BYC Café

[room onthebroom]

Yeah I helped him across the road. He was a him too. Checked for that distinctive divot on the carapace.

What kind of invasive species were you doing paperwork on?

 

[N F C]

Yeah I helped him across the road. He was a him too. Checked for that distinctive divot on the carapace.

Good job!

 

[drumstick diva]

Invasive species - do you mean vacationers???

 

[Shadrach]

Bracket reminds me a lot of one of my girls
It is amazing to me how hard those moms work to get their babies ready for life.

I love watching them and it gets even more interesting when and if the dads join in.
However, here the mums' move into the high risk category and harsh though this may seem, I would rather lose a chick than a mum.

 

[Shadrach]

Yeah I helped him across the road. He was a him too. Checked for that distinctive divot on the carapace.

It takes at least twice as long to get down the track to the village when the Salamanders here move to their mating grounds.
They need to cross the track to do that here.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

What kind of invasive species were you doing paperwork on?

Nutria and feral hogs. We found a nest of nutria this week and a family of wild hog.

 

[N F C]

I love watching them and it gets even more interesting when and if the dads join in.
However, here the mums' move into the high risk category and harsh though this may seem, I would rather lose a chick than a mum.

I think that makes sense. You've invested time and effort in the mum and grown to know her. The chicks are still an unknown factor.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

It takes at least twice as long to get down the track to the village when the Salamanders here move to their mating grounds.
They need to cross the track to do that here.

As bad as turtles hah! Our turtles are starting to dig themselves out of the ground. Spring is officially here with the arrival of turtles and frogs.

 

[igorsMistress]

I love watching them and it gets even more interesting when and if the dads join in.
However, here the mums' move into the high risk category and harsh though this may seem, I would rather lose a chick than a mum.

Oh I get it. Moms can make more chicks!

I haven't had a chance to see a roo with chicks. I'm hoping next spring maybe one of the eggs I have now will be a broody Mom. My roo will be over a year old then.

 

[Shadrach]

Oh I get it. Moms can make more chicks!

I haven't had a chance to see a roo with chicks. I'm hoping next spring maybe one of the eggs I have now will be a broody Mom. My roo will be over a year old then.

The thing you should try not to miss is when the dad imprints the chicks. The first time I saw this I was rather concerned. The rooster approaches mum with the chicks and if mum is ready she steps away from the chicks a little so the rooster can have unobstructed access. He drops his head right next to the chick and I mean half an inch away and stares at the chick for quite a few seconds. he does this with every one as mum stand seemingly a bit nervous ready to intervene if things go wrong.
Fortunatly I've never seen it go wrong.
After the imprinting the roosters tend to take a much more active part in looking after the chicks.
Here, if the mum starts laying eggs again before she's finished rearing the chicks you often see dad scratching for food for the chicks and even see them underneath him if its late and getting cold while the mum lays her egg.