# Breeding Season



## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

How many of you guys and gals are pairing up this weekend? I put them together on Thanksgiving weekend the past two years. This year, I think Im going to wait a couple more months.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

SouthTown Racers said:


> How many of you guys and gals are pairing up this weekend? I put them together on Thanksgiving weekend the past two years. This year, I think Im going to wait a couple more months.
> 
> HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!


I was planning on letting them pair up this weekend. What is your reason to wait this time around?


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## avian (Sep 6, 2010)

I already paired up a few of them last weekend
should carry on to the others this weekend


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## Andyfitz (May 29, 2010)

jAxTecH said:


> I was planning on letting them pair up this weekend. What is your reason to wait this time around?


When do you plan on having the first round of eggs hatch?


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

Andyfitz said:


> When do you plan on having the first round of eggs hatch?





Flapdoodle said:


> Pairing Spreadsheet


Flapadoodle has a pairing spreadsheet you can look through.


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## Andyfitz (May 29, 2010)

jAxTecH said:


> Flapadoodle has a pairing spreadsheet you can look through.


Thank you that is usefull. guess my next question is if the fist pair s hatched on the 23rd won't they be hard to band since you can not get the 2011 bands till the 1st of the year?


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I'm pairing up this weekend  So excited! Mine aren't hard to band, because I delay things a bit. I won't put a nest bowl/materials in until the 1st (next wednesday). Then it takes about 10 days for eggs to come, putting them about the 11th. Then they hatch on the 28th and I band them on the 1st! 


Edit: Since mine aren't separated at the moment, it will probably take even longer for them to mate up. So I'm fine either way. Some of my birds just 'click' with others really easily so they are right on time. I need to clean out my breeding cages today, and then I'll probably go ahead and put the hens in the cages, so they might be a bit more receptive to their new lovers come Saturday  Really I should have already had them separated in cages, so there's no chance the babies have different dads. But oh well  Most of them have been on fake eggs so I think they'll be fine.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Old man winter is just starting to get a grip here in Nebraska. I think I'll wait till the end of January to start mating. I just can't see raising babies in below zero weather.
Dave


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

I'll be pairing mine over the weekend also. Good luck everyone!


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## garacari (Apr 26, 2010)

I just finished the new breeding loft two weeks ago. Just in time!


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

I am going to pair mine up this following week. Fortunately, living here in the central valley in California, the coldest it ever gets here is in the high 20's, and that is rare.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

bbcdon said:


> I am going to pair mine up this following week. Fortunately, living here in the central valley in California, the coldest it ever gets here is in the high 20's, and that is rare.


Same here!....


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

The coldest parts of the winter normally doesn't go very far below 20. I have went hunting on 18 degree mornings. I've seen it get in the single digits here, but that was a while ago. Most of my breeders will have the luxury of a incadescent light, so their water doesn't freeze, and it's a nice place for me to hide from the cold wind, LOL.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

I put my pairs together last night in my Top pair coop. I know they might be a lil big on the first when I get the bands since I figured they'd be 10 to 12 days old. Maybe a lil bigger then you'd like but they won't be too big maybe I'll need a lil soap or somthing to help them slide on a lil easier but they'll be fine. I'm gonna go get some pine needles and throw them in there in a lil while so they can build their nests. Then I'm gonna put the pairs together in my other breeding coop tonight.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

It get's pretty cold here not as cold as other places but we get a good number of days where it doesn't make it out of the teens. I've always bred early then a few years ago sombody talked me into waiting until the begining of Febuary to put my birds together. Saying you raise better birds when it's warmer and you don't have to worry about hawks as much when you first let them out. Well that young bird season was my worse year I had in a long time. Plus that January wound up being one of the warmest ever we had days in the 50's and 60's the whole month one day was even in the high 70's. I was so pissed I didn't have my pairs together like I normally had them.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

jAxTecH said:


> I was planning on letting them pair up this weekend. What is your reason to wait this time around?


The birds will get there just in time then. I am sending them out Next Tuesday. So they will only be a week behind.


