Causes of Low Egg Production in Meat Pigeons and Control Methods

Meat pigeons, also called squabs, refer to young pigeons within 4 weeks of age. Their characteristics are: large body size, rich nutrition, high medicinal value, and they are a premium tonic food. The meat is tender and delicious, ranking first among meat products. According to tests, squab contains more than 17 kinds of amino acids, with a total amino acid content as high as 53.9%, and also contains more than 10 kinds of trace elements and multiple vitamins.

Pigeons lay eggs, incubate, and brood throughout the year. They reach sexual maturity at around 6 months of age, the incubation period is 18 days, and the “nursing” period is 30 days. Usually a pair of breeding pigeons produces 5-7 pairs of squabs per year. Pigeons breed by “monogamy.” A female pigeon lays 2 eggs per clutch, that is, generally one egg is laid on the first day, another is laid the next day, and incubation follows immediately. During incubation, the male and female pigeons take turns sitting on the nest; each day the male pigeon takes the day shift (from 9:00 to 16:00), and the female pigeon sits from 16:00 until 9:00 the next day. During incubation, eggs must be collected manually; generally at 4-5 days of incubation, infertile eggs and dead embryo eggs are checked and promptly removed; on the 10th day of incubation, eggs are candled once more to remove dead embryo eggs. If a single pigeon egg is being incubated, it should be merged into a nest promptly.

For female meat pigeons in the normal breeding period, the interval between egg laying is relatively stable, thereby keeping the output of the entire pigeon flock at a certain level. However, during production, abnormal declines in flock egg production are often caused by various reasons. Finding the cause of the decline as quickly as possible and taking measures to correct it is the key to avoiding greater losses. The common causes and prevention and control methods for abnormal declines in egg production in meat pigeon flocks are summarized below for reference.

Insufficient nutrition or imbalanced proportions

The various nutrients in feed are the foundation for all physiological activities of meat pigeons. Insufficient nutrition or improper proportions will affect their normal growth and reproduction, causing weight loss, longer egg-laying intervals, and even cessation of laying. Factors that cause insufficient nutrition or imbalanced proportions include:

Insufficient feeding amount

A pigeon flock may simultaneously contain breeding pigeons at several different reproductive stages, and the nutritional requirements of breeding pigeons at each reproductive stage differ greatly. For example, the feed intake of a certain feed by breeding pigeons during the brooding period can be 2 to 3 times that of breeding pigeons during the incubation period. If the feeding amount for the whole flock is determined according to the feeding standard for breeding pigeons during the incubation period, breeding pigeons in the brooding period will inevitably have relatively insufficient intake.

Breeding pigeons at the same reproductive stage also have different nutritional requirements in different seasons. Generally, as the temperature drops, nutritional requirements gradually increase. If the feeding amount is not adjusted in time according to seasonal changes, insufficient feeding will also occur.

In addition, irregular operations by keepers, such as artificially feeding only a small amount of feed, are also a relatively common cause. In general, abnormal egg production caused by nutritional deficiency due to insufficient feeding, if it occurs in only a few individual pigeon flocks on a pigeon farm, is still considered normal. After finding the cause, as long as feeding is adjusted in time according to the nutritional needs of the breeding pigeons, egg production will generally begin to recover after a few days.

Single type of raw material

Some pigeon farms or pigeon raisers often reduce the variety of raw materials in feed or lower the proportion of a certain ingredient because of raw material sources or price factors, resulting in incomplete nutrition or insufficient content in the feed, which cannot meet the normal nutritional needs of pigeons. Pigeon flocks fed this kind of feed show generally low egg production. Solution: change the diet structure and formulate feed reasonably.

Significant changes in feed composition

Many pigeon farms or pigeon raisers still feed pigeons with raw grain. Significant changes in diet composition make the pigeon flock less adapted to certain newly replaced ingredients, reducing feed intake and causing nutritional deficiency. To reduce the impact of feed replacement on the pigeon flock, change feed gradually from less to more, giving the flock a process of adaptation.

Lack of health sand

For pigeon flocks fed with raw grain, health sand can supplement the deficiency of nutrients such as calcium and phosphorus in the diet, help digest the feed consumed, and play a health-care role. Lack of health sand will inevitably cause a deficiency of certain nutrients in the body of meat pigeons, reduce the pigeons' resistance to adverse conditions, and lead to decreased reproductive performance. To keep flock egg production from changing greatly, suitable health sand is indispensable.

Insufficient light

In winter, the days are short and the nights are long. If appropriate artificial light is not supplemented, too short a lighting time will weaken the reproductive function of breeding pigeons. At the same time, because feeding time is short, the flock's intake will also be low, causing nutritional deficiency and leading to decreased egg production.

Disease

There are many kinds of diseases that cause decreased egg production in pigeon flocks. Some acute infectious diseases, such as Newcastle disease, are easily taken seriously by people, and certain measures are taken to strengthen prevention and control. However, some diseases with hidden infections are often ignored, and the causes of abnormal declines in egg production in production are often the existence of these diseases. Such diseases mainly include:

Internal parasitic diseases

Internal parasites, mainly nematodes, cause no obvious symptoms when pigeons are lightly infected, have no major effect on egg production, or prolong the egg-laying cycle. In severe infections, they can manifest as pale gray cheeks, anemia, emaciation, diarrhea, and cessation of egg laying.

External parasitic diseases such as pigeon lice

Pigeon lice parasitize on the body surface or feathers and bite, making pigeons restless, causing decreased appetite, weakened constitution, and reduced production performance.

Paratyphoid

Adult pigeons show no symptoms after infection, but the ovaries of female pigeons can be affected, causing disordered egg laying or permanent cessation of laying.

Mycoplasmosis

This is a common disease in pigeon flocks caused by avian pathogenic mycoplasma. Sick pigeons have reduced appetite, progressive weight loss, loose feathers, and difficulty breathing. It can also invade the reproductive organs, causing decreased or stopped egg production.

The main methods of disease control include: strengthening quarantine, culling positive pigeons for paratyphoid and mycoplasmosis, regularly deworming internal and external parasites of pigeons, and administering preventive medication. Strengthen environmental sanitation and disinfection, and carry out scientific immunization.

Factors of the pigeon flock itself

Molting

Breeding pigeons generally molt once a year in late summer and early autumn. The molting period lasts 1 month to 2 months. During this period, some pigeons may stop laying, causing a decline in flock egg production. This is related to pigeon feeding and management. If feed is insufficient, water is lacking, or other management work is not kept up, the flock may generally stop laying. Therefore, increasing the nutrition of the pigeon flock and strengthening feeding management during the molting period can reduce the impact of molting on egg production.

Breeding pigeons being too fat

During the feeding process, if pigeons cannot be fed reasonably according to their different physiological stages, if the feed amount is too high for a long time, or if the proportion of energy substances in the feed is too high, breeding pigeons will become too fat. After breeding pigeons become too fat, their reproductive performance declines, and the resulting abnormal egg production is generally gradual, with the decline increasing as the number of overweight breeding pigeons increases.

Stress

The degree of abnormal egg production caused by stress is related to the intensity and duration of the stress. Strong and sustained stress can seriously affect production performance. Common stress factors include: high temperature, high humidity, low temperature, lack of water, feed deprivation, noise, vaccination, harmful gases, and so on. Stress control mainly involves eliminating stress factors, creating a comfortable and quiet living environment for the pigeon flock, implementing standardized operations, reasonably adjusting feed nutrition, and using certain drugs such as antibiotics as needed.