# What are the months where pigeons breed??



## Soliton (Sep 17, 2007)

can anyone tell me the months for breeding pigeons and what should i do if its not breeding season should i separate the hens from the cocks???


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

Let's see...there's January, February, March, and then April and May and. June and...

LOL! I'm sorry I couldn't resist 

Mine don't seem to care what month it is...and soon as they finish a round of baby raising they take a couple weeks off and start acting like they think eggs would be a fun thing to have...


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*It Depends*

HI SOLITON, It depends on where you live if one lives in the warmer states like Southern Cal .,or Florida one can start in January-April I live in So. Cal.so by the end of April I separate the hens and cocks.Now if you live up north where it gets much colder you would have to start later and would need a warm loft and would need to use lights to extend the day light.I feelthat if you live up north in a colder area someone that lives inyour area is better qualified to tell you. So your question should also state where you live that way people that live in your area can give the correct advice. .GEORGE


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## Royaltypigeon (May 22, 2005)

Soliton said:


> can anyone tell me the months for breeding pigeons and what should i do if its not breeding season should i separate the hens from the cocks???


 I;ll answer your 2nd question first,,
Yes,, you really should seperate whan you have the space,, your cocks from your hens... I have a prisoner section where I don't have room to do that,, but after knowing your birds cycle,, you can work around seperating them...
Question # 1
Like George said,, it all depends on where you live to a point,, and even more importantly,, what do you want to do?,, Do you have a plan?
Are you raising show birds?,,, racing birds?
Some people think that racing lofts just breed their birds to suit ther needs for racing,, but,, thats not entirely true,, they breed from Jan. thru March,, sometimes April as late breds,, because thats the best time for the pigeons in general.. 
I live in Kansas,,, we have both extremes,,, 100 degree weather,, and 20 to 30 below zero weather,,, But pigeons are a hearty breed,, they can handle that weather better than most humans,, especially myself,, its hard on an old fart like me..
After April,, your birds need a good rest,, and then in Sept.. they go into moult,, its hard on a pigeon to be raising young when in the moulting season,, they will hold off the moult when raising young because thay have to,, but,, its not suggested if you can avoid it..
When showing,,, if you have a pouter breed,, the judge also looks at their performance in the pen,,, they like to strut their stuff,, so to speak,,, and a Jan. bird will be farther along than a March bird... And you can't race Young birds,, or show young birds with out a band stating the year born.. So,, the earliest you can get some young in your loft,,, the better...
And Light in your loft will go along ways toward getting them ready and excited to start breeding nice healthy young in Jan, if they have had plenty of time to rest,,, get healthy,, and ready to start a new year for you...
Gary H.


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## Soliton (Sep 17, 2007)

thanks guys for the info and by the way, im not from the u.s im from the philippines. pigeons here aren't that quite popular to most people cause i think that breeding pigeons requires a lot of money and attention, and as you know my country isn't rich, only the one's that can afford the expenses raises pigeons here but there are also those who try to raise pigeons without money like me, i try my best to take care of my pigeons they just need time and care.

another question how do you pair your breeders?? do you cage the hens with the cocks that you want or do you just let them choose their mates??? im breeding racing pigeons.


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

there is no sepecific month but as breeders we have noticed that they will stop laying for a few months like of they are taking a break. I live in a tropical country so weather is good all year round. Most breeders stop breeding during winter to reduce complications.


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

as you are breeding for winners you need to have seperate lofts for each sexes and keep them there when they are not breeding. When you decide on a pair you should move them to a breeding cage. I too am planning to get a set of breeding cages installed once i get some cash


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## Soliton (Sep 17, 2007)

yeah i noticed that too. last month they laid eggs but this month september i think theyre taking a rest. maybe nov. or early dec. they will be busy again. i live in a tropical country too, im from the philippines so the weather is good just the occasional down pours.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Soliton said:


> can anyone tell me the months for breeding pigeons and what should i do if its not breeding season should i separate the hens from the cocks???



We live in south central Penn and our system calls for winter breeding. The birds are paired so that the first young are ready to band the 1st week of January. This requires adjusting day light hours with special lights and feeding.

The sexes are seperated by May and remain seperated until they are put together again around Dec 1st. The weather does play a role, in that if we have very cold weather when the 1st egg is laid, it may freeze. We do not introduce any heat into the loft so I do place feed into each nest box so the sitting birds do not have to waste valuable time away from the nest.

These early birds are sexually mature by race time, and we use this to our advantage in terms of motivating the birds.

If you are not racing then this type of a program will not apply to your situation, but I would discourage having pigeons breeding all year round, as they are not chickens, and this will wear the parents down and cause them to produce poor young. As a general rule, I only allow my birds to raise three rounds, and only allow my hens to lay three sets of eggs. I sometimes will use foster parents for special pairs and will switch hens on exceptional cocks in order to produce more offspring from him.


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