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## hasseian_313 (Oct 31, 2009)

i breed all year but for flyers ill pair up in feb so by spring ill have some flyers


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

Pigeon0446 said:


> I put my pairs together last night in my Top pair coop. *I know they might be a lil big on the first when I get the bands since I figured they'd be 10 to 12 days old. Maybe a lil bigger then you'd like but they won't be too big maybe I'll need a lil soap or somthing to help them slide on a lil easier but they'll be fine*. I'm gonna go get some pine needles and throw them in there in a lil while so they can build their nests. Then I'm gonna put the pairs together in my other breeding coop tonight.


Are you serious? I bred a 99 cock to a 2001 hen and one of the eggs was destroyed but the other was fine. So with 2 birds feeding a single squeaker at 5 days old I almost broke the poor guys leg trying to slide the band over his ankle or "cankle" as the case maybe.

Now I'm thinking I better band sooner because that baby bird's foot was huge. Is it really that important to have them banded on New Years day?

I talked to an old timer in the club and he told me to "pre-mate" them. He said an aggressive cock will scalp a hen and thats no way "to treat a lady". He told me to build a divider so they can see each other but the cock can't get to then hen. He also suggested to put the birds on a full spectrum fluorescent grow light. He said keep it on until 9pm..will give the birds 14hrs of light and the birds will breed faster.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

jAxTecH said:


> Are you serious? I bred a 99 cock to a 2001 hen and one of the eggs was destroyed but the other was fine. So with 2 birds feeding a single squeaker at 5 days old I almost broke the poor guys leg trying to slide the band over his ankle or "cankle" as the case maybe.
> 
> Now I'm thinking I better band sooner because that baby bird's foot was huge. Is it really that important to have them banded on New Years day?
> 
> I talked to an old timer in the club and he told me to "pre-mate" them. He said an aggressive cock will scalp a hen and thats no way "to treat a lady". He told me to build a divider so they can see each other but the cock can't get to then hen. He also suggested to put the birds on a full spectrum fluorescent grow light. He said keep it on until 9pm..will give the birds 14hrs of light and the birds will breed faster.


Yeah it's important to get them banded on the first so they'll be 2011 young birds if I can't get the bands on them what's the point of breeding them. I don't need birds that I have to keep around for a year and a half b4 I can even put them in a race. And if they don't have 2011 bands that's what I would have to do wait until the 2012 old bird season to race them.

But different birds are different. My family of birds are on the small size so I can get away with banding them a lil later then if I had a family of big birds. I've been banding birds since I was 5 and I'm 30 now so think I know what I'm doing.


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## Pigeon lower (Oct 23, 2007)

I wont start till middle of february.


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

Pigeon0446 said:


> Yeah it's important to get them banded on the first so they'll be 2011 young birds if I can't get the bands on them what's the point of breeding them. I don't need birds that I have to keep around for a year and a half b4 I can even put them in a race. And if they don't have 2011 bands that's what I would have to do wait until the 2012 old bird season to race them.
> 
> But different birds are different. My family of birds are on the small size so I can get away with banding them a lil later then if I had a family of big birds. I've been banding birds since I was 5 and I'm 30 now so think I know what I'm doing.


Have you ever banded a 10-12 day old bird before? The inside diameter of these AU bands is 8mm. I would'nt attempt it out of respect for the bird but different strokes for different folks.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I band mine at 5 days old...if they fall off, they get put back on until they stay. It's the only way I can uniformly band them, since different birds grow faster or slower. Some get REALLY big feet really quick, and others are slim longer. All of them are bandable at 5 days so that's when I do it.


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## drifter (Oct 7, 2009)

My thoughts exactly Becky. I thought that I was not going to get the bands over the toes of the last three babies that I banded. From now on I will be banding them at five days of age.


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## SouthTown Racers (Jan 14, 2009)

jAxTecH said:


> I was planning on letting them pair up this weekend. What is your reason to wait this time around?


I wasn't happy with my teams wings when it came to the last few races. I'm thinking by breeding later and playing with the lights a little, maybe I will have birds that still have their 9th and 10th flights at the longer races.


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

SouthTown Racers said:


> I wasn't happy with my teams wings when it came to the last few races. I'm thinking by breeding later and playing with the lights a little, maybe I will have birds that still have their 9th and 10th flights at the longer races.


