# Hows the breeding season going



## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Been kinda slow here lately Hows your breeding season going on younbirds. I have just lately put my birds together I have several infertile eggs. and am getting a few fertile eggs. I expected the first round to shoot several blanks. But am looking for the second round of eggs to be better in fertile numbers. So how many have you raised and whats the goal. And what breed or breeds do you raise


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Hows the breeding Season going*

I raise and breed American Fantail and Pheasant Pigeons... Ringneck and Diamond Doves.

It is still cold here for the middle of March, but some of my birds are starting to act like it is Spring...One of my Pheasant pair have babies that are 2 1/2 weeks old and are on another set of eggs again. My 2 Fan pairs both have had infertile eggs...I think I have to trim their tails more. One of my Ringneck dove pair had a baby hatched today, and another pair have 2 babies. I also had 4 baby Diamond doves born this month. So far...so good!  

Dawn


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

We raise primarily rollers, but have a few fantails as well. Got one nice set of youngsters out of our youngest American fantail pair. See pics under threat "New Grandfid" (under pet pigeons). Of the rollers, have a nice looking almond youngster in the nest, a lovely deep red baldhead, and three more healthy babies coming up. We've had a very wet winter and spring so far, but not cold.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

My birds are starting to kick in the breeding mode. Have 1 set of eggs pipping now. And the old cock hit which is good. Thought he might have gone infertile but hes still got it. If Im lucky I will hit my goal of 65 . Before its over.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Speaking of fertility...how long are cock-birds fertile? We have an Old Dutch Capuchine, very nice looking red with white head, tail and flights, that we adopted two years ago. The couple who had him previously found him injured after a big storm 10 years before that. He was an adult when they got him, so he's at least 12. He paired off with one of my favorite roller hens. He acts old. Through most of the winter he spent all his time inside the loft, usually on the floor or in their nest box, which is just a foot off the floor. He's healthy but seemed reluctant to fly. Perhaps he has arthritis, because he seems to feel the cold and damp. But in the last few weeks he's actually been flying up to the landing board and spending time out in the sunroom, which is good to see.

I usually replace their eggs with wooden ones, but the last few rounds I didn't. I didn't think old Jacob could fertilize the eggs at this point anyway. For several rounds it seemed I was right--the eggs were clear. But this month, surprise--one of the eggs is fertile! Is it possible he's still viable? Or has his mate had a fling? We don't have any un-mated cocks in the loft and his mate (Little Mouse) isn't usually one to flirt. I'm kind of hoping for a Capuchine-Roller cross. I don't let my birds interbreed willy-nilly, but the occasional crossbreeding experiment is fun. 

Here's a photo of old Jacob (sorry it's not real clear):


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## sirpigeon (Jan 25, 2002)

I raise white-headed starlings and rare colored homers. I have 21 young in the nest now out of 12 breeding pairs. I will be putting some pairs on dummy eggs next round! I'm looking forward to being able to let my birds out. I haven't seen the hawk around in about a week so hopefully the hawks are heading north.


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## Motherlodelofts (Oct 9, 2004)

Robert I put nine pair down a monthe early for me (New Year Weekend) it was a slow start plus I lost a two due to cold when the second round was laid. I don't think I'll put them down that early again as I don't think that I am much forther along than when I start beginning of Feb.
But I am weaning off the last for a twenty bird team and with fosters on eggs plus what are in nests on eggs and young ones the next round will give me another team much closer in age which makes things a whole lot easier. I was able to get one round off of a 11 year old hen but after that she quit, I will try again later in the Spring once warmer weather settles in. I have a 10 year old hen on her 3rd round on her click cock , She's still going like a young hen, her Sister which is a year older quit on me last year. I have several hens that are 7-8 years old so I stocked a few of the best out of the fly team and they were part of the problem early on due to never being bred before and more in fly condition than breeding condition, they are now hitting it well. It is allways exciting to see what comes up out of new pairs made of your best. Thats it, pretty much full swing now. I'll breed 80-90 for myself and a 20 bird team for a guy in Hawaii that was high bidder on my birds that was donated to National Club raffle


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Sounds like things are moving a long. As for how long a bird will fertile Depends on breed family line. How in bred. Health thru out age. .Hens can go longer then cocks sometimes on breeding use. I put my birds together end of feb. to first week of march. I do not use feeders. But have been thinking about going to it. as it helps get the numbers out faster. and birds can be repaired to test different aspects in the same year. I might just build a feeder loft before next season.


