# Pairing up



## SandyDove (Apr 26, 2001)

I just got four cocks from a breeder and wanted to know the best way to pair them up with my hens.
I have them in seperate cages now and was going to leave them in there until day 2 - I don't want to let them out and pair with just any hen.

Is there something I can do (without buying something) to help the cock and hen to be ready to pair sooner?

SandyDove


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## Pigeons R loved (Dec 20, 2001)

I take it these are Racing Homers correct? You can't really pair by color, or shouldn't. So Um I'm clueless. LOL But If you have flew them it'd be much eaiser. Pair strongest to strongest I'd say. Don't worry about color though!!! You'll never make any success if you do this. 
Hopefully someone will be along soon to help out more.
Nick Tull-The fantail man


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

decide which hen you want to put on which cock. Put the hen in with the cock while they are in seperate pens. Step back and keep an eye out to see how they are responding to each other. If they are both ready to pair up They will in ashort time do so. Keep them together a couple days befor you go to open loft .As I see this in your post.


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Personally, I wouldn't be pairing ANYTHING up right now. I'd be putting the new birds in a 30 day quarantine, before letting them anywhere near my existing flock.

Once bitten, twice shy. Had a breeder we "knew" thru the racing game tell us to keep a young bird that came to our loft. Within a week, it was dead, within a month, so were about 1/2 our birds. Likely PMV. Yet, this bird had looked healthy. Even the expensive racers we've bought recently have gone into quarantine before being introduced to the loft.

When you are ready to pair up, choose the cock you want for a particular hen. Put them together in a locked up nest box. Make sure they have their own feed bowl, water bowl, and grit bowl. If you don't have individual bowls (any pigeon supply house has them), you can use empty "pudding cups" or yogurt cups, or even small cream-cheese containers. 

We keep the hen and cock locked up together until the hen lays her eggs. Only way, 100%, that you KNOW that her eggs are fertilized by THAT cock bird. We have some 20+ pairs in lock up at the moment.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

The first thing I would suggest is NOT to put them together at all for a minimum of two weeks. When you bring new birds in they should be quarantined to make sure that they don't have anything that they can give your birds that you already have. Now, that said, when you get ready to pair them up, if you can put the pair together somewhere, like in two cages side by side, where they can see each other but not actually get to each other all you have to do is watch them and they will tell you when they decide to "like" each other. This can take as little as a few minutes or as long as two weeks. It just depends on the birds. It's not a good idea to just throw them in a cage together because many times the cock can be very agressive and will hurt the hen if she can't get away from him. I think if part of a pair is not interested at first, it's usually the hen. For the most part, cocks don't care. Hope this helps.


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## SandyDove (Apr 26, 2001)

I do have the cocks seperated from the rest of my flock but the hens I got have no where else to be. The man I bought them from gave me my first few racing homers and he said they are healthy and so I'm trusting him.

Will some hens mate with other cocks? I thought that they paired together for life unless re-paired with another bird.

I did notice that when one of my white cocks was trying to get his hen's attention - rubbing his head on his back - another cock (one with a mate and nest) came over and started doing the same thing. The hen of the white cock took food once from the other cock - by accident I think - and he has kind of been interested in her since.

I'll see if I can juggle my new cocks around and get a free cage for one of the hens so they can see each other.
Thank you very much for the tips!

SandyDove


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

It is true that pigeons mate for life, but only if they have a choice in the matter. A cock or a hen WILL mate with other birds but if their mate is available, they will return to that mate. If their mate is taken from them then they will mate with another bird. Sometimes willingly, sometimes not. In rare instances you'll get a pair that just don't like each other for some reason but I don't think that is a common occurence. Switching mates is what I call "forced mating". If you want to pair certain birds then try what was explained before. If you want to SWITCH mates, it's best not to have the former mate anywhere around or it probably won't work.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

One other note.......when a cock already has a nest with eggs, that's when he's the most likely to fool around. His hen is sitting all day and he has nothing else to do!! LOL


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## Pigeons R loved (Dec 20, 2001)

LOL Good point though LoveBird, yet I have had this happen just last week. The little bogger went off and toped another hen. Guess what?! She's on eggs!!!! What do I do?Nick Tull-The Fantailman


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well you really only have two choices. Let the eggs hatch and don't worry about who the father may be. BUT, if you DON"T want this cock to be the daddy then throw the eggs out and put dummies under her for 10 days. Depends on how important it is to you as who the father really is. YOu know what they say...."boys will be boys" LOL


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## SandyDove (Apr 26, 2001)

Well, I removed the one "uppity" cock from the loft (the one mentioned in my earlier post) and placed him in a cage with his mate and their babies - yes, they are feeding them.
He was just getting to be too much. This is his first breeding season and I think he'll get much worse.
He has commandeered 1/5 to 1/4 of the loft which has a border line right through the waterdish seemingly. He is very protective of his nest and mate. He's also being a big bully. He has chosen a couple of my birds that he picks on relentlessly if they are anywhere near his section; others he'll just chase away and leave it at that.
He is especially fond of picking on my white cock - mentioned in an earlier post - who is the mate to the little hen he has his eye on. He will chase my poor white and seperate him from the hen. My little white will try to come back in the section to retrieve his hen - who was left there will the white was chased away - and the bully will chase him more! (my white is more "bark than bite" and is not really a pigeon but a chicken)

I guess if I want to keep my bully cock I'll have to cage him during breeding season.

SandyDove

[This message has been edited by SandyDove (edited February 14, 2003).]


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