mating again?

jang786 said:

my pair with 5 days old babies tried to mate again and the male went inside a nest box right next to his babies nest box and was calling female.. is this normal?

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It's normal, but not desirable. Could you not close up the box next to him?
I call them kind of bird's Casanova's.

That's normal. They're just getting ready for their next set of eggs. Put a new nest bowl next to the old one just in case the hen decides to lay early.

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I had a pair that did that. They feed the youngsters and sat on the eggs. They did just fine switching back and forth. If your hen decides to lay another set within the next couple of days I would keep an eye on the already hatched youngsters just in case.

jang786 said:

i already had nest bowl in there..if the hen lay eggs again in a different nest box will they still take care of the babies?

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yes, they will take care of the babies. Dad will do most of the work though. The earliest I've ever had a hen lay the second set of eggs was when her babies were 11 days old. I worried a bit because the weather was so cold, but everything was fine. Dad did an awesome job. Don't worry.......they know what they're doing MOST of the time. Just keep an eye on things.
I DID have a pair of Satinettes that insisted on laying again pretty quick and once they started the mating process, they completely abandoned their baby. I had to let a homer pair raise him. But I've not had that sort of trouble with my homers.

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jang786 said:

you said that you put the youngsters with homers when my hen lays again what if i put the eggs in my other pair's nest bowl since female is not laying eggs its been more than a month and both male and female are always sitting inside the nest?

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Well, here's what you CAN do (or try)............when your hen lays again, slip a set of dummy eggs under the pair that isn't laying.......leave the real eggs with the real mother. Then watch the other non-laying pair. If they continue to sit on the dummy eggs like they are supposed to, then you could give them the real eggs about 10 days after they are laid. Then the pair that laid the eggs will lay again in about 10 days. You HAVE to be SURE that the non-laying pair will stay with the eggs until they hatch. If the do, then they should raise them just fine. I've done this quite a few times........you have to let a pair of birds incubate the eggs for 18 days, because this is what nature uses (incubation) to produce the crop milk.

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You got it. That's what Renee's saying.

jang786 said:

i dont have dummy eggs right now but you mean to say that i should let the original mother incubate the eggs for ten days and then after the non-laying pair has been sitting on the dummy eggs for ten days then i could switch the eggs?

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Well done! Good advice from everyone.
Just wanted to add. Keep in mind the cycle, as Renee said.

jang786 said:

i dont have dummy eggs right now but you mean to say that i should let the original mother incubate the eggs for ten days and then after the non-laying pair has been sitting on the dummy eggs for ten days then i could switch the eggs?

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Yep..........the key is to make sure that the pair will take to the dummy eggs like they actually laid them. If they're sitting good after 7 to 10 days, then you're good to go.

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