A Detailed Guide to the Basics of Meat Pigeon Breeding Management
The basic knowledge of meat pigeon breeding management includes three aspects: squab rearing, young pigeon rearing, and breeding pigeon management. The details are as follows:
Squab Rearing
Pigeons from hatching to 28 days of age are collectively called squabs (in some regions, those from birth to 10 days of age are called newly hatched squabs, and those from 10 to 20 days of age are called squabs).
Two hours after the squab hatches, the parent pigeon begins to blow air and secrete pigeon milk into its beak. After another 2 hours, the parent pigeon begins to feed it pigeon milk. At this time the squab is small and weak and prone to dying, so management must be strengthened. First, observe carefully and take care to prevent it from being trampled or frozen to death by the breeding pigeon. If the newly hatched squab still cannot get pigeon milk after 5 to 6 hours, find out the cause promptly (if necessary, feed the squab artificial pigeon milk). If the parent pigeon is found not to nurse, it can be fostered by a breeding pigeon at the same stage, which can also prevent some parent pigeons from feeding only a single squab and improve production capacity.
After 3 to 4 days of age, the squab's eyes slowly open, its body gradually becomes stronger, feathers begin to grow, its food intake gradually increases, and its digestion becomes stronger. At this time the parent pigeon must frequently nurse the squab, sometimes as many as a dozen times a day, so the feed supplied to the parent pigeon must be sufficient and rich in nutrition to meet the demand. At this time the squab's droppings increase, easily contaminating the nest, so the pad cloth and bedding straw should be replaced promptly every day to prevent disease.
At 10 days of age, the squab has grown many new feathers and can move about on its own. The parent pigeon shortens the time it keeps the squab warm, and the food the parent pigeon feeds changes from pigeon milk to semi-granular feed. A few squabs fail to adapt fully and often develop indigestion and ingluvitis. When this happens, promptly supplement by feeding some yeast tablets or stomachic medicine to help digestion.
At 15 days of age, the squab's whole body is basically fully feathered and it moves freely. It can be taken out of the nest, and a piece of cloth 20 cm × 20 cm can be spread in the cage to let it gradually adapt without spraining its feet. At this time the feed given by the parent pigeon is granular and the same as the feed they eat, and most parent pigeons begin laying eggs again and have no interest in feeding the squab, so manual feeding should be added during this period.
After 20 days of age, the squab has full feathers and can move around the cage, but it still cannot completely peck for food on its own and still relies on the parent pigeon, though it can actively beg food from the parent pigeon. At this time the parent pigeon will force it to feed independently. Management should be strengthened at this point, and more high-protein feed should be supplied to meet the squab's needs. When the squab grows to 25 to 28 days of age, its body weight can reach 500 to 750 grams and it can be sold (at this time the squab is called a young pigeon).
Young Pigeon Rearing
From 28 days of age when it leaves the nest until transfer to another group, where conditions permit it is best to achieve the "three unchanged": feeding in the same place, feeding by the same keepers, and the same feed unchanged. This promotes normal growth and development of the squab. Young pigeons within 2 months of age are difficult to rear because they go from being fed by the parent pigeon to living independently, so rearing management must be strengthened, with attention to keeping warm and ventilated, strengthening the supply of health grit and the nutrition of the feed, and increasing disease resistance so they grow and develop normally. At this time, achieve the "three looks and three checks": the "three looks" are looking at activity, looking at appetite, and looking at droppings; the "three checks" are checking whether they have eaten feed, checking whether they are too crowded, and checking whether they have been bitten and injured. Those that cannot get feed can be fed separately, those bitten and injured should be cared for promptly, and aggressive ones should be raised separately; if crowded, the group can be expanded. At 2 months of age, the squab begins molting, and protein feed in the diet should be appropriately increased to promote feather renewal. Add 5% hemp seed to the feed, add Chinese medicinal herbs such as Andrographis paniculata or gentian to the health grit, and add a small amount of antibiotics to the drinking water in a planned way to prevent respiratory diseases and paratyphoid. During this period, pay special attention to the hygiene of the cages and houses and the feeding and drinking utensils, and wash and disinfect them on time. At 3 to 4 months of age, secondary sexual characteristics begin to appear and activity capacity becomes stronger and stronger. At this time, selection of the superior and elimination of the inferior should be carried out, males and females should be raised separately, or they should be forced into cages for pairing, and the pigeon flock should be dewormed to ensure normal growth and development.
Young pigeons gradually begin pairing at 5 months of age. By 6 months of age they have reached sexual maturity, and most of the primary flight feathers have been replaced down to the last 1, at which point they have basically entered the breeding pigeon stage.
Breeding Pigeon Rearing
1. Do the preparatory work before egg laying
Egg laying begins 8 to 10 days after pairing. At this time, where conditions permit, they should be raised in cages (or transferred to a pigeon house with laying nests), and a laying nest should be prepared with 1 layer of linen cloth spread inside to prevent the eggs from breaking. Check the cages and houses for holes to prevent disturbance by cats, dogs, snakes, and rats or invasion by drafts and rain leakage, which would cause undue losses.
2. Do the management work from egg laying to before hatching
① After egg laying, promptly check for deformed eggs and broken eggs and remove them in time when found. For first-time laying pigeons, often observe whether the egg nest is fixed and whether the 2 eggs are concentrated in the central bottom of the egg nest.
② For newly paired birds, observe whether they are harmonious and whether they often jump around and peck and fight each other, causing eggs to be stepped on and broken. Take special care in nursing large-bodied pigeons to prevent them from crushing the eggs, and even more to prevent pigeons with incomplete nutrition or feather-pecking vices from pecking and eating the breeding eggs.
③ Carry out egg candling on time, handle bad eggs promptly, and remove infertile eggs, dead sperm eggs, and dead embryo eggs in time to prevent the eggs from rotting and affecting normally developing eggs and the health of the laying pigeons. If infertile eggs and dead embryos are found, find out the cause and improve the management system.
3. Merge eggs laid at the same time for paired incubation
For those that lay 1 egg per clutch or have 1 egg left after 2 candlings, eggs laid at the same time should be merged for paired incubation to improve productivity.
4. The egg nest should be kept warm and clean
Prepare double egg nests, and pay attention to keeping warm after the squab is born. Frequently replace the linen cloth (dry straw) and frequently wash away the droppings in the egg nest to keep it clean and hygienic. When the squab is 12 days of age, another egg nest should be placed in reserve, because at this time the breeding pigeon begins laying the second clutch, which is laid at around 15 days. The breeding pigeon bears the dual tasks of nursing and incubating, so at this stage even more careful rearing management is needed, increasing feed nutrition and increasing the number of feedings to ensure the breeding pigeon completes its dual tasks.
5. Do the registration and record-keeping work well
Keep production records of the laying pigeons at all times to provide an important numerical basis for future rearing management.