# when to stop breeding



## brown7683 (May 9, 2011)

So when is the latest you can hatch YB's for YB racing season. My YB season starts around middle of august so when should I stop raising YB's


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## Paragon Loft (Jun 27, 2009)

hey brown is all up to you,i stop at the end of this month,any eggs that are laid after the 31st are discarted of cource there are exeptions to this .but is up to you every one is different good luck.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

how old do you want your yb's to be when you send them off to a race to be able to compete? a squeaker just out of the loft can't do it. so how long do you give your yb's to get some muscle and in shape to make a distance? count back and do the math.


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## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

If the young birds are 4 months old at the start of the races you should be good if they are trained properly. That would put your last young for the team hatching by mid April.


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## Neil T (Mar 18, 2012)

Hi Brown,
If you are new and do not have many pairs you could breed with the last bird born up to about June 7th, but you would not be able to race the birds born in May and June in all the races. Also, you need to train the later ones together and merge them in with your earlier hatches for training when they are ready to train together. Later in the young bird race season you will find that most fliers are running a little short on birds because some can get lost in the races, so this should keep you flying throughout the young bird season and leave you with enough birds for old birds next year.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

spirit wings said:


> how old do you want your yb's to be when you send them off to a race to be able to compete? a squeaker just out of the loft can't do it. so how long do you give your yb's to get some muscle and in shape to make a distance? count back and do the math.


 I agree, a squab in the nest, or a YB just weaned ain't gonna cut it. So I would think that 4 months old is really about as young as I would go. So...count backwards 120 days from your first race. Which means you got a couple more weeks if your 1st race is middle of August.


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## ThaoLoft (Feb 28, 2012)

How many Yb's should you have during breeding season? or is it that you just keep breeding until you feel like its a good time to stop?


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

ThaoLoft said:


> How many Yb's should you have during breeding season? or is it that you just keep breeding until you feel like its a good time to stop?


Depends on how large or how many lofts and sections you have. That will determine how many breeders you have, and the number of breeders will determine how many YB's you can produce in 2 or 3 rounds. Some people produce a couple dozen or less, while others produce hundreds.


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## Granny Smith (Jul 16, 2011)

brown7683 said:


> So when is the latest you can hatch YB's for YB racing season. My YB season starts around middle of august so when should I stop raising YB's


In my area, the yb races start in the end of August and run through the end of October. There are a total of 10 races. Therefore, if you have some May hatches, those birds will not be ready for the start of the season, but should be able to be put in some of the later races.


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## Jaysen (Jun 21, 2010)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> Depends on how large or how many lofts and sections you have. That will determine how many breeders you have, and the number of breeders will determine how many YB's you can produce in 2 or 3 rounds. Some people produce a couple dozen or less, while others produce hundreds.


I might add to all of this "hawks and predation". Because the lofts in my area are all in migratory flight lines for BOP and there are even some year round pigeon eaters, most of the lofts here are built to hold more birds than most of us really want to breed. Between birds that "get lost" loft flying and the birds that come back with puncture wounds, hawks are a major factor to deal with.

I think the worst I had last year was a pair of coopers that went through the flock coming and going and appeared to get 4 birds in that one fly. They took up a habit of hitting them about 1/2 mi from the house. It may have been more than one pair though as it didn't seem to matter which direction the flock flew, that pair seemed to be waiting for them. I guess this is part of the disadvantage to living in a village with old trees.


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## PigeonVilla (Dec 8, 2010)

Jaysen said:


> I might add to all of this "hawks and predation". Because the lofts in my area are all in migratory flight lines for BOP and there are even some year round pigeon eaters, most of the lofts here are built to hold more birds than most of us really want to breed. Between birds that "get lost" loft flying and the birds that come back with puncture wounds, hawks are a major factor to deal with.
> 
> I think the worst I had last year was a pair of coopers that went through the flock coming and going and appeared to get 4 birds in that one fly. They took up a habit of hitting them about 1/2 mi from the house. It may have been more than one pair though as it didn't seem to matter which direction the flock flew, that pair seemed to be waiting for them. I guess this is part of the disadvantage to living in a village with old trees.


 You stop breeding when you have what you need to get yourself threw your racing season or when you get to your cut off point for getting your birds out and into the racing season for that year . With the BOP's only getting worse year to year any extras sure couldnt hurt, because with the all the fly offs or killed off from hawks increasing every year any extras could only help you get through the season.


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## First To Hatch (Jul 19, 2009)

My mentor won our last 300 mile race with a June hatch once (race was in October) but that of course was an exception


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