when to take youngsters out of nest

[THE FIFER]

move when feathered under the wing, and make sure they are eating.

[Guest TAMMY_1]

14 to 16 days... into the Basket in their new home. Fed and watered, and then broke into their new loft by leting out but locked up to feed them. 21 Days on place in wire baskets and onto of the Conservatory... left to enter the basket. 28 days left loose and basket removed, allowed to go in and out of the loft as they please. 1st training tosses after they have finished ranging, then 10 days or so before their first race.

 

14-16 days, Roland who are you trying to kid ? have never heard of anybody seperating young birds this early, do you have older birds with them that feeds them ?

[likklegriz]

how much under wing feathering fully or just enough

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

you should wean your youngsters when you can not see any skin under the wing

[pigeonscout]

Wean your young birds when they are seen eating out of pot in nest box. I would rather leave them in nest 5 days more than take them out 1 day early.

[Guest MBpigeonguy]

 

i have only 1 nest bowl in my nest boxes its a 1 by one foot plasic container.

will i run into any problems?

[Guest Vic]

pigeonscout, I think the exact opposite, a day earlier without doubt!  Somebody mentioned stress, regarding moving 'em early.  ;D ;D ;D ;D    Pigeons are naturally

gregarious, even at a tender age. In instances like this, there is only one right way, and I defy anybody to better the way , that my own experience in this game has proved throughout the years. I only wish some of you guys, could see my ybs now,

all nestled snuggly together, full bursting crops, warm as toast. I ask you.Vic ;D ;D

[pigeonscout]

pigeonscout, I think the exact opposite, a day earlier without doubt!  Somebody mentioned stress, regarding moving 'em early.  ;D ;D ;D ;D    Pigeons are naturally

gregarious, even at a tender age. In instances like this, there is only one right way, and I defy anybody to better the way , that my own experience in this game has proved throughout the years. I only wish some of you guys, could see my ybs now,

all nestled snuggly together, full bursting crops, warm as toast. I ask you.Vic ;D ;D

 

What good can it do to have a young bird go without food for a couple of days before it can feed for its self.

Never will I take a bird that cannot feed and leave it until it learns to. All your doing is hurting the bird by making it go without food.

Your own experience in this game has proved throughout the years that taking them away before they can feed does what Vic? Does it make them better do they fly faster are they happy warm and content while starving tell me? Give me one good reason why letting a young bird go without food is better than making sure it has the food? There are two things I never argue with and nature is both of them.

I my view there is only one way and that is to have your young birds fed watered and content.

[Guest Vic]

pigeonscout,  Whenever did Vic say or even suggest?

that the ybs would go without feed  FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS! You must be reading , my scattered posts willy nilly. I would go as far to say, that by leaving a yb in the nest for a FURTHER FIVE DAYS puts  the obs in a more stressful position not the ybs. I put my ybs on the floor in 4 inches of  good bedding, and the obs follow em down and feed them as a flock. No yb ever goes unfed, so I just can't see what you are trying to put over. Pigeons young or old, are gregarious, and will always thrive by being just so. Please read my posts as sent, not in bits and pieces. Regards, Vic.  

[Roland]

No Tammy. Was a great ancier, and other since tat taught me that.

If racing te hens w/h then leave them with them a few days more. I think 16 das id prime.... Have left them also till they move themselves on. But is realy a waste of time and a drag on the parents.

[Guest Vic]

Roland! I get the gist of your last reply, the earlier the better. Cheers, Vic.

[jimmy white]

if you put galley pots with maples in their box everyday theyll be eating themselves in a fortnight ,, not that i would seperate them then , but at 3 weeks as voc says theyll all be full cropped and sitting as warm as toaston the floor of the loft,,,,,,,,,this is the time they actual;y get looked after less with the adults,,,as they just want to breed again  

[velo99]

I put mine on the floor when the tails are an inch or longer. There is a little wooden enclosure for them to hide in. They can see the whole floor of the loft from there and watch with interest as the other birds eat. Usually within four or five days they will be eating on thier own. After I find them perching on various items in the box I move the to the kitbox for trap and flight training. Easy money.

v99

[pigeonscout]

Taking a young bird out of nest and into the young bird loft is not the same as taking them out and having them on floor with old birds to feed them. I think there has been some misunderstanding I myself would take one of the young birds out of nest and put it on the floor of the young bird section with the hen the other I leave with the cock. Each young bird is well looked after and the cock is not driving the hen to nest. I would not put the young birds on the floor with the cocks in loft as some cocks will scalp the young birds. The point I was making was I would rather leave a young bird in the nest than take it to young bird loft where there are no old birds to feed it before it can eat.

[Peckedhen]

I've been told to never put a single youngster down onto the breeding loft floor or they get scalped - always put a few down at once! :-/

[ticeye]

My pairs are fed and watered in their boxes.

 

Around 14 days I like to put straw on the nest box floor and encourage the youngster to come out of the bowl. The hen can then go back down on her next round of eggs.

 

The youngster is then more mobile and sees parents eat from gallipot and drink from the jar, and basically copies them.

