A Detailed Guide to Meat Pigeon Breeding Techniques and Feeding Management Methods
Meat pigeon breeding is a highly profitable farming industry. As the value of meat pigeons rises and profits increase, meat pigeon farming is becoming more and more popular, and meat pigeon breeding techniques have become the topic that farmers care about most. The editor has compiled meat pigeon breeding techniques for everyone here, let's take a look together.
Breeding techniques for meat pigeons at each stage
1. Squab stage
Usually, from hatching to leaving the nest (4 weeks of age), young pigeons must be fed by their parent pigeons to survive, and the pigeon milk fed in the early stage is similar to the milk of mammals, so this stage is called the squab stage. This period is an important time for squabs to gradually adapt to the external environment, and also an important stage of rapid growth and development for squabs.
2. Young pigeon stage
From leaving the nest to before 6 weeks of age is the young pigeon stage. Pigeons in this period are relatively weak, prone to illness, and poor at flying and foraging, so feeding management should be especially strengthened, feeding 35 times a day, with more small-particle feed.
3. Adolescent pigeon stage
Usually 7~10 weeks of age is the adolescent pigeon stage. During this period, the pigeon's body weight changes little, it enters its first molting period, its body resistance declines, and it is susceptible to infectious diseases. Management should be strengthened to prevent the occurrence of diseases.
4. Sexual maturity stage
After 10 weeks of age, meat pigeons gradually enter the sexual maturity stage. This period varies due to breed and individual differences; at the shortest, they pair up and enter the breeding period at 34 months of age, while at the longest, they still cannot pair and breed at 6 months of age. During this period, the pigeon's physique rapidly strengthens and the reproductive system develops faster. They begin to choose mates and pair up.
5. Breeding period
This period is the longest and most important period in a meat pigeon's life. From the start of breeding after pairing to the decline of reproductive ability, it generally lasts 57 years, and can last as long as 10 years. During this period, all organs of the pigeon's body have matured, the physique is strong, and it can best exert its production performance. Therefore, on the basis of maintaining the pigeon's health, its breeding value and economic value should be fully utilized as much as possible.
6. Old age stage
After the reproductive ability of meat pigeons declines, their metabolic capacity, feed utilization rate and production performance gradually decrease, and they lose their feeding value. Except for a few outstanding individuals, they should be culled in time.
What equipment is there for pigeon farming?
Generally includes nest bowls, feed troughs, drinkers, health sand pots, perches, bathtubs, pigeon-catching nets, leg bands, bedding, pairing cages and squab transport cages, etc.
Key points of feeding management for meat pigeons
1. Ensure the comfort of the living environment
Environmental conditions not only affect the health of pigeons, but also affect the exertion of their production performance. Environmental factors affecting pigeon production performance include: temperature, humidity, light, density, noise and dust, etc. Although pigeons have a certain tolerance to various factors, if it exceeds their tolerance capacity, it will affect their production and health.
Therefore, attention must be paid to regulating the four indicators of pigeon house temperature, humidity, ventilation and harmful gas content, achieving warmth in winter and coolness in summer, dryness and cleanliness, and ensuring that the concentration of harmful gases is reduced to within the indicators that do not harm the growth, development and health of meat pigeons.
2. Pay attention to observing the dynamics of the pigeon flock
Pigeons have various dynamic expressions such as doubt, terror, sadness, illness, thirst, hunger, happiness and courtship. These expressions should all be carefully observed, starting from improving feeding management, and satisfying their desires and demands, so that they can exert their various production potentials.
3. Adhere to the feeding principle of small amounts and frequent additions
Feeding small amounts frequently can stimulate the pigeon's appetite, enable parent pigeons to obtain sufficient nutrition, avoid pigeons being picky about food, reduce feed waste, and encourage pigeons to move.
