Racing Pigeons -Young Birds Selection
How Early Can You Start Making
Your Young Bird Selection ?
After You have your pairs established in about 10 days time the hen will lay her first egg and you will notice that the parents will not give their entire attention to it. After another 2 days the hen will lay her second egg ,and now the pair will start sitting on the eggs regularly ,with the hen from 16-17pm until next day to 10 -11 am ,followed by the cock from 11 am till 16 pm when the cycle starts again.
As soon as you can see both eggs in the nest you need to check them.
First you look at their surface which need to be smooth and strong in consistance ( no little waves or uneven shapes on their surface )- if that is the case let the parents sit on them for 7 days...so the hen can recover , and then you can eliminate them ...,also you ll need to look at each one into the light so you can see inside them ,what you need to see is little vains and a darker little circle towards the wider end side of the egg.
If you re in doubt in any way ,after 10 days the eggs have been layed the colour inside should turn darker in colour if the eggs are fertile .
The cause for this infertile eggs are lack of vitamins ,calcium ,worms but also other diseases which can cause infertility (see disease and treatment).
So yes you can select babies (the healthy ones) even from the first day the eggs have been laied. You don t want to let them hatch from uneven eggs which denotes lack of vitamins and presence of a disease .
After 18 days of eggs sitting the first youngster will hatch followed by the second one after 1-2 days .The hatching is a natural process and you should not interfere
Soon as they hatched take the rests of the egg shells out of the nest if the parents have not done it allready.
For the first 5-7 days the parents will feed the young ones with a special milk and
you will not see too many droppings inside the nest. Following this period a mixture of food and milk will be served to the babies and you should see the droppings .
You can always find more advice on my published books
Now pay attention this is important ...a healthy young bird will dispose its droppings at the edge of the middle of the nest around him and NOT under him ,if you see the chick sitting on his droppings up to his neck then there is something wrong with his internal organs.
Remember; Health is above everything if you want results.
It does not matter if he is a son of the greatest champions ever ,if his not healthy he is useless both for racing and for breeding.
When their feathers appear on their bodies take the chick in your palm and with the other hand gently passed it over his head shoulder and back ,if the feathers are falling off him it s a sign of disease.
It will not be long before the chick should stand on his feet in to the nest if they not and you see their legs limping or stretching outside their body with no control over them ...it s not a good sign...
When the chicks have reached 3 weeks old i personally present close to them a spoon of food every day at the same time of the day .Their parents will start to eat the food and the young ones will join them very shortly ,this is a very good thing to teach your youngsters to eat as early as possible ,first for their own health and second for their parents who will not have to feed them as much as before.
At 4 weeks old your young birds should have no problem eating from the feeder
and drinking water on their own ,if you see any of them wich does not manifest any interest in feeding themselves and drinking water and sit around waiting only for the parents to feed them ...they should not be part of your loft.
Now it s the time to vaccinate them and move in the young bird loft.
" A true fancier is the one who`s birds are always on top, whether they race under his management or somebody elses generation after generation,a true fancier is the one who love competitions and speak highly about his competitors ...Above all ,a true fancier is the one who teach others into the sport and gladly talk about his winning ways "
Dacian Busecan.
Best of Luck !
brought to you by Dacian Busecan