# Age of Weaning?



## cbx1013 (Aug 12, 2009)

Hello:

At what age generally are young homing pigeons considered weaned, or self-sufficient?

Anything unusual, warning signs to look for during this process? Any other health issued to be concerned with in 4-5 week old birds?

Thanks,

Don


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## lordschisto (Nov 17, 2008)

usually as soon as the young birds can take care of themselves, they are weaned at age 24-25 days after hatch...


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## Big T (Mar 25, 2008)

lordschisto said:


> usually as soon as the young birds can take care of themselves, they are weaned at age 24-25 days after hatch...


Yes they are weaned from Mom, can eat seed, and usually fly out the nest box, but still do not have the wing strength for any loft flying. This is also a good time to ship if someone else is going to fly the bird. But still need to wait until they at least have all their feathers under the wing before loft flying.

Otherwise Hawkbait,
Tony


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

I like to wean at 28 days. I like to ship at 5 to 6 weeks. This is an easy system and calendar friendly. 4,5-6 week system. Make it simple on yourself. I breed from 16-20 pairs. Give yourself a window when you wean your birds so they can be moved in small groups. It helps when they have friends. I would say 25-30 days is good. 

Randy


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

*Old enough to be weaned but still begging?*

I'm helping look after some young pigeons between 4 & 5 weeks old and they are still begging for food from adults. I've seen them eating from the community seed trough and drinking from the water dispenser. They still squeak, and I haven't heard any of them coo or make other "adult" pigeon sounds. 

Are they actually weaned, and just being little opportunists, or do some young birds take longer to become independent? Or is papa pigeon just a sucker, since he still feeds them once in a while?


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

Squeakers will beg until there is a chance to get food. Weaning is a stressful process and they try to stick to parents.
I still have adult birds that when see syringe with baby mix formula come and sit in the queue.
At 30~45 days, their voice changes and they cannot squeak anymore.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

rfboyer said:


> I'm helping look after some young pigeons between 4 & 5 weeks old and they are still begging for food from adults. I've seen them eating from the community seed trough and drinking from the water dispenser. They still squeak, and I haven't heard any of them coo or make other "adult" pigeon sounds.
> 
> Are they actually weaned, and just being little opportunists, or do some young birds take longer to become independent? Or is papa pigeon just a sucker, since he still feeds them once in a while?


I let the parent birds feed them for as long as they want to, and just let the parents wean them naturally...some take longer than others, but they will be weaned eventually...esp when the parents have more babes in the nest.


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

i'm a total sucker when it comes to handraising birds, i think i wean everybody late.
as long as your monitoring their weight and your cutting back on feedings (if your handfeeding) and they are not losing any weight your doing it right.
i can't walk in the room without them begging long after i have them weaned


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

If they are 5 weeks, eating and drinking on their own they are good to go into their own compartment. I monitor them closely. If they are loosing weight or listless, I will put them back with the parents. 

Randy


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## cbx1013 (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks! My little guy is 4 weeks today. He's healthy, bright-eyed, etc.

I've not seen him eating or drinking- my fear is the older birds might push him around. But, he's moving around within the other birds and I see no sign that he's being picked on. Mom and Dad seem to be protecting him well.

I was just wondering about the transition to self-feeding and independence. As well as warning signs that anything was amiss.

Thanks!

Don


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> I let the parent birds feed them for as long as they want to, and just let the parents wean them naturally...some take longer than others, but they will be weaned eventually...esp when the parents have more babes in the nest.


That's pretty much how it's going here. These squeakers ages are all within about 4-5 days of each other, from 3 different pairs, but only one of the cockbirds still seems to be feeding them. One of the pairs quit feeding their squeaker a while ago (and s/he seems OK, so I don't think they abandoned it because of illness or deformity), but the others took up the slack. This coming week they will probably be ready to go into their own coop.

These pigeons are "not supposed to be breeding" and we're going to move the hens to a hens' coop presently; we were waiting until these oops babies were big enough to move them (I'm not sure how the hens ended up in a coop of retired racing cockbirds... but there they are ). The parent pairs have been courting lately, but no new eggs yet. I hope they don't hate me when I catch the hens and move them.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

rfboyer said:


> That's pretty much how it's going here. These squeakers ages are all within about 4-5 days of each other, from 3 different pairs, but only one of the cockbirds still seems to be feeding them. One of the pairs quit feeding their squeaker a while ago (and s/he seems OK, so I don't think they abandoned it because of illness or deformity), but the others took up the slack. This coming week they will probably be ready to go into their own coop.
> 
> These pigeons are "not supposed to be breeding" and we're going to move the hens to a hens' coop presently; we were waiting until these oops babies were big enough to move them (I'm not sure how the hens ended up in a coop of retired racing cockbirds... but there they are ). The parent pairs have been courting lately, but no new eggs yet. I hope they don't hate me when I catch the hens and move them.


you can always replace the real eggs with fake ones for population control, that is if you do not want to seperate the pairs.


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> you can always replace the real eggs with fake ones for population control, that is if you do not want to separate the pairs.


Lou (the loft owner) has asked us to separate the pairs, so we will... but since these oopsies were discovered, I've acquired some dummy eggs (and of course, the week after I got them, we found the ones he already had, and had put in a "safe place." ).


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