How do pigeons breed
When breeding pigeons, every farmer needs to know how pigeons breed. The quality of the future offspring depends on how the pigeons mate. Maturity in pigeons occurs closer to 6 months. Up to six months, their eggs remain unfertilized, but experts regard such a period for reproduction as early. Young individuals hatch not very developed and strong young growth.
How pigeons breed
A favorable period for the reproduction of these birds is the achievement of 1-2 years by them. Mostly pigeons mate during this time period. At this age, the birds are already formed, strong, with a stable immune system. In addition, with age, doves' ability to reproduce increases (this is determined by their wax beetle, which grows over the years). Reproduction of birds in a dovecote can occur before their twelfth birthday.
Mating season in birds
The process of flirting between pigeons begins in the spring. The time of mating games is influenced by the location of individuals and the climate in which they were born. In southern climates, individuals begin to mate a little earlier. Pigeon farmers must be able to correctly distinguish a female from a male. This is difficult: the signs of gender difference are not very pronounced.
Males have coarser body parts. They are much larger than graceful fragile doves. If a pigeon likes a female, he tries to demonstrate his feelings to her: he begins to make various movements, can twist, coo or swell the goiter, in order to seem the best candidate for reproduction and creating a family. Often, males create the appearance of building a nest so that the dove understands the seriousness of the partner's intentions.
If it is mutual, the female makes bends towards the male and leans forward a little. All this is accompanied by special body movements. Females in love begin to pull out small feathers on the neck and head of the male and cross their beaks. The birds mate shortly thereafter. If two males like one female, a love fight may occur. But even a victorious male cannot always count on the location of the dove.
Mating pigeons
Mating can be forced and natural. Even breeders always try to provide birds with natural mating. For this, individuals are simply left together in a separate poultry house, or, if the room is on several levels, you can simply fence off the lovers from the rest of the individuals. In such conditions, they multiply immediately. After the conception of offspring, the birds sit, huddled tightly to each other, but courtship does not end there. The process of natural mating in birds under the conditions of nature takes place, like in all living things: birds that like each other reproduce (mate).
Individuals spend several days on natural reproduction. After successful mating, the female is fertilized, and the couple continues to live together, gets food.
Forced fallowing of pigeons is also possible, and is carried out mainly in order to get some new breeds or to cross the desired pigeons. To avoid incest, breeders choose healthy, young, strong, purebred pigeons for mating. Blood relatives and distant relatives in any generation are not suitable for forced fallowing.
A couple independently selected by the pigeon breeder is placed in a free-standing cage. In this case, the male is able to show aggression, as well as indifference towards the female. This is due to the fact that individuals did not choose each other naturally. It is necessary to select forcibly a pair that is externally similar to each other. If the female or male is too thin or fat, the individuals will not converge purely due to external factors. Such pairs rarely converge again.
If the breeder maintains only one breed, the birds begin to mate with each other in the same way as in the wild: through their own choice of mate. This method plays into the hands of pigeon breeders, because if the birds themselves wished to mate, then they begin to do it earlier than others and breed strong, healthy, numerous offspring.
Building nests
Building a future home is an important stage not only in the life of birds, but also for the farmer. The standard of living of the newly-made family and their offspring depends on how correctly and well the pigeons make the nest. Birds that live in the wild pick up small hollows, attics and roofs to form nests. As a rule, the male is engaged in the construction, collecting grass and branches for this. Such an activity for pigeons is up to 20 days. Pigeon nests are fragile, loose. The laid eggs can be easily seen through them. Not all breeds are involved in the construction of perches.
The rock pigeon breed is capable of laying an egg on a surface without a nest. For birds kept in a dovecote, the owner assists in building nests or makes them on his own. To do this, the farmer must scatter small building materials around the house, for example, twigs, shavings, sawdust, tow, leaves. If there are several pairs in the house, everyone should have nests. To do this, it is necessary to give the birds as much material as is required for construction, otherwise there will be fights for places. If the pigeons themselves built nests, then the rest of the birds will not claim them. If the birds want to stay in the box where they mated, it is not removed. You can simply rearrange the structure in the right place for the period of incubation of the cubs.
Hatching eggs and nursing offspring
Doves begin to lay eggs about 14 days after mating. This takes about 3 days. You can find out about the upcoming clutch by the behavior of the dove:
- her cloaca begins to swell and grow noticeably;
- before laying eggs, the female pigeon becomes very lethargic and moves little;
- the dove does not leave its nest.
Doves have 1 or 2 eggs. But during the year they are able to reproduce up to 7 times. After laying the eggs, the hatching process begins. As a rule, one egg is incubated by a very old female or a very young one. Dove eggs are white, weighing up to 20 g. A week later, pigeon breeders make a check. If you highlight an egg with a special device, you can see if there are blood vessels in it. The hollow egg is not returned to the nest.
Doves are great parents. Protecting the nest is a parental duty for them. Dove eggs hatch for up to 20 days. In a few hours, a pigeon chick independently breaks out of the eggshell, pecking at it, after which the adult pigeons get rid of unnecessary shells, throwing it out of the nest.
The difference between chicks can reach about 3 days.
Pigeons of some breeds often do not wait for their chicks to mature. After 30 days, the female can hatch a new clutch, and the male brings up the pigeons. He teaches them to adapt to life on their own.
Nursing chicks
Chicks hatch blind, have very little cannon on their bodies. In order not to get to predators, young animals need the protection of their parents. Up to 2 weeks, their food is mother's milk, which contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Then the chicks begin to feed on the grain softened for them by their parents. The development of feathered offspring is not the same, since pigeons receive food at different times.
The first chick born into the world begins to consume food a few hours after birth, but the second - only 15 hours later. Chicks born weak often do not live up to the first feeding. After 1-1.5 months, young animals turn into adults. During this period, it is almost impossible to find differences among feathered parents and their offspring.