Hens not layed

[Guest IB]

 

It has nothing to do with warmer weather, for years people have paired up on boxing day and they used to have worse weather than us.???????

 

Its hard to split warmer weather from longer daylight hours, but you are right, it is daylight hours that control both cock and hen reproductive systems.

 

Also an interesting one about pairing up on Boxing day. I don't know when this became common, but in Scotland at least, Feb 14th is the more usual date, with mid-March for channel candidates. I think Boxing Day was chosen in England because the winter solstice is around this time, after which daylight gradually increases, by a few minutes each day. And it is a few degrees warmer down there than here, -5 instead of -10.  ;D

[DOVEScot]

I like to observe nature regards our dovecote birds, they are fed, watered, vaccinated etc the same as our loft birds but apart from that they open to all the elements of nature

This cote has 12 compartments, the dominant pair pick the NE comp in the summer and the SE compartments in the winter.

They breed all year round but slow down in the winter and the mortality rates fall to about 25%,

They are are street wise and almost never get taken by hawks

They never get any problems or infections and if you handle them they are in excellent condition

The fantail disappears through natural selection and survival

 

If the conditions are right they will lay and rear all year round

 

 

 

Unlike our loft birds we determine the best to get what we think is best for us rather than what is best for the birds. A bird rung on the earliest possible date in January with a 2010 ring will be the oldest and some may say the most experienced bird when it comes to racing others don't pair up till later in the year if they don't concentrate on YB racing so I believe :-/