4. Feeding should be quantitative and timed
The daily feed intake of meat pigeons generally accounts for about 1% of their body weight, and will increase slightly in winter and during the lactation period. This amount of feed should be evenly fed in different time periods. Usually, during the lactation period, feed once each at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and 9 p.m. Young pigeons are fed once each at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day, with 15~20 grams per pigeon each time.
5. Add health sand in time
When raising pigeons in large groups, place the health sand in a high, dry and cool place for them to eat freely. For caged meat pigeons, put it separately in a health sand cup or at the other end of the feed trough, separated by a partition. The amount of health sand consumed by meat pigeons is 5%~10% of their feed intake. The health sand should be kept moist and not clog the mouth. To ensure that its effective ingredients are not destroyed or contaminated, it should be replaced every 5~7 days.
6. Bathe frequently
Bathing will make the pigeon's feathers clean, prevent external parasite invasion, stimulate the secretion of growth hormones in the body, and promote muscle growth and development. When the weather is warm, bathe once a day; in hot summer, bathe 2~3 times; when the weather is cold, bathe 1~2 times a week. For young pigeons and adult parent pigeons with an exercise yard, a bathing pool can be made in a corner of the exercise yard. The size of the pool depends on the number of pigeons. A bathing pool with length, width and height of 100 cm, 100 cm and 150 cm respectively can provide 100 pigeons with bathing in turn.
The water used for bathing is best running water, always keeping the pool water clean. For caged parent pigeons, a shower nozzle can be connected above the cage, and the nozzle can be turned on at a fixed time every day for showering, each time lasting about 10 minutes. It is worth noting that parent pigeons that are incubating eggs and brooding squabs within 10 days of age should not be bathed.
Analysis of the prospects for meat pigeon farming
1. Analysis of the economic value of meat pigeons
Pigeon meat is tender and delicious, ranking first among flesh-and-blood products. According to determination, squabs contain more than 17 kinds of amino acids, with the total amino acids reaching as high as 53.9%, and contain more than 10 kinds of trace elements and multiple vitamins. Therefore, pigeon meat is both an ideal food with high protein and low fat, and a high-grade tonic nutritional product.
2. Benefit analysis of meat pigeon farming
Meat pigeons have characteristics such as simple feeding management, low breeding cost and strong adaptability:
① Simple management. Female pigeons lay eggs, hatch by themselves and raise squabs by themselves. Squabs can be marketed when their body weight reaches 500 grams, unlike other poultry whose eggs and chicks all require artificial incubation and feeding, and must be managed according to the three stages of chick, middle and adult. Meat pigeons have strong immunity and relatively strong disease resistance. Destructive diseases that other poultry are susceptible to are not likely to occur in pigeons.
② Low cost. Raising one pigeon requires a cost of 7 yuan, while one adult pigeon can be sold for about 12 yuan at the current market price.
③ Strong adaptability. The suitable temperature for meat pigeons is -4°C-40°C, so they can be raised in all regions of our country.
3. Market analysis of meat pigeons
At the beginning of this century, due to economic prosperity in the United States, people's living consumption levels generally improved, and the dietary structure underwent fundamental changes. Pigeon meat not only entered public places such as hotels and clubs, but with further understanding of the nutritional value of squabs, residents of some countries in Western Europe and Southeast Asia also developed the habit of eating pigeon meat, and a trend of “replacing chicken with pigeon” appeared.
In our country, with economic development and the adjustment of people's dietary structure, domestic meat pigeon consumption has also increased year by year. Hong Kong, China's annual demand for meat pigeons is more than 10 million, and in peak years the annual meat pigeon consumption reached as many as 100 million. In addition, the annual meat pigeon consumption in large cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen is also more than 1 million. At present, our country's pigeon farming industry has transitioned from the initial breeding stock supply stage to the commercial production stage.
The above is our meat pigeon breeding technique. Everyone must remember to adopt reasonable and scientific breeding methods in order to raise healthy meat pigeons and thus create higher profit value. First-time breeders need to start with small-scale farming, not large-scale farming the first time, and should slowly accumulate experience.