A Complete Analysis of the Key Technical Points of Breeding Pigeon Rearing and Management
Selection of Breeding Pigeons
When selecting and retaining breeding pigeons, examine the various production performances of their ancestors, such as the number of clutches laid per year, egg weight, fertilization rate, hatching rate, squab survival rate, and the weight of squabs at 28 days of age; for individual selection, note that the individual weight should be above the average body weight, the whole body feathers should be compact, the female pigeon should have a delicate head, a slender neck, and slightly slender leg shanks; the male pigeon should have a tall and majestic build, strong and powerful legs, and vigorous libido; for pigeons that have already laid, promptly cull the flock: any pigeon whose annual number of clutches does not reach 8 or more, whose male and female are incompatible, whose fertilization rate does not reach 98%, whose squabs reared are of poor quality, or whose broodiness is weak, should all be culled in a timely manner.
Loft Requirements
Oriented facing north with the back to the south, build a double-row shed-style pigeon loft, each row about 23 m long, using 4-tier, 8-compartment integrated metal cages, so that each row can house more than 300 pairs of breeding pigeons. The distance between rows should be 4-5 m.
Rearing and Management
1. Feed formulation: Pigeons have the habit of being picky eaters. For a daily ration in which multiple feeds are mixed together, the order in which they eat the feed is: mung beans → peas → wheat → corn → soybeans → rice → sorghum, etc. Therefore, it is best to formulate pellet feed to avoid picky eating causing a deficiency of certain nutritional components. At the same time, certain components of the feed ingredients should be increased or decreased according to changes in season and production cycle. In hot summer, add mung beans to clear heat and reduce internal fire; in cold winter, add hemp seeds to raise the energy value of the feed; during the molting period, add rapeseed to shorten the molting time. When formulating feed, pay attention to the balance of animal protein, especially essential amino acids. Animal protein is very important for the egg production, fertilization rate, and hatching rate of pigeons, as well as the weight of squabs at 28 days of age.
2. Feeding method: Feed 3 times a day, at fixed times and in fixed amounts. Feeding times are mostly taken as 7:30 in the morning, 2:00 at noon, and 6:00 in the evening; the feeding amount is: about 40 g per pair of pigeons during the non-brooding period. During the brooding period, it is best not to let the feed run out. If not feeding pellet feed, before feeding, first soak the feed in warm water (about 40°C) for 30 minutes, then let it dry slightly before feeding, which is beneficial to the digestion of squabs.
3. Formulation and provision of health grit: The quality and intake of health grit directly affect the growth, development, and reproduction of pigeons. During the reproduction period, the formula for health grit (%): river sand 35, yellow mud 20, shell powder 15, salt 5, lime 2, poultry multivitamin 2, gentian 0.5, gypsum powder 2, eggshell powder 2, bone meal 2, charcoal powder 6, fish meal 5, licorice 1, auxin 1.5, oxytetracycline calcium salt 0.6, yeast tablets 0.4. Pigeons like to eat fresh, dry health grit; therefore, health grit is best provided once a day.
4. Daily management and disease prevention and control
① Daily management should achieve four observations: observe mental state - healthy pigeons are lively, excited, and sensitive; observe eating and drinking - healthy pigeons eat relatively quickly and generally drink water after eating; observe the color and shape of droppings - normal pigeon droppings are gray, yellowish brown, or grayish black, shaped as strips or spirals, with white urate material attached at the end; observe the care of squabs - observe whether squabs are stepped on, crushed, lost, or harmed by rats, etc., to ensure that squabs grow safely and healthily.
② Management during the incubation period: When breeding pigeons are incubating, some male and female pigeons often fight over incubation, thereby stepping on and breaking the eggs, while some breeding pigeons linger outside after coming out to eat, thereby affecting embryonic development and even causing embryo death. For the former situation, re-pair them and have the eggs of that clutch incubated by a foster pigeon; for the latter situation, promptly drive the pigeons back into the nest to incubate and dim the light for them; after 3-5 days, this phenomenon can be avoided.
During incubation, breeding eggs are easily soiled by droppings. Therefore, check frequently. If there is droppings contamination, gently wipe away the droppings with a towel soaked in warm water. This can significantly improve the hatching rate. Never wash with water, otherwise it is unfavorable to embryonic development and may even cause embryo death.
The incubation period of King pigeons is 18 days. During the entire incubation period, candle the eggs 2 times. The 1st time is on the 5th day of incubation, mainly to remove infertile eggs. The inspection method is simple and effective: hold the egg up to the light for examination; if the inside of the egg is yellow and bright, the same as an unincubated egg, then it is an infertile egg; the 2nd candling is on the 12th day of incubation, to check embryonic development and pick out dead embryos.
Some embryos are not robust enough. When hatching, although they have already broken the shell, they are unable to hatch on their own. At this time, manual assistance is needed, that is, use a needle to enlarge the opening along the horizontal diameter of the egg around the pecking hole, and then wait for it to mature and shell itself. If the blood vessels have not yet fully contracted, do not forcibly break the blood vessels, otherwise excessive bleeding will cause death. Through manual assistance, squabs can generally hatch safely, which is an effective measure to increase the hatching rate.
③ Management during the brooding period: For the few first-time breeders that do not know how to feed squabs, give them training, that is, carefully insert the squab's beak into the parent pigeon's mouth. After repeated practice, the parent pigeon will generally feed it, or use a foster pigeon to brood it, so as to ensure the survival of the squab. Change the position of squabs: some parent pigeons, when feeding, always first feed the one near the outside of the nest, causing the two squabs to develop unevenly and also causing the one that is overfed to develop crop impaction and indigestion. Therefore, frequently swap the positions of the two squabs so that they grow evenly and the quality of the squabs is improved. For nests with only 1 egg or 1 squab, according to their similar age in days, combine two single nests or combine three into one. This reduces the burden on the breeding pigeons and allows them to lay eggs earlier, thereby improving the production efficiency of the breeding pigeons.
Generally, 15-18 days after the squabs hatch, the parent pigeons can lay the next clutch of eggs. If the squabs are not allowed to leave the nest in time, it will affect the parent pigeons' egg laying and incubation. As for the time to leave the nest, generally speaking, 12 days of age is suitable in summer, and 15 days of age is suitable in winter. The separation time of squabs from parent pigeons is generally 21 days or 28 days for commercial pigeons, and 28 days or 30 days for breeding pigeons.