 

When the youngster is seen to be eating & drinking, and feathered under the wing, I usually shift it along with others, around the same age, 24/28 days, to young bird end. They get dipped in the drinker at least once ... until I see them drink there on there own, and they have food before them all day.

 

I've not had any go back since adopting this method.

 

the same routine as myself except i put 2nd bowl in nestbox

[rockinrick]

around 21 to 25 days for me

[Guest]

I put a gally pot in about 18days and remove the y/b when feathered under wing because some y/b come on faster than others i would never put y/b on the floor thats a shure way to get them scalped and i have never managed to keep a scalped y/b no matter how well its bred have tried the move the hens as well that works great but i think you have to be widow/roundabout to do you any good

[Guest Vic]

frankdooman, I, many years ago, did what you do now. There is only one way, and it's the way I say! Scalping? never heard of . A lonesome yb will be scalped doing it your way. Never! my way. Let's face it, anybody can breed a reasononable yb, but my way, improves the very environment within the loft. Cheers Vic.  

[johnny11]

Vic see you between 11 and 12 tomorrow

 

John

[Guest]

Thread has taken a new twist, and an interesting one at that.  

 

I agree that birds are gregarious, they like the company of other birds, etc. If my young bird hits the floor, it does so under its own steam straight from the nest box. I take that as a sign that it's ready to leave the nest, and time to get them all shifted: provided they are all eating & drinking & fully feathered under the wing.

 

I've seen YBs left in the nest box, and I've seen the bond and contentment of a pair with a big self-sufficient youngster in the box, with YB preening its parents and vice-versa. There's sod-all stress there, the stress I've seen is when the youngsters are shifted 'early' and every OB is trying to get into the YB section to feed its youngster. That's what I call real stress.

 

And as soon as YBs are used to their section, and under control, they run free thro the loft, which is put on 'open plan', with OBs and YBs mixing & perching up where they please, in any of my 5 sections or Aviary.

[Guest Vic]

Bruno! One mans meat...          Nobody, and I repeat nobody! will ever deliver ybs to a seperate loft more efficiently than myself. Mine are being seperated this weekend to their new abode , (which has been prepared with a six inches dressing of easy bed , which will see em all through through the  end of the yb season)  They will all be drinking and eating, without being able, to make  a lower perch. There is only ever one way to do it right. Cheers , Vic

  

[pigeonscout]

There is more than one way or right way to do anything in pigeons, that is what makes this sport so interesting. I rare great young birds not in my view but in everyone that has ever seen my young birds.

I have seen great young birds in a number of lofts all fed and treated different than mine so how can I say my way is best? I cannot all I can say is it works for me. The proper way to rare a young bird would be to let nature take its course and leave it in nest until it has the confidence to leave the nest and go it alone. For us racing pigeon men this is not always what is best for the old birds so we take the young away early. There can be a down side to having all the young on the floor getting fed by any old bird that wants to feed it. The old bird that likes to fed all the young comes under stress and when the stress goes up so does its cocci and canker count and anything else it has underlying. As I have said before when I am moving young birds from first round I leave them in nest until they are well feathered and feeding. The 2nd round I need to move early and I move one young bird with the hen into young bird section so that the hen does not have a 3rd round of eggs this I do with stock birds. The racing birds first round get moved early so I can time the 2nd round of eggs so that the cocks are only sitting 8 to 10 days then split two weeks before the first race.

The best way to do anything in this sport is one that works and is best for you. I do not see the point of putting young birds on the floor of the breeding loft for a week before moving them to the young bird loft.

Some young bird will be younger than others and so would need more time with old birds. The old birds will start driving to nest so the hen will be trying to feed young as the cock is driving her. Then your hens will come down on eggs at different times. If you take the hens away with one young bird and put them into young bird loft then the cock is not wasting energy driving and with a big young one to feed in the nest will have an even stronger bond to that box. The hens with the other young bird is not getting drove to nest and about to lay so she to has more energy. Then when all the young are old enough to look after themselves the young with the cocks are moved to the young bird loft and the hens with the young birds can be put back with cocks. That way they will all come down on eggs within two days of each other.

[Guest]

Well Vic, my young birds are on deep litter from the start to the end of their lives, they are eating & drinking before they leave the nest, they go to an end that they have been able to see since they first opened their eyes,  and they are all on their perches in dribs and drabs, by the 2nd or 3rd night of shifting.

 

And yes pigeons like to nest on the floor, but they prefer to perch off it especially at night, and as high as you'll let them.

 

And I agree with Pigeonscout, there is no one way: there is only the best way, and even that lasts only as long as it takes something better to replace it.

[Ronnie]

Well the main advantage i see of putting them down on the floor is the boost to the immune system.With the young being fed by different birds i would expect there immune system to be boosted from all the birds feeding them so as a whole the loft would be be collectively at the same level of immunity.Ive got 17 youngsters weaned in a darkness loft now.These 17 all look and feel like a good team(better than the team i bought in last year) my second round have not been put on the floor prior to weening and i must be hohnest and say the first round seemed to be be better at the same stage but i havnt weened my second round yet so time will tell.