# How to tell a young pigeon's Age



## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

Is it better to tell a young pigeon's age in months or in feathers, like here people use to say that it is 0 feather or 6 or 10 feather


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

The band which should be used would have the year of hatching, if wanted to sell young birds then by weeks. never heard of feathers.. but I guess you can use the word "feathers" instead of the word "weeks". as long as the point gets across.


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## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

Yes, actually the young bird use to drop their feathers one by one as they wean

Ten of the first feathers are dropped and grow again in a period of six to seven months, as the bird's tenth feather (ie the first flight feather) fully grows, bird is considered to be ready for breeding.

In this part of the world people use the term of '0 kali' means 0 feather are dropped and similarly according to the feather that is dropped.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pijlover said:


> Yes, actually the young bird use to drop their feathers one by one as they wean
> 
> Ten of the first feathers are dropped and grow again in a period of six to seven months, as the bird's tenth feather (ie the first flight feather) fully grows, bird is considered to be ready for breeding.
> 
> In this part of the world people use the term of '0 kali' means 0 feather are dropped and similarly according to the feather that is dropped.


that would not be their true age though.. so weeks sound accurate and easier.. but also a mention on how his feathers are doing sounds like a nice thing to add to his age.


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## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> that would not be their true age though.. so weeks sound accurate and easier.. but also a mention on how his feathers are doing sounds like a nice thing to add to his age.


Yes, a healthy bird will reproduce his ten feathers in six months, otherwise will take more time

If you check a YB you will notice a smaller feather that will be in the process of growing, certainly will not tell his age but in the absence of bands that will be the best solution to find weeks or months

If you see a all the feathers fully grown means that the bird is ready for breeding (that is how i learnt when i started this hobby)


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I have to admit, Iam not aware of my young birds feathers and his molt as I have never really had a reason too. I know if they are under 30 days of age.. once they are weaned the band tells me the year he hatched. for folks who do not use bands or don't keep track of the age of their squeakers sounds like a good way to tell.


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## Pijlover (May 5, 2010)

The picture may not be very clear, but you can see that the first primary feather is small in size

That will be the last to drop and grow in the process, you can count ten feathers starting from this smaller one that will complete its moult


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## carolecraig (Jul 31, 2010)

Question: I have a PMV rescue. She has just begun to get the iridescent feathers on her neck. How old would that make her?


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

carolecraig said:


> Question: I have a PMV rescue. She has just begun to get the iridescent feathers on her neck. How old would that make her?


This thread is from 2012.

Pigeons wean around four weeks of age or so, they sexually mature around 5 to 6 months of age, so your bird may be just maturing, so a guess would be 4 to 6 months of age.


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