You said you might play with the lights some and I just listened to an archived broadcast on www.pigeonradio.com from Alex Beiche. He has a system that is supposed to be better then the dark and the light. I know he sells his yb system on DVD at http://www.biechelofts.com/new_page_3.htm is this what your planning on doing or do you have a different plan for effecting the moult?


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I'll probably put mine on lights too. We did it last year and all of my older birds were moulted out and looking great before season. I don't remember what exactly we did though...that might be a problem, LOL.


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## Thunderbird Racing (Jul 24, 2010)

I think I decided on who to pair up....a few definite but the others are iffy


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

I will put them together last week of January. They guy that is flying my birds did not do anything with the birds and they flew on a short wings all season. Did not do too bad considering. We were 2nd Average speed and had a win at 250miles. Next year he will pull the 9th and 10th. I only breed two rounds and want to be done when school gets out so I can go backpacking. Start in Feb and end 1st of June. I tried the winter breeding, but did not have lights etc. Was a pain in the butt. Tonight it is getting 6 degrees. Bringing eggs in also is a pain. You FL guys have it easier in the winter.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

SouthTown Racers said:


> I wasn't happy with my teams wings when it came to the last few races. I'm thinking by breeding later and playing with the lights a little, maybe I will have birds that still have their 9th and 10th flights at the longer races.


The wings killed us on the last two races. Birds were short flights, had half flights, buds etc. The flier of my birds is doing things differently next year. When your birds fly 1770 ypm and get beat by 100 ypm its time to give them a full wing on the long races. Too much of a handicap for them.


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## bjanzen (Sep 15, 2007)

Well.... I am into my fourth breeding season and still trying to figure things out....

I have been pre pairing for about a month and had 7 pairs ready to go. I had two days off last week and decided to start...... now I have one loft going perfect and the other loft is pure disaster...... maybe four out of 11 pairs are building a nest. 

Willl see how it goes....... do like the new breeding boxes I made for the THIRD time!


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Yeah it's important to get them banded on the first so they'll be 2011 young birds if I can't get the bands on them what's the point of breeding them. I don't need birds that I have to keep around for a year and a half b4 I can even put them in a race. And if they don't have 2011 bands that's what I would have to do wait until the 2012 old bird season to race them.

But different birds are different. My family of birds are on the small size so I can get away with banding them a lil later then if I had a family of big birds. I've been banding birds since I was 5 and I'm 30 now so think I know what I'm doing.
__________________
pigeon446
I'm not sure what the IF does but the AU says you can't fly a bird with a split band. I'm the race sec of our club if you have a split band on I wont let it race. You could put the band on a different bird every week, If you have 3 blue bars that look alike you would end up with a campion bird. You may be honest and not do that but there are a lot of people that are not so honest. Thats why the AU made this rule.
Dave


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

Crazy Pete said:


> Yeah it's important to get them banded on the first so they'll be 2011 young birds if I can't get the bands on them what's the point of breeding them. I don't need birds that I have to keep around for a year and a half b4 I can even put them in a race. And if they don't have 2011 bands that's what I would have to do wait until the 2012 old bird season to race them.
> 
> But different birds are different. My family of birds are on the small size so I can get away with banding them a lil later then if I had a family of big birds. I've been banding birds since I was 5 and I'm 30 now so think I know what I'm doing.
> __________________
> ...


Hey Dave, you must have missunderstood somthing I wrote but I never said anything about a split band. I'm the president of my club and do most of the scanning and crating of the birds on shipping night and I would never let a bird go in the race with a split band. There's too many things that could be done with a split band one of the most obvious would be a guy putting old birds in young bird races. And with the amount of money we fly for each week you can't trust anybody.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Ther must have bean a misunderstanding my reading and comprehension doesn't always work. Sorry
Dave


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

It's ok I see in my post where you could have taken that the birds wouldn't have bands and then to race them as old birds I would have to do somthing like putting a clipped band on them. But if I had to I would put a 2010 band on them just incase and if I can't get the 2011 on them they'll atleast be banded. Maybe I could have been a lil clearer in my original post.


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