 hours as best I can. Is it possible I prevented ovulation even though she was ready? Is it possible she has become too old to ovulate (does that happen??) Is it possible she ovulated but something other than egg binding went wrong - internal laying??
Just wondering if anybody breeds IRNs - is this something that could happen in an older hen? Maybe I can use this to get a clue to her age.
Thanks for any thoughts.