# Breeding Questions?



## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

I need a lot of help lol. I have 6 homers and I am not sure that half are cocks and half are hens i know for sure that i have at least one pair. When I figure out which ones are paired up how long do I separate them. Do I leave them separated until the egg hatches or do i just wait till they breed. If i just wait till they breed about how long to i leave them together? Thanks ahead of time for those who answer!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> I need a lot of help lol. I have 6 homers and I am not sure that half are cocks and half are hens i know for sure that i have at least one pair. When I figure out which ones are paired up how long do I separate them. Do I leave them separated until the egg hatches or do i just wait till they breed. If i just wait till they breed about how long to i leave them together? Thanks ahead of time for those who answer!


Zim.....I've read some of your questions/posts and to be quite honest, I'm just a little confused on what exactly it is that you want to know.
The FIRST thing you have to do is determine how many birds of each sex that you have. 
So, I guess MY first question is, how old are these birds? Second question is, where are you ? (in general terms) if you don't want to be specific. I ask because one of the main things that determines whether the birds WILL or WANT TO breed is hours of daylight. There are exceptions of course, but mostly, these guys breed in the spring and summer when the days are longer. Once the days get shorter and the weather gets cold, they stop breeding for a while. Like I said, there ARE exceptions, but this is the way that Mother Nature intended it to be. 
Third question........do you have these birds together now? Do you have them separated according to the sex you think they are? 
Let's answer these questions first and go from there............


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

Hi ZIMMZIMM3,First when you have a mated pair and they have laid eggs YOU DO NOT SEPARATE THEM AS THE MALE SITS THE EGGS AS WELL AS THE FEMALE. The male will sit from about 9am till about 4pm the female will sit through the nite. When the eggs hatch the male and the female feed the young for about the 8 days BOTH parents feed crop milk.I don't know where you got the idea that you needed to separate them after the eggs are laid that is wrong.The only time you separate is when you don't want to raise young birds. .GEORGE


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Zim.....I've read some of your questions/posts and to be quite honest, I'm just a little confused on what exactly it is that you want to know.
> The FIRST thing you have to do is determine how many birds of each sex that you have.
> So, I guess MY first question is, how old are these birds? Second question is, where are you ? (in general terms) if you don't want to be specific. I ask because one of the main things that determines whether the birds WILL or WANT TO breed is hours of daylight. There are exceptions of course, but mostly, these guys breed in the spring and summer when the days are longer. Once the days get shorter and the weather gets cold, they stop breeding for a while. Like I said, there ARE exceptions, but this is the way that Mother Nature intended it to be.
> Third question........do you have these birds together now? Do you have them separated according to the sex you think they are?
> Let's answer these questions first and go from there............


Ok The birds are about 2-3 years old. I live in southern ohio. I just have the 6 together. Thank you so much for your help i have no idea what i am doing.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

george simon said:


> Hi ZIMMZIMM3,First when you have a mated pair and they have laid eggs YOU DO NOT SEPARATE THEM AS THE MALE SITS THE EGGS AS WELL AS THE FEMALE. The male will sit from about 9am till about 4pm the female will sit through the nite. When the eggs hatch the male and the female feed the young for about the 8 days BOTH parents feed crop milk.I don't know where you got the idea that you needed to separate them after the eggs are laid that is wrong.The only time you separate is when you don't want to raise young birds. .GEORGE


 I didn't mean separate them i meant if i separate them from the other birds after i think they have bread do i put them back with the other 4 birds or do i leave the 2 in there own cage. Thanks


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> Ok The birds are about 2-3 years old. I live in southern ohio. I just have the 6 together. Thank you so much for your help i have no idea what i am doing.


OK. Another question........why are you raising birds this time of year? Do you race or do you plan to race the birds?


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> OK. Another question........why are you raising birds this time of year? Do you race or do you plan to race the birds?


I got them in july and have been having this problem since i would hope to eventually race but other than that i just love animals and i think that they are really neat. I would eventually like to race though


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> I got them in july and have been having this problem since i would hope to eventually race but other than that i just love animals and i think that they are really neat. I would eventually like to race though


Sorry, I keep getting side-tracked here............ 
Well, if the birds have been together since July and they aren't pairing up, one of two things is going on, IMO.......either the birds were together in the loft that they came from and being together now is nothing new to them, or.......you don't have an equal number of hens/cocks.
Do you have a way to separate these birds? Even if you are not sure about the sexes of them? If so, I would "make my best guess" and separate them for a month. Watch them. If you see that you have a hen in with the cocks, pull her out and if you see you have a cock in with the hens, pull him out. You know that old saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?? That's true in pigeons also.  
Once you figure out who's who, then you can work on getting them paired up and raising babies if you want. 
Are you particular about who pairs with who or do you just want them to pair up and raise some babies?


