Breeding pigeon management experience sharing, a must-read for pigeon keepers

Pigeons that have been transferred from growing pigeons to paired pigeons are called breeding pigeons; adult pigeons that have been paired and are preparing to lay eggs or are incubating and brooding are called laying pigeons; pigeons that are already raising squabs are called parent pigeons. Since breeding pigeons have different physiological characteristics and breeding purposes at different production stages, different technical measures should be adopted in feeding management to ensure economic benefits.

1. Feeding management during the newly paired period Whether pigeons are paired freely or paired artificially, they must all wear numbered leg bands, and the leg band number must match the nest box number, with records kept for checking. If breeding pigeons are paired artificially, it still takes time for them to build mutual affection, generally 2—3 days. If fighting behavior occurs, they should be isolated promptly; if pairing still fails after 3—4 days of isolation, they should be re-paired to avoid unnecessary injuries and deaths. Pigeons that have already been paired should undergo nest-recognition training.

Nest-recognition training is used more often in artificial pairing. For freely paired pigeons, it is enough to transfer one bird into the other's loft, and nest-recognition training is not needed. The specific method of nest-recognition training is as follows: every morning and afternoon, or after feeding every afternoon, release the pigeons confined in the nest boxes to move about. After releasing them once in the morning, drive them back into the nest boxes before the next feeding, and let them eat inside the nest boxes; if they do not return to the nest boxes, catch them back one by one. After releasing them in the afternoon, if any do not return to the nest boxes by evening, catch them back as well. After repeating this for 3—4 days, the pigeons can basically recognize their nests. For the few pigeons that do not return to the nest, the keeper should drive or catch them back. Once all the newly paired pigeons can recognize their nests, the pigeons can be allowed to move freely. Because nest-recognition training takes considerable labor and requires high equipment conditions, if the purpose is not to breed breeding pigeons but to produce commercial meat pigeons, it is best to use free pairing to reduce the time spent on nest-recognition training. After pairing, pigeons have higher nutritional requirements: metabolic energy 17.72—12.14 MJ/kg, crude protein content 15%—16%, and attention should be paid to supplying fresh drinking water and sufficient health grit.

2. Feeding management during the incubation period Newly paired breeding pigeons will mate and lay eggs after they develop affection through contact with each other and become familiar with the surrounding environment. Generally, the first egg is laid around 4 p.m. about 10 days after mating, and another egg is laid 1 day later. After that, the male and female pigeons take turns incubating the eggs. Before the pigeons lay eggs, the keeper should promptly spread nest straw on the nest bowl and provide each pair of laying pigeons with a record card to promptly record the laying time of the breeding pigeons; conditions such as fertilization, broken eggs, dead embryos, and dead sperm; the date and number of hatching, sale, retention for breeding, and transfer, so as to promptly discover problems in production and take effective measures, and also to provide a scientific basis for selection, mating, purification, and rejuvenation.

During the incubation period of breeding pigeons, the hygiene of the nest bowl should be maintained. If bedding or burlap is found to be dirty or wet, it should be replaced promptly; otherwise it can easily cause embryonic infection and dead embryos. At the same time, during the 18-day incubation period, eggs should be candled 2 times to remove infertile eggs and dead embryo eggs, and the remaining eggs should be combined into nests according to the same day or a difference of 1 day, so that laying pigeons without incubation tasks can lay eggs earlier. Candling should be carried out on the fourth to fifth days and the tenth to thirteenth days. At the same time, check the quality of the breeding eggs. If 1 egg is laid or deformed eggs, soft-shelled eggs, or sand-shelled eggs appear, carefully investigate whether daily management measures have been implemented and whether the mixing and supply method of health grit is reasonable, so as to promptly improve feeding management methods and the quality of health grit and reduce the occurrence of deformed eggs, soft-shelled eggs, and sand-shelled eggs.

Severe cold and extreme heat both directly affect normal incubation of eggs. If the weather is cold, it easily causes early embryo death, so increase bedding in the nest, keep the pigeon loft warm, appropriately increase the supply of energy feed in the diet, and appropriately supply some sugar in the health grit so that the breeding pigeons produce enough heat to resist the cold. If the weather is hot, late-stage embryos may die from heat or have difficulty hatching, so reduce heating feeds, strengthen ventilation and air exchange in the pigeon loft, and lower the temperature inside the loft. If conditions permit, spray the roof with cold water and install ventilation equipment.

Pigeon eggs generally hatch in 18 days. If a pigeon has already pipped the shell but cannot hatch, it should be helped to hatch manually. After hatching, the new pigeon will carry the eggshell out of the nest box. If the eggshell remains in the nest box, it should be taken out to avoid accidentally injuring the squab. Within two or three days after hatching, attention should be paid to managing the parent pigeons, and strangers should be prevented from entering the pigeon loft. The external environment should also be kept quiet to prevent the breeding pigeons from crushing the squabs.

