Pigeon breeding can be considered both as a hobby and as a way of earning. In any case, the owner of the pigeons must take care of the continuation of the offspring of their birds.
When the breeding season begins
For those who breed pigeons, the breeding season is a very serious process. You must first prepare for this moment in order to avoid a hitch. Mating delays in birds can have a negative effect on their health.
Breeding in pigeons can occur at different times of the year. It depends on the region where the birds live. The best period for breeding pigeons is considered the beginning of spring. As a rule, pairing of a pair of pigeons occurs in late March - early April.
Did you know? Pigeons are considered sexually mature as early as six months. However, the ideal age for breeding birds is the year of birth.
How dove eggs look
The eggs of the pigeons were originally white in color, with shine. Size ranges from 35 × 25 mm to 45 × 32 mm. It is important to know what bird eggs look like to distinguish between a fertilized egg and an unfertilized one.
To check the egg for the presence of an embryo, you must carefully lift it against the light - the sun or a lamp. The shell is very fragile, so when checking it is necessary to show maximum caution, otherwise you can crush the embryo.
If a chick embryo appears in the egg, a black spot with diverging reddish veins will be visible in the lumen in it. An unfertilized egg will be transparent. If this is found in the nest, it is better to replace it with an artificial one.
A week after hatching, the egg cover turns pale, a matte finish appears. Closer to the birth of the chicks, the eggs become gray.
Important! If you notice a dark blue hue on the shell, then the chick died inside the egg.
How many eggs can be in the clutch?
Usually only 2 eggs can be found in the clutch. Doves, paired for the first time, can carry only 1 per cycle.
How many days do pigeons hatch eggs?
In time, the female hatches the chicks longer than the male, although both take part in this process.
From 16 to 19 days they sit on eggs, warm and guard the masonry in turn. The dove is in the nest for about 18 hours, after which the male replaces it. How long he will sit on the masonry is determined by the duration of the absence of the female. She should eat, relax and come back.
How many times a year doves incubate eggs?
Breeding of birds does not have a strong link to the period of the year. Within 12 months, pigeons are able to produce 8 clutches, each with 2 chicks. How often pigeons can breed depends on the health of the birds and their living conditions.
Preparation for breeding
Before the breeding season begins for the birds, the house owner should take care of cleaning the pigeon dwelling.
The dovecote must be completely cleaned of droppings and feathers, and steam boxes should be put in for a future pair, having previously disinfected them.
Matching Couples
In order for a couple to have healthy offspring, it is necessary to correctly select pigeons for breeding.
To continue the genus, you should not take:
- old birds;
- sick people;
- with obesity.
When breeding sports pigeons, it is necessary to pay attention to the ability of birds to orient themselves in the area.
Homing pigeons convey high flying qualities to their chicks. And their appearance is characterized by a wide chest, the absence of feathers on the metatarsals of the legs, and the beak resembles a crescent in shape.
If you plan to breed meat, you need to select the largest individuals from the dovecote.
Mating types
In poultry farming, two types of breeding are distinguished:
- Natural (or natural).
- Forced.
If the dovecote contains birds of the same breed and approximately the same parameters, it is recommended to conduct natural mating. Pigeons, having independently chosen each other, incubation of masonry begins earlier, and they have viable offspring.
Forced mating means that the pigeon breeder himself chooses the necessary birds to continue offspring. It is especially effective in breeding purebred pigeons.
3-4 days before mating, the female and the male are placed in separate cages or parking boxes, however, they are placed next to each other.
After waiting for the required period, the female is planted with a pigeon and left together for the same time. If the pair took place, the birds will sit next to each other, fingering each other's feathers. Now they can be released into the general house, as they will start to nest in it.
Did you know? Pigeons are unusually faithful birds. Pigeon growers note that in the majority they choose one partner for life.
Nest preparation
Before launching birds into the dovecote, it is necessary to lay a bed of straw or hay in nesting boxes. Also, straw is scattered on the floor of the dovecote so that the birds have something to finish building the nest. As a building material, birds can be used:
- straw;
- feathers;
- grass;
- branches.
Nests can be located: - in the storage boxes;
- on racks of several floors;
- on the ground.
Remember that pigeons sometimes fight to win their nest. As a rule, older pigeons occupy the same nest as the previous time, so they are first launched into the dovecote, and then young animals are allowed into the remaining places.
Hatching process
A few days before the hatching begins, the female actively raises the temperature in the nest and often sits in it, walks with the tail out.7–9 days after mating with the male, the first egg appears in the dove. Often this happens in the afternoon. Until the second egg is laid, the female will not warm the first. The second egg should appear after 40–44 hours.
For the first coupled females, egg laying is difficult, since the egg hardly passes the oviduct, and there is a chance of its passage. To protect the female from diseases of the oviduct, she needs to be fed with vegetable feed containing vitamins and minerals. Additionally, let the bird fly longer.Important! If interval too big, the first chick without heating will subsequently be poorly developed. To avoid this, it is necessary to replace the laid egg with a false one, and return it to the nest only when the female lays the second one.
To find out if the birds are hatching, it is possible by the following signs:- From 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. the next day, the female hatches eggs, maintaining the necessary temperature and protecting them from predators.
- After a long stay in the masonry, the male sits on the masonry instead of the dove, allowing her to relax, eat and drink.
What hatched chicks look like
Chicks hatch naked and wet, but yellowish fur is visible on the body. Within an hour after birth, the body dries. The bag yolk is fully retracted.
Their vision will begin to form only after the first week of life, before that they are blind. The body weight of the newborn chick is 12-18 g.
After hatching, the pigeon pair feeds the cubs from the goiter of their beak. A special porridge is formed there - in other words, “pigeon milk”, which contains all the necessary minerals and substances for the newborn. If the chick is not fed within 24 hours, he will die.
Pigeons take out the shell from the nest, in which the chicks were located immediately after their birth. In order for the birds to benefit and delight with their unusual plumage, it is necessary to take care of the conservation of the breed, and carefully prepare for the breeding season.
