Pigeon breeding: conditions and care
There are 292 species of wild pigeons on earth. We have wood dove, stock dove, ringed dove and rock dove. These birds feed on plant seeds. They nest in trees, in hollows, in burrows. Wild pigeons lay eggs 2 times a year, usually 2 eggs each. Both parents incubate them alternately.
All pigeons are easily recognizable. The pigeon appearance is unusually characteristic. The bird has a special gait - fractional. The dove does not run, namely, it goes, finely seeding and shaking its head. All lines of the body are streamlined, the neck smoothly passes into the goiter. The beak is small, thin, curved. Birds have strong wings. By hitting them against each other, they create a loud popping noise.
No one can say for sure how many breeds of pigeons exist. Today there are about 800 of them. There is a classification of breeds of domestic pigeons.
The largest breed groups:
Sports (postal)
Currently, there are about 50 meat pigeon breeds. They are divided into two groups: giant pigeons and chickens.
The most common meat pigeons are:
Kings have a short body and a well-developed chest with a long keel of the sternum.. The breed was imported from the USA. The plumage is white, silvery, yellow, blue, dark gray, black. The head is large and smooth. The eyes are medium in size, in white birds they are black, in colored birds they are yellow, the eyelids are thin, dark in color. The neck is short and flat. The feathers are short, coarse, close fitting to the body. White and light pigeons are more valued.
Kings are distinguished by a large mass of slaughter age chicks - 600-800 g, fleshiness, fertility and rapid growth.
The Roman breed is very ancient. These pigeons are distinguished by inactivity, gullibility, relatively low fertility, and are not pugnacious. The body is large, oblong, the plumage is thick, dense, the feathers of the wings and the tail are long.
As can be seen in the photo, the head of this breed of pigeons is large, smooth, the forehead is high, the beak is long, powerful with a bend:
The eyes are small. The neck is thick and short. The chest is wide, the legs are short, strong. The tail is long, wide at the end, rounded. Pigeons have brown, blue, red, white, silver plumage. The largest pigeons are gray. Roman pigeons do not fly well, but are resistant to disease. The mass of pigeons reaches 1.0-1.4 kg.
Strassers or "ostrich" pigeons were imported from Germany, but their origin has not yet been studied. The body is large, massive, the head is large with a wide convex forehead. The beak is medium, strong. The neck is of medium length, thick, the chest is wide, rounded. The back is wide, straight. The wings are medium, wide and lie at the ends on the tail. The legs are strong, widely spaced, bright scarlet in color.
Strassers are distinguished by a special plumage pattern: underside, thighs, chest and neck are pure white; head, wings, throat and tail are colored. They do not fly well, are temperamental and prolific. With decent care, these pigeons already at the age of one month gain weight up to 600-650 g, adult pigeons weigh up to 1 kg. This breed is most beneficial for meat breeding.
Polish lynxes were bred in Poland in the 19th century. Pigeons of this breed have a smooth head, with a high and wide forehead. The beak is long, the eyes are red-orange, the eyelids are grayish. The neck is short, the chest is wide, rounded, the back is straight and short. The tail is short, horizontally directed. The legs are short, widely spaced, red. The most common coloration is speckled on the wing feathers. Pigeons can also be plain blue, black, yellow and red. All pigeons have two white bands on their wings. By nature, pigeons are calm, but mobile, they fly well. The mass of these pigeons is 700 g, the advantage of breeding this breed is that they themselves can get their own food.
Mondvins bred in France and differs from other breeds in high fertility, viability. The plumage is silvery with black inclusions. Young pigeons reach a weight of 450-480 g, adults - 900-1100 g.
Maltese pigeons are very similar to chickens. They have a broad, domed chest and a short, broad, strongly concave back. Wings and tail are short. The legs are long and without feathers, red in color. The neck is long, thin. The head is narrow, oblong and smooth. The most common colors of feathers are white, blue, black and red-brown. Pigeons of this breed do not fly well, so it is better to place their nests on the floor. Pigeons weigh an average of 500-700 g.
Hungarian giants are real giants. The name of this breed of pigeons is given because of their large size. The birds have a broad chest and feathered legs. The head is large, the forehead is wide. There is a tuft that descends to the ears in the form of a round rosette. The beak is large, slightly curved. The neck is short and thick. The back is broad and tapers towards the tail. They have a variety of colors: spotted, variegated, bluish, reddish.
