Key Technical Points and Methods for Natural Incubation of Meat Pigeons
Natural Incubation Techniques for Meat Pigeons
After pigeons are paired up, they proceed to reproduce, with the female pigeon crouching in the nest bowl for extended periods. After the second egg is laid, the parent pigeons begin incubating. During the incubation process, the following management tasks should be noted and carried out:
( 1 ) Keep the environment quiet, avoid external disturbances and stress factors, and provide appropriate shading for the pigeon cage when necessary to encourage the parent pigeons to focus on incubation.
( 2 ) The nest padding should ideally be double-layered old burlap, with chaff or wood shavings or dry fine sand underneath the burlap, with dry fine sand being the most ideal. The thickness in the nest bowl should be 2-3 cm. The keeper should check egg-laying and incubation conditions daily, and promptly remove any eggs found to be damaged.
( 3 ) Increase the nutritional level of feed during the incubation period, ensuring crude protein content reaches 18-20%, and the energy level should be increased accordingly. This gives the parent pigeons a strong constitution and lays a good foundation for brooding squabs. Prevent eggshells from being soiled with feces, because pathogens may invade the egg and cause embryo death. If feces have already contaminated the shell, it can be wiped clean with gauze.
( 4 ) Egg candling is an essential task. Candle the eggs once each on the 5th day and 10th day of incubation. During the first candling, if red-brown blood vessels distributed in a spider-web pattern are found inside the egg and the shape is stable, it is a fertilized egg and should be left to continue incubating. If blood vessels are present but appear as a single thick line in a "U" shape, it is a dead germ egg. If the egg is transparent with no blood vessels, it is an infertile egg. Dead germ eggs and infertile eggs should be removed. On the 10th day of incubation, perform the second candling. If most of the egg appears dark while the other end forms a relatively translucent blank area due to the enlarged air cell, it indicates the embryo is developing healthily. If the dark and light areas inside the egg are not distinct, the contents are unstable, there is a sense of fluctuation when turning the egg, and the eggshell appears gray, it is a dead embryo egg and should be promptly removed.
( 5 ) Promptly carry out egg merging, because merging eggs is one of the effective measures to improve the reproductive capacity of meat pigeons. After removing infertile eggs, dead germ eggs and dead embryo eggs, merge 2 eggs per nest into one nest, and merge the remaining eggs into other nests with the same incubation period or a difference of 1 day. Merging nests is best done after 10 days. If nests are merged before 10 days, the empty-nest breeding pigeons only need about 8 days to lay eggs again. Early egg-laying will affect the pigeon's physical recovery, and the next clutch may be weak, or phenomena such as infertile eggs, dead germ eggs and dead embryo eggs may occur.
( 6 ) Mastering the hatching date is crucial. 7-8 days after the second candling, pay attention to observing the hatching situation of the squabs. If hatching is genuinely difficult, manual assistance is needed. Generally, when incubation has reached 18 days and only a small hole has been pecked in the shell surface, manual assistance to break the shell is needed. If the incubation period has exceeded 18 days and the egg has not been pecked, the embryo may have died. The appearance of newly hatched squabs is shown in Figure 5-4.
( 7 ) The incubation temperature for pigeons is very important, and an appropriate temperature should be maintained. In winter, the room temperature should be kept at at least 5°C or above. If the temperature is too low, heating should be added to the room, otherwise the embryos may freeze to death in the early incubation stage. In hot summer weather, reduce the padding appropriately, open doors and windows, and turn on exhaust fans to keep the room temperature below 32°C, otherwise stillbirths may occur in the late incubation stage.
( 1 ) Keep the environment quiet, avoid external disturbances and stress factors, and provide appropriate shading for the pigeon cage when necessary to encourage the parent pigeons to focus on incubation.
( 2 ) The nest padding should ideally be double-layered old burlap, with chaff or wood shavings or dry fine sand underneath the burlap, with dry fine sand being the most ideal. The thickness in the nest bowl should be 2-3 cm. The keeper should check egg-laying and incubation conditions daily, and promptly remove any eggs found to be damaged.
( 3 ) Increase the nutritional level of feed during the incubation period, ensuring crude protein content reaches 18-20%, and the energy level should be increased accordingly. This gives the parent pigeons a strong constitution and lays a good foundation for brooding squabs. Prevent eggshells from being soiled with feces, because pathogens may invade the egg and cause embryo death. If feces have already contaminated the shell, it can be wiped clean with gauze.
( 4 ) Egg candling is an essential task. Candle the eggs once each on the 5th day and 10th day of incubation. During the first candling, if red-brown blood vessels distributed in a spider-web pattern are found inside the egg and the shape is stable, it is a fertilized egg and should be left to continue incubating. If blood vessels are present but appear as a single thick line in a "U" shape, it is a dead germ egg. If the egg is transparent with no blood vessels, it is an infertile egg. Dead germ eggs and infertile eggs should be removed. On the 10th day of incubation, perform the second candling. If most of the egg appears dark while the other end forms a relatively translucent blank area due to the enlarged air cell, it indicates the embryo is developing healthily. If the dark and light areas inside the egg are not distinct, the contents are unstable, there is a sense of fluctuation when turning the egg, and the eggshell appears gray, it is a dead embryo egg and should be promptly removed.
( 5 ) Promptly carry out egg merging, because merging eggs is one of the effective measures to improve the reproductive capacity of meat pigeons. After removing infertile eggs, dead germ eggs and dead embryo eggs, merge 2 eggs per nest into one nest, and merge the remaining eggs into other nests with the same incubation period or a difference of 1 day. Merging nests is best done after 10 days. If nests are merged before 10 days, the empty-nest breeding pigeons only need about 8 days to lay eggs again. Early egg-laying will affect the pigeon's physical recovery, and the next clutch may be weak, or phenomena such as infertile eggs, dead germ eggs and dead embryo eggs may occur.
( 6 ) Mastering the hatching date is crucial. 7-8 days after the second candling, pay attention to observing the hatching situation of the squabs. If hatching is genuinely difficult, manual assistance is needed. Generally, when incubation has reached 18 days and only a small hole has been pecked in the shell surface, manual assistance to break the shell is needed. If the incubation period has exceeded 18 days and the egg has not been pecked, the embryo may have died. The appearance of newly hatched squabs is shown in Figure 5-4.
( 7 ) The incubation temperature for pigeons is very important, and an appropriate temperature should be maintained. In winter, the room temperature should be kept at at least 5°C or above. If the temperature is too low, heating should be added to the room, otherwise the embryos may freeze to death in the early incubation stage. In hot summer weather, reduce the padding appropriately, open doors and windows, and turn on exhaust fans to keep the room temperature below 32°C, otherwise stillbirths may occur in the late incubation stage.