When breeding pigeons, every farmer needs to know how pigeons breed. The quality of future offspring depends on how pigeons mate. Maturation at pigeons comes 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 beneficial period for the breeding of these birds is the achievement of 1-2 years. Mostly pigeons mate at this time. At this age, birds are already formed, strong, with a stable immune system. In addition, the ability to reproduce increases with age in doves (this is determined by their waxwax, which grows over the years). Breeding of birds in the dovecote can occur before their twelfth birthday.
Mating season in birds
The process of flirting between pigeons begins in the spring. The mating season is affected by the location of the individuals and the climate in which they were born. In southern climates, individuals begin to mate a little earlier. Farmers who breed pigeons must be able to correctly distinguish female from male. This is difficult: signs of gender difference are not very pronounced.
Males have coarser body parts. They are much larger than graceful fragile doves. If a pigeon liked a female, he tries to demonstrate his feelings to her: he begins to make various movements, he can twist, turn or fan his goiter in order to seem the best candidate for breeding 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 this is mutual, the female tilts toward the male and moves forward a little. All this is accompanied by special body movements. Loving females begin to pull out small feathers on the neck and head of the male and the beaks cross. The birds mate shortly thereafter. If two males like one female, a love fight can happen. But even the victorious male can not 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 immediately multiply. After the conception of the offspring, the birds sit clinging tightly to each other, but courtship does not end there. The process of natural mating in birds in nature takes place, as in all living things: birds attracted to each other reproduce (steam).
Individuals spend several days on natural breeding. After successful mating, the female is fertilized, and the couple continues to live together, obtains food.
Forced fallowing of pigeons is also possible, and is carried out mainly in order to get some new breeds or cross the desired pigeons. In order to avoid incest, breeders choose healthy, young, strong, purebred doves to fallow. 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 full, 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 natural conditions: through their own choice of mate. This method is in the hands of pigeon breeders, because if the birds themselves wanted to steam, then they begin to do it before others and bring forth 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. The 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. This occupation for pigeons is up to 20 days. Pigeon nests are fragile, loose. Through them, you can easily see eggs laid. Not all breeds are engaged in the construction of perches.
The rock pigeon breed is capable of laying an egg on a surface without a nest. For the birds kept in the dovecote, the owner assists in building nests or makes them on his own. To do this, the farmer must scatter small building materials, such as twigs, shavings, sawdust, hemp, leaves, around the house. If several pairs live in the house, all 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 apply for them. If the birds want to stay in the box where they mated, they don’t clean it. 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. It lasts about 3 days. You can learn about the upcoming masonry by the behavior of the dove:
- her cesspool begins to swell and increase markedly;
- before laying eggs, the female dove becomes very lethargic and does not move much;
- the dove does not depart from its nest.
Doves have 1 or 2 eggs. But during the year they are able to multiply up to 7 times. After laying the eggs, the hatching process begins. As a rule, a very old female or a very young one hatches an egg. Dove eggs are white, weighing up to 20 g. A week later, pigeon breeders do a check. If you highlight an egg with a special device, you can see if there are blood vessels in it. A hollow egg is not returned to the nest.
Doves are great parents. Protecting the nest is a parental duty for them. Hatch dove eggs 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 the unnecessary shell, throwing it out of the nest.
The difference between the chicks can reach about 3 days.
Pigeons of some breeds often do not wait for the growth of chicks. After 30 days, the female can hatch a new clutch, and the male brings up pigeons. He teaches them to adapt to life on their own.
Nursing chicks
The chicks hatch blind, have very little gun on the body. In order not to get to predators, young animals need protection from 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.
Pigeons - Love-mating season of pigeons - Mating of pigeons - Pigeon saga
The first chick born into the world begins to consume food a few hours after birth, but the second - only after 15 hours. Chicks born weak often do not live to the first feeding. After 1-1.5 months, the young grows into adults. During this period, it is almost impossible to find differences among feathered parents and their offspring.