Texans. This breed is one of the most productive: pigeons grow quickly and have good meatiness. In these pigeons, you can determine the sex immediately after hatching: in males, the beak is light, the fluff is short or absent; females are covered with long yellow down, there is a spot on the beak. They have a powerful, fleshy chest, a medium-sized head, a medium-length neck, and a wide, deep chest. Taxanes have a calm temperament. The weight of pigeons is 700-900 g.
Breeding pigeons for meat
The essence of breeding and keeping pigeons is to fatten the young to a live weight of 450 g or more. In a year, from one pair of meat pigeons, you can get 5-7 broods, or 10-13 chicks. For their fattening during the month you need 5-6 kg of feed. Pigeons are killed for meat at the age of 28-35 days. At this time, they still do not fly and they have tender meat: fine-fibered, juicy with a pleasant smell and specific taste.
Depending on the breed of pigeons and the conditions of their maintenance, the live weight of young animals can reach 600-800 g, and adult pigeons - 850-1400 g.
To make the meat white, a few hours before the slaughter, the pigeons are given sunflower oil, and to give the meat a special taste, a few days before the slaughter, the seeds of dill, cumin, and anise are fed to the bird.
Breeding, keeping and caring for pigeons is a very interesting and complex business that requires experience, knowledge, perseverance and patience.
Initially, it is necessary to make the correct selection of pairs, which depends on the goal set for the pigeon breeder: to improve the breed, to consolidate the existing properties or to obtain new signs.
Externally, male and female are almost indistinguishable. Distinctive features are revealed by the cooing of a dove and by the nature of its behavior. The dove, cooing, inflates its goiter and makes strong, sharp sounds. The dove cooes quietly and does not stick out its goiter. When keeping pigeons, keep in mind that males planted together behave aggressively, and females calmly.
Pigeons are capable of breeding from 6-7 months of age to 7-8 years, but it is better to start mating at 10-12 months. After mating, after 6-9 days, the female lays eggs. Incubation lasts 16-19 days alternately. In the morning and evening, the male incubates, the rest of the time - the female.
The chicks hatch blind. For the first 18-20 days, the parents feed the chicks from their crop with liquid food (bird's milk), subsequently adding softened grain. On the 20th day, the plumage of the chick is formed, and it can peck food on its own. From the age of one month, the chicks begin to try to fly.
Small chicks are first fed with softened food with a small amount of sand, in the future you can switch to feeding with moistened grain. It is better to feed them 3 times a day and separately from adult pigeons.
It is necessary that these rooms are always clean, and the air is dry and fresh. Routine indoor cleaning should be carried out daily or 1-2 times a week. General cleaning during care when keeping pigeons is done in spring and autumn. All inventory (feeders, drinkers, nests) is periodically boiled or treated with boiling water and soda. Sick pigeons should be immediately separated from healthy ones.
Feeding pigeons should be rational depending on the time of year, on the breed of pigeons, age, physiological state and conditions of detention (free or aviary). If the feed does not contain all the necessary substances, the birds can get sick, while overfed, they get fat, reduce their flying qualities and lose their ability to reproduce.
The main feed is various grain mixtures from cereals, legumes and oilseeds, animal feed. Be sure to add vitamins and minerals. Pigeons also need to feed root crops, green plants. There are different diets of feed mixtures.
In the spring and summer, the diet for feeding domestic pigeons should be as follows: 10% - wheat; 20% - barley; 10% - oats; 10% - corn; 10% - vetch; 20% - peas, 20% - millet. In winter: oatmeal - 40%; barley - 40%; lentils and corn - 10% each.
When caring for domestic pigeons, feeding should be carried out regularly, at the same time, preferably 2 times a day, and the chicks are fed 3 times. Drinking water should be clean and fresh.
Pigeon diseases: photos of symptoms, treatment of gastroenteritis
Pigeons, like all living beings, are prone to various kinds of diseases. A number of pigeon diseases are characteristic of many birds. From non-contagious - beriberi, blockage of the intestine, catarrhal gastroenteritis, diarrhea, fractures, obesity; from infectious - ornithosis, paratyphoid, mallophagosis, pasteurellosis, smallpox and others.
These photos show signs of pigeon diseases:
Catarrhal gastroenteritis affects older young and adult birds. The cause of the disease is poor-quality food, dirty drinking water, and various infections.
The main symptoms of this pigeon disease are: depression, loss of appetite, diarrhea, intestinal atony, anemia may develop.
If pigeons are sick, contact your veterinarian.
For treatment, depending on the disease of the pigeon, apply: antibiotics, sulfanilamide preparations, feeding with mucous decoctions of rice and flaxseed, aloe juice, castor oil, washing the goiter with disinfectants.