3. Feeding management during the brooding period Feeding management during this period is very important, as it concerns whether the squabs can grow and develop normally and whether the laying pigeons can lay the next clutch of eggs as soon as possible. First, increase the nutritional level of the feed, requiring protein feed to reach 30%—40% and energy feed to account for 60%—70%, so as to improve the production capacity of the laying pigeons. For health grit, on the basis of the usual ingredients, increase the supply of oyster shell flakes, growth promoters, trace elements, multivitamins, and yeast tablets, and in summer appropriately add antibiotics such as oxytetracycline base to promote intestinal digestion and absorption and enhance disease resistance.

Generally, 2 hours after the squab hatches, the parent pigeons will feed air mouth-to-mouth to the squab so that the squab adapts to receiving pigeon milk. From 4—5 hours after hatching, the parent pigeons begin to feed the squab, delivering very thin pigeon milk into the mouth. During this period, observe carefully. If the squab still has not been fed by the parent pigeons 5—6 hours after hatching, promptly isolate and treat the parent pigeons and combine the squab into another nest. If the parent pigeons are inexperienced, they should be trained. If the female pigeon does not have good maternal instinct, move the squab away as early as possible and combine it into another nest or rear it artificially to prevent it from being trampled to death.

During the breeding season, under normal circumstances, regardless of whether the squab dies midway or is naturally weaned, as long as there is no squab in the nest, the parent pigeons will lay another clutch of eggs within 1—2 weeks. For parent pigeons with good reproductive performance, they generally lay the second clutch when the previous squab reaches 15—18 days of age. In this way, the parent pigeons must both brood the previous squab and undertake the incubation task of the second clutch, so the following points should be noted in feeding management:

(1) Feed the parent pigeons a nutritionally rich and comprehensive daily diet to ensure that the parent pigeons have good physical strength to brood the squabs and incubate the breeding eggs, while also ensuring that the squabs can continue to grow and develop normally.

(2) If the parent pigeons are physically unable to handle both tasks, the second clutch of eggs must be taken away so that the parent pigeons can concentrate on caring for the squabs. Avoid the phenomenon that after only a few days of incubation the squabs become thin and weak and stop growing and developing.

(3) If conditions permit, artificial brooding or forced fattening can be carried out so that the parent pigeons concentrate on incubating eggs.

(4) For caged pigeons, place the nest bowl with eggs on the small iron rack in the upper part of the cage, and place the nest bowl with squabs on the cage bottom in the lower part of the cage, so that the parent pigeons can incubate eggs with peace of mind. For pigeons raised in groups of nest boxes, separate the eggs and squabs in 2 adjacent nest boxes to completely avoid interference from the squabs.

4. Feeding management during the molting period Breeding pigeons generally molt once in late summer each year, lasting 1—2 months. During the molting period, some breeding pigeons stop laying eggs. For better breeds of high-yielding pigeons, the phenomenon of stopping production during molting is not obvious, and normal feeding management can be followed.

In order to shorten the molting and non-laying period and ensure normal production after molting, when the pigeon flock generally molts, reduce the protein quality of the feed and the amount fed, or stop feeding during the peak molting period and provide only drinking water, prompting the flock to molt rapidly within a unified period due to insufficient nutrition. After the peak molting period, gradually restore the original feeding level and add some feeds helpful for feather growth and physical recovery, such as hempseed, sunflower seeds, rapeseed, and sesame, to the daily diet, so as to promote earlier entry into the growth period. Among group-raised pigeons, if a few pigeons still molt while incubating eggs and brooding squabs during the molting period, they should be isolated and raised and given a complete-price diet. During the molting period, note that originally paired parent pigeons may separate due to differences in the timing and speed of molting and find new mates, forming new couples, causing disorder in the original flock order and affecting normal production after molting. For pigeons not kept in cages, mating and egg laying can only occur after the other pigeon has finished molting and is in heat, which is also unfavorable for early return to normal production. Therefore, in addition to measures to promote concentrated molting in a short period, for pigeons found to have found new mates, the originally paired pigeons should be confined until the entire flock has finished molting and entered the mating and egg-laying stage, and then released.

Because breeding pigeons generally reduce production during the molting period, and some breeding pigeons have a relatively long molting period, it is best to use this period to make 1 adjustment to the breeding pigeons. Comprehensively check the production situation of the breeding pigeons, and in combination with archive data, cull breeding pigeons with poor production performance, long molting periods, and older age. In addition, select young pigeons with good genes, robust physique, and beautiful body shape from reserve breeding pigeons to supplement them. At the same time, carry out internal and external deworming, disinfect the internal and external environment of the loft and appliances such as pigeon cages, nest bowls, and water troughs, and create a fresh and comfortable production environment for the breeding pigeons.