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## go4pigeons (Mar 28, 2005)

*How's the breeding season going?*

I am off to a pretty slow start. A January stroke has limited my activities and I basically have just been feeding the birds for some time. I finally got out and put in some nest boxes this week. I have 2 pair of Fantails together and 2 pair of Swallows. My rollers are eager to get going but I have not paired them up yet. A little at a time as I feel like it. Al


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*No Seperation*

My birds are moving right along. The rollers are the fastest breeders, then followed by the west of england, following up by the indain fantails. Because Calif. has good weather breeding can be done all year. I try to always to bring in young birds. And breed young to old. I really enjoy life with my birds. It's like spring time with those babies.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

A friend gave me some lovely new rollers this year. They are baldheaded blue bars, but what is unique about them is that their wing bars are white, not black. I paired one of them with a solid red cock and one of their offspring is a beautiful silver check with white bars.


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## pigeonsR4me (Apr 29, 2005)

New to group. Hope to learn a lot and maybe share an experience to two too. My two pair of Dragoons have given me 7 banded babies. They are also on eggs again, so they are doing great.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi PigeonsR4Me and welcome to pigeons.com! Thank you so much for the great picture of a Dragoon!

Terry


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## pigeonsR4me (Apr 29, 2005)

TAWhatley said:


> Hi PigeonsR4Me and welcome to pigeons.com! Thank you so much for the great picture of a Dragoon!
> 
> Terry


Thanks for the welcome Terry. Here is a snap of one of my swallow pigeons too.

Peter


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Peter, 

Welcome to the group and gorgeous specimens you have there! They look very well looked after.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Peter .. such beautiful and magnificnt birds .. thank you for the pics!

Terry


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Cool!*

I so happy everybody is doing with thier breeding. And my what beautiful Birds you all have.


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## pigeonmama (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi, all,
Breeding season for me, ummm, well I did make it out to the loft yesterday, first time since Sunday's surgery. As of last night I had two pair each with a single egg, and one pair with two eggs. One pair lost an egg while I was in the hospital(Good pair of birds, drat!). I will go look at my birds as soon as I get the pep. I have one couple month old bird out there that I hand raised, and two little monsters that I'm hand feeding now. I have a few more pairs of birds coming soon. Won't let there be many more eggs laid/set as I don't want to over crowd my loft, just enough to show/sell later this year.
Daryl


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Well here it is amost May 1st. My birds have been together for 2 months. I have 15 youngbirds and 2 more fertile eggs. I planned on raising 65. But It looks like I will not get that number. Might get close. I will breed thu july. So If they hit well I will be close. Have had several infertile rounds to deal with. And weather has been going up and down. But I will settle for the numbers I get. Can not expect more. How many young birds have you anybody raise this year. I do have a friend that has raised about 200 so far. But he has 60 pair to breed from.


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## TaylorGS (Feb 27, 2005)

I have four eggs in one nest box. I know that those might not hatch, this is the seconde time. hmm...
Taylor


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Taylor, if you have four eggs in one nest you probably have a pair of hens. It usually happens with young hens who don't have cock-birds available.


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## mistenle (Feb 7, 2005)

My neighbor had a pair of hens, the first 4 eggs were infertile but they obviously got smart because the next four hatched though they only raised 3 of the babies.


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## pigeonmama (Jan 9, 2005)

Went out and candled tonight. Four out of six are developing, and the other two, well, it's too early to tell. Will keep you posted. Very wet and cold up here right now. I don't think summer will ever come.
Daryl


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

*Nuns on the way!*

We're eagerly awaiting our very first nun chicks. It's exciting because we weren't sure they would produce. We bought the pair for my son in October and the hen, Guinevere, turned out to have aspergillosis. She was on anti-fungal medication for four long months. It's very toxic and the vet told us there was a possibility it would destroy her fertility. But she tolerated the medication well and began to lay while still on it. We saved this set of eggs, her second set since she finished her meds. The vet declared her aspergillus free, though we have to check to make sure it doesn't recur. On his advice, we're not letting them raise the chicks themselves this year, but fostering them to another pair. I candled the eggs and both have good looking embryos inside.


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## halfwatt (Apr 28, 2005)

Cant seem to breed them fast enough!!!!!!!


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## halfwatt (Apr 28, 2005)

Hi everyone, my breeding season is going pretty good, trying to up my stock of breeders and raise some young for the young bird show this fall.....


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Infertile Eggs*

It is already May 20th and I'm *STILL * getting infertile eggs from my 2 pair of fantails. I've trimmed their tails and vent feather (several times)...
they get fed 16% protein breeders pigeon feed...pigeon pellets...vitamins (Red Cell) added in their water a few times a week...high calcium grit...greens and wheat bread. There are plenty of windows for sunshine and air and also an attached flight.
The 2 pair were separated until recently...now they are together in the same loft with ringneck doves, but no other pigeons but themselves.
Can someone please tell me what am I doing wrong???  