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Sorry, I keep getting side-tracked here............
> Well, if the birds have been together since July and they aren't pairing up, one of two things is going on, IMO.......either the birds were together in the loft that they came from and being together now is nothing new to them, or.......you don't have an equal number of hens/cocks.
> Do you have a way to separate these birds? Even if you are not sure about the sexes of them? If so, I would "make my best guess" and separate them for a month. Watch them. If you see that you have a hen in with the cocks, pull her out and if you see you have a cock in with the hens, pull him out. You know that old saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?? That's true in pigeons also.
> Once you figure out who's who, then you can work on getting them paired up and raising babies if you want.
> Are you particular about who pairs with who or do you just want them to pair up and raise some babies?


 Ok umm what is the best way to tell which ones are cocks and which ones are hens and then i could separate them. I am not to specific on which ones pair up but there are some with similar colors that i think would be good to be paired up if. But really which ever one is easier. Thank you


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

Zimmzimm normally if there is a cock present amongst hens you will see courtship display involving bowing, cooing, turning, a sort of prancing and also a distinctive tail-dragging behavior. This is done in the immediate vicinity of the hen(s). If the hens try to beat a hasty retreat the cock will usually pursue them and try again at least till something else distracts them  So maybe keep an eye out for that behavior to try to ID the sexes.

Just watch your birds closely and make sure you have ample nesting sites for them and nest material, so they can build a nest if it turns out you have a 'happy couple'. Or two. Or three!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Yep, you just have to watch their actions. You can't really tell by looking (at least I can't), except that the cocks are usually a bit bigger than the hens. At this point, I would just make a "guess"......even if you think you've got 4 hens and 2 cocks. Separate them according to that and if you are wrong, you can always switch them. That's where I would start. Don't know what kind of set up you have, but make sure that you leave the cocks where ever the nest boxes are AND, if you've got 2 cocks, only give them access to 2 boxes. Close the others up. If you've got perches AND boxes in the same area, take down the perches. MAKE them take a box. They'll either take a box or sleep on the floor. Trust me, they'll take a box eventually.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Thank you for so much help i will try that. so if i want a particular two to pair up how do try and make that happen.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Can you expain to us what sort of set up you have? 
Loft?
Cages?
Sizes?
Pictures would be GREAT! It's actually not a simple as taking one cock and one hen and just putting them in a small confined space together. I could tell you what I do, but that wouldn't do you any good without knowing how you are set up. I do what I do according to the set up I have. You need to do the same. The simpler you make this, the easier it is on you AND the birds, especially the hen. An "eager" cock can quickly and easily, seriously hurt a hen.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Can you expain to us what sort of set up you have?
> Loft?
> Cages?
> Sizes?
> Pictures would be GREAT! It's actually not a simple as taking one cock and one hen and just putting them in a small confined space together. I could tell you what I do, but that wouldn't do you any good without knowing how you are set up. I do what I do according to the set up I have. You need to do the same. The simpler you make this, the easier it is on you AND the birds, especially the hen. An "eager" cock can quickly and easily, seriously hurt a hen.


I have two cages one is a hutch with 2 outside spaces and i inside space but it isn't divided it is about 2ft wide and 6ft long and i have a larger all open cage (the one they are currently in) that is about 3ft wide and 8ft long and then i have a really small cage that is about 1ft wide by 2ft long. They all have roosts i have one double nesting box and i have 2 some plastic round containers that i think would work for nest.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

So how do I get the birds i want to pair up to pair up.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> So how do I get the birds i want to pair up to pair up.


Well, I have to be very honest with you here..........if the cages that you describe are the only places you have for your birds, IMO........you shouldn't raise any babies.  Where are you going to put the babies? You've got 6 birds, possibly 3 pairs. If they hatch 2 babies each, that's 12 birds. Again, IMO.......you'd be well on your way to an overcrowded situation. You need somewhere to put these babies, away from the adult birds. Once the babies are weaned, if you leave them with the adult birds, they'll get picked on and beat up.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Well, I have to be very honest with you here..........if the cages that you describe are the only places you have for your birds, IMO........you shouldn't raise any babies.  Where are you going to put the babies? You've got 6 birds, possibly 3 pairs. If they hatch 2 babies each, that's 12 birds. Again, IMO.......you'd be well on your way to an overcrowded situation. You need somewhere to put these babies, away from the adult birds. Once the babies are weaned, if you leave them with the adult birds, they'll get picked on and beat up.


