Assisted breeding

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Assisted breeding groups the tools used when a clutch needs help: fosters, clutch transfers, incubator, hatcher and date recalculation.

The main idea is simple: the app can change how an egg or chick is handled without losing its biological genealogy. The real parents remain those of the original clutch even when care is handled by a foster or an incubator.

When to use assisted breeding

It can be useful when:

  • a pair rejects eggs or chicks;
  • a female stops incubating;
  • you want to distribute workload among fosters;
  • you need to move eggs to an incubator;
  • a whole clutch will be raised by another pair;
  • you want to adjust incubation days for a species.

Foster birds and foster pairs

You can mark as foster:

  • an individual bird;
  • a complete pair.

Then, from a clutch, you can assign:

  • a general foster for the whole clutch;
  • a specific foster for a particular egg or chick.

The app shows the active load of each foster and warns if it already has eggs or chicks assigned. This is informative, not blocking.

Transfer a clutch

If a whole clutch moves to another active pair, use clutch transfer. This is useful when you want another pair to raise all eggs or chicks.

The transfer changes clutch handling, but it does not rewrite genealogy. The future chicks' profiles will still show their biological parents.

Incubator and hatcher

If you use a mechanical incubator, enable the Incubator module.

From a clutch you can send eggs to an incubator. The app records entry, phase, exit, movements and events. It also schedules alerts for turning, humidity, water, candling, moving to hatcher and estimated hatching.

An egg cannot be with a foster and inside an incubator at the same time. If you send it to an incubator, the app clears the foster assignment to avoid contradictory tracking.

Recalculate hatching

The expected hatching date depends on the species' incubation days.

If you change those days in Settings, use Recalculate hatching from the clutch to update dates. The app first uses your custom value, then the reference catalogue and finally a default value if no specific data exists.

Good practices

  • Note when an egg is moved and why.
  • Use a general foster only if the whole clutch goes with the same foster.
  • Use individual fosters if you split eggs or chicks.
  • Remove an egg from the incubator before returning it to a pair or foster.
  • Check the calendar after moving eggs: some dates and alerts may change.