Dawn


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Breeding Problem*

I raise Indain fantails and fantails. They are harder to breed. I trimmed the ends of the tail and if there's no babies. I cut all the tail feathers. Must be careful other birds aren't interupting the breeding pairs special moment. I have put birds in a seperate cage to see if they are fertal. Sometimes I trade mates.


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## PapaPigeon (Dec 22, 2004)

*Breeding*

I'm breeding some show rollers and it's been a slow start. They are on their 4th round, and still none fertile. They were on worm meds, and just moved otuside, I'm hoping that will get them "stimulated." lol.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Try trimming all but 6 of the tail feathers. And trim them as short as you can. Then how old are the birds.


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Fantail Breeding Problems*



re lee said:


> Try trimming all but 6 of the tail feathers. And trim them as short as you can. Then how old are the birds.


Okay, I'll trim the tail feathers down to just 6. 
One pair is an older pair...4 and 5 year olds. The other pair is a 1 and 2 year old. The older pair was laying fertile eggs late last fall, but i tossed them out because it was getting to cold out for raising babies.

Thank you for your help *re lee*,
Dawn


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Idea*

Maybe breed young to old. The older will help teach the younger.


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Breeding young to old...*



upcd said:


> Maybe breed young to old. The older will help teach the younger.



I think I probably should have done that, but the older pair was already bonded from last year, so it was just that much easier for me. I also set the 2 pairs up for color. I'll let them try again with their *very* trimmed tails...if all fails again, I'll try switching partners.

Thank you for your good idea,
Dawn


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

The extrat kkick I use is vit, E 200 unit. 4 to 5 days on the cocks. Helps kick start the program . Light and warm weather is a big key to on fantails. As most are from a inbred family line to build that quality. But bars seem to breed better then selfs. At least To my notice.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

*Fickle fantails?*

RE Lee, since you raise fantails, have you observed they are particularly fickle? Does this have anything to do with them being inbred? I recently moved some pigeons around and put all my fantails in a different aviary. I have some extra un-mated hens. Two of my fantail pairs split up when I moved them. I was surprised, as both pairs had been together for about six months and each had raised a set of youngsters together. But they broke up and the cocks went with the single hens instead. What gives? My rollers mate for life no matter what I do with them.


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Color breeding...*



re lee said:


> The extrat kkick I use is vit, E 200 unit. 4 to 5 days on the cocks. Helps kick start the program . Light and warm weather is a big key to on fantails. As most are from a inbred family line to build that quality. But bars seem to breed better then selfs. At least To my notice.


I don't know if color breeding has anything to do with the pairs I set up together...but the older pair is...Opal cock (with Silver lacing) and Lavender hen. The younger pair is Spread Ash Red Opal cock and Khaki hen. 
This color thing is all new to me...I used to raise the garden variety of white fantails. I may have just jumped in over my head! 

It seems to me that my pairs act *TOO BROODY...ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS SET IN THE NEST.* Half the time they don't even mate because they don't want to leave the nest. 
Does anyone else experience their birds doing this?

There is so much for me to learn about the exhibition fantail!!!! But I'm willing and will try my best! 

Thank you re lee and everyones else for their help,
Dawn


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

I would try the vit, E and see what happens. Also what is your day light hours now. 12 to 14 hours day light brings them in to breeding also. How largew is your breeding pens. Or do they have open loft. Is there other birds flighty type with them. As fans are calm type. and will shy around more aggresive birds. Yes I have had a hen or to switch mates in open loft before. Closed holes stop this. Perhaps things will kick in soon.


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## Doves1111 (Mar 5, 2005)

*Fertile Fantail Eggs...*

Hey Everyone,
I checked my older pair of fans' eggs today, and both eggs are fertile!!!!
FINALLY!!!!
Happy dance, Happy dance!!!!  
The * BIG* trimming of their tails must have did it!!!
The other younger pair just also laid a set of eggs...I'll let your know in a few days if I'm going to do the happy dance again!!! 

Thanks everyone for your help! I'm soooo happy...can you tell?  
Dawn


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Congratulations!*

Can't wait to find out what colors you come out with. Hope the other set is fertal too. My Indains fantails with thier tails completely trimmed are on thier 2 nd round. Fantails 1st infertal with part trim. We will see with full trim. Is there a shortage of fans? Poeple seem to stand in line to get them. Trying to raise some for show. And the people keep wanting them.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

I was amazed when my young American fantails, under a year of age, produced two chicks in February. I didn't even trim their tails. I have a mature pair and they've never produced more than one chick at a time.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Im glad you have some good eggs now. Perhaps things will move right along now. And you will have a good season now.


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