I have other cages that i can use I also raise rabbits and if could be avoided i wasn't going to use those cages but if they are needed i will. I am planing on building a large coop this spring. So how do I help them chose the partner i want them to. After i keep them away for a month to i just put them all back in the same cage to breed or do i need to seperate them. Thank you for this help.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> I have other cages that i can use I also raise rabbits and if could be avoided i wasn't going to use those cages but if they are needed i will. I am planing on building a large coop this spring. So how do I help them chose the partner i want them to. After i keep them away for a month to i just put them all back in the same cage to breed or do i need to seperate them. Thank you for this help.


ok....sounds like you have enough places for each pair to have it's own cage? Is that what you plan on doing? The easiest way for you AND the birds, is to devise a divider of some kind, made with wire, to put in the cages. Pick the pair of birds you want to mate together and put them in either side of the divider. That way, they can see each other but the cock can't get to the hen. Then just sit back and watch. It could take 5 minutes or hours, but they'll eventually warm up to each other and you'll be able to tell when they do. At that time, you can remove the divider but continue to watch them and make sure the cock doesn't beat up on the hen. He may peck at her a bit or grab her by the head........don't immediatley jump in to break them up. Just observe for a minute or two. If he continues this bahavior, then put the divider back in and separate them again. Once he's calmed down, he'll get in the nest bowl, (oh yea, provide a nest bowl on HIS side of the cage ) and start calling her. Once he does that, they should be good to go.........Eggs in about 10 days, babies in about 18 or 19 days........


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Ok so i should do this after a month of them being separated? I also want to know if i move the babies about 100 ft after i train them will they go back to this knew location or will they be confused. Thank you for all of your help you have given me a good start.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> Ok so i should do this after a month of them being separated? I also want to know if i move the babies about 100 ft after i train them will they go back to this knew location or will they be confused. Thank you for all of your help you have given me a good start.


It's probably not necessary to leave them separated for a whole month. A couple of weeks might be good enough. 
I think I said this before, but.........now is NOT the ideal time to be raising babies. Don't be surprised if the birds do not lay right away. This is not the normal time for the birds to be raising babies. There are other things that can help get them started, but, IMO, if you don't NEED to raise babies now, it would be best to wait. By "needing to raise", I mean if you're doing this just to have some babies.......we folks that race our birds, (a lot of us anyway) start raising youngsters now so that by the time we are ready to race them, they are old enough to handle the training, racing, etc........we use lights in our lofts, because there really isn't enough daylight for the parents to take care of the babies the way they would if it was April or May, rather than Dec. and Jan. Will the babies survive without the additional light? Probably, but they won't be as healthy. Something to think about.  
For instance, right now, it doesn't get daylight until around 7:15 or so in the morning and by 5:00 in the evening it's dark. So, that means, without lights, the babies would go from 5:00 to after 7:00 the next morning without anything to eat or drink. That's a LONG time for a new baby to go without food and water. My birds have the normal daylight plus my lights go on at 4:00 in the afternoon and stay on until midnight. 
I don't know if you have the means of setting up lights for your cages. If so, if you insist that you want to raise babies this time of year, it would be in the birds best interest to do so. 
As far as the youngsters go.........you've got plenty of time to figure out how all of that works.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

So if i move the babies about a 100 ft (i am planning to build a new coop) after i train them will they go back to the new place if the old cage isn't there any more or will they be confused.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> So if i move the babies about a 100 ft (i am planning to build a new coop) after i train them will they go back to the new place if the old cage isn't there any more or will they be confused.


What you will need to do, is, when the babies are around 28 to 30 days old, they'll be ready to be moved to where ever you are going to keep them. Once moved, THAT will become their new home. After a bit, about 2 weeks or so, they'll consider that "home" and go back to it when released. This applies to new squeakers only!! Older birds will ALMOST ALWAYS try to go where ever their "first" home was..........
Just so that you are aware, once your new babies are weaned, the parent birds will NOT see them as "their children", but rather, as just another bird invading their space. That's why I stressed that it was important to have somewhere to put these babies. It's not a good idea or recommended that babies stay with their parents forever. Once a baby is weaned, it needs it's own space. Dad and Mom will be concentrating on the NEXT set of eggs/babies and really will get to a point where they just can't be bothered with the first kids anymore.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Just one more question (i hope) If the babies are born in a cage and then i build a coop in the same place the cage was, will they come back into the coop. Thank you


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> *Just one more question (i hope) *If the babies are born in a cage and then i build a coop in the same place the cage was, will they come back into the coop. Thank you



*I doubt it!!! LOL* Always ask if you have a question. 
Short answer to your question is, "yes".........there's no need to actually put the coop where the cage is. You can put the coop anywhere in your yard that you want to. The new birds (babies) will learn that it's their home and come back to it.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Thank you you gave been so much help i really appreciate it.


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