blackswan Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 might be a cat or it could be mice, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aye ready Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 All my birds are locked in their own boxes, so dont have the chance or risk of fighting. The idea of weaklings is interesting. It is freezing here at the moment with drinkers constantly freezing, just hope the rest are going to be ok, as if not its going to be a struggle to get the team i want, i,m sure it will be :-/ why do you lock them up in their boxes,never heard of anyone doing this while their incubating eggs(birds must be going of their nuts with boredom)jmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Still haven't let them have a nest box. Still separated. Yes I mated3 - 5 pairs up at a time, and separated them after 3 - 5 days when seemingly happy. Was in a different compartment come Avery. So when I put them together they should, hopefully, settle easierly. Wasn't going to use nest bowls a said. Definitely won't now. Will have a spare piece of ply with back and sided with 4-inch ply, on polystyrene, hemmed in. Either bricks or paving bricks which ever is higher when on side at right angles to allow a good depth of tobacco stalks. Food for thought regards drinkers freezing. Would a piece of 1 inch polystyrene covered complete with ply, perhaps even 2-3 inch sides too, be affective? Have only have say 2 days top frozen water, but then again I am foretunate to be here and replace if needs be, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strapper Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 funny enough i have had two chicks full of food outside of the bowl dead...only two..different nests. both similar size...but none others like it. this is out of say 30 nests. i put it down to coming off the nest and dragging a chick out of the nest. this happened over night...found in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big blue bar Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 ive only had one dead out of the nest but i ve had lots of blank eggs in the same boxs aswell one of the pairs did nt fill the eggs on the second round never had this before . must be the weather all right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strapper Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 ive only had one dead out of the nest but i ve had lots of blank eggs in the same boxs aswell one of the pairs did nt fill the eggs on the second round never had this before . must be the weather all right blank eggs were a big thing last year...so something has deffinately changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbigbaws Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 All my birds are locked in their own boxes, so dont have the chance or risk of fighting. The idea of weaklings is interesting. It is freezing here at the moment with drinkers constantly freezing, just hope the rest are going to be ok, as if not its going to be a struggle to get the team i want, i,m sure it will be :-/ not the start you were looking for eck, wi the birds locked in there boxes, if the cock is sitting or the hen the other will want out the box. it will peace about and hang on to the nest front and disturb the nest and unsettle the one sitting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE FIFER Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 if the parents come off to feed or anything it doesnt take long for very young to get cold and die or neer, and the birds will put them out, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmite Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 i normally use tobbago stalks but this year used straw have just weaned 1st round of ybs had good hatch from stockloft which the front is completly open they hatched when we had 10 inches of snow on ground and minus 5 temps but all came through good so i feel the straw really hlped keep them warm as ive had same probs in cold when useing tobago stalks m8 get some straw quick and put in nests jmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big blue bar Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 heard hay makes them sweat but maybe that would nt happen in this weather prob keep them nice and warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjc Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 heard hay makes them sweat but maybe that would nt happen in this weather prob keep them nice and warm hay can harbour to many mites and because of the heat it retains becomes a breeding ground for bacteria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topmanlee Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 they will be sitting that tight the birds will av got sweaty and with it being freezing they will av stuck to them thats why they will be out ov the nest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGK Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 got it in 1! the wild birds arent coupling up never mind nesting, mother nature knows the way. Frank we have never had 3 months of minus 5 degres for 40 years they are saying, most winters have been very mild of late. going back to when you used to get the cold frozen winters most people didnt pair up till end feb mid march them everyone seems to go in Dec nowadays , Totally against nature and i think the severe cold has bit a lot of people in the ars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex wight Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 not the start you were looking for eck, wi the birds locked in there boxes, if the cock is sitting or the hen the other will want out the box. it will peace about and hang on to the nest front and disturb the nest and unsettle the one sitting Tell me about it brian, the theory that confinement is the problem looks to be favourite at the moment along with the weather. But i,ll persevere As for why do i keep them locked in their boxes, well, i know of quite a few fanciers who do this. It for one guarantees the breeding, and if the pigeons are calm and settled, it stops fighting ect. Still learning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjc Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Mine are locked in the boxes with 1 pair at a time being allowed there liberty, this way they settle to there boxes and know where they are. Once the hens have laid the second egg the boxes are opened and because they are settled don't cause any problems with going into the wrong box etc. Also this way means the 1st round of eggs are 100% from the pairs I want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest frank dooman Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Me thinks you have a theory Frank, have you found any common denominators in the stories you heard. Seems too wide spread to be anything else, have been listening to our lads over here, simular problems has been freezing for quite a while but wouldnt be as cold as where you are. It has been a long time since we had anything like this weather and its intresting to remember years ago no one went down untill feb at least. Kevin just a bit early to say kev but lets wait and see if the fanciers that havent paired up yet have the same prob,s if so it will be milder and we cant blame the cold snap so lets here from you,s when the time comes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex wight Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Mine are locked in the boxes with 1 pair at a time being allowed there liberty, this way they settle to there boxes and know where they are. Once the hens have laid the second egg the boxes are opened and because they are settled don't cause any problems with going into the wrong box etc. Also this way means the 1st round of eggs are 100% from the pairs I want! Looking at it, i think that is the way to go, and not locking them up. I would have to do this at a weekend as i,m not there during the week. I may start it this weekend and see how i go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest frank dooman Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Tell me about it brian, the theory that confinement is the problem looks to be favourite at the moment along with the weather. But i,ll persevere As for why do i keep them locked in their boxes, well, i know of quite a few fanciers who do this. It for one guarantees the breeding, and if the pigeons are calm and settled, it stops fighting ect. Still learning once the hen lays the first egg you could take the cock away and both eggs will be full so you would only need to lock them up untill then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex wight Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 once the hen lays the first egg you could take the cock away and both eggs will be full so you would only need to lock them up untill then Thats what my future plans will be, and see how it goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 very slow in coming down but the ones that did lay had a good hatch only 1 blind egg from 28 laid also lost 1 out of its bowl sitting next to it frozen solid but full of grub mine were not seperated during the winter and all that laid were older birds none of my yearlings have gone down yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex wight Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 very slow in coming down but the ones that did lay had a good hatch only 1 blind egg from 28 laid also lost 1 out of its bowl sitting next to it frozen solid but full of grub mine were not seperated during the winter and all that laid were older birds none of my yearlings have gone down yet All my 12 laid from between day 8 to day 12, only one pair of yearlings the rest vary from 2-4 year olds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 All my 12 laid from between day 8 to day 12, only one pair of yearlings the rest vary from 2-4 year olds mine were well spread out alex but the yearlings should go down when it warms up a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex wight Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 mine were well spread out alex but the yearlings should go down when it warms up a bit I was quite worried at how quick mine went down, i was expecting a full house of clear eggs, but wasnt to be thankfully. I,ve still got 11 out of a possible 24 so not a total disaster, still plenty o time to give them a second chance though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paullock Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Ive had to seperate my hens and cocks as they were not interested, could be because I have built a new loft during the winter and they were all housed together + the cold, I used tabaco stalks for the nest bowls but im changing to straw and lots of it when I re-pair in two weeks, hope it warmer and the pairs will be well up to it! looks likw I will be racing back to young for the first two or three races with most of the birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sajfos Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The problem is due to both Parents being confined to the box they both seem to want to sit the Youngsters together & push one another from the bowl , this can flick a Youngster out in the process ..try leaving the boxes open & You may find things settle down ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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