Can anyone tell me!!

[Guest Grasshopper Lofts]

Can anyone tell me how long it is from first pairing up to the first egg then the second then how long till hatching thanks

[kev43]

pair up if they take straight away normally 8/12 days for 1st egg then 2 days for 2nd egg then if they sit tight between 15/18 days 2 hatch

[Guest Owen]

No-one can tell for sure how long from the pairing to the first egg. It will depend on a lot of things. The age of the birds. Young hen pigeons, take longer to lay sometimes. The time of the year. Pigeons heavy in the moult will not normally want to mate. And pigeons are less sexually active in winter. Whether the birds have been paired together before. If the birds are new to each other they can be reluctant to pair and you have to be very careful that the cock does not injure the hen. An awful lot of hens are ruined each year by overjealous cocks. Then there is the fitness levels of the birds. Fit pigeons will mate and lay better than unfit birds. And fat birds are very poor breeders, especially the hens. But if you have a pair of birds that know each other and are fit and well, they should produce the first egg in 8 to 10 days. The second egg will be laid on the second day after the first. Then after the second egg is laid the birds will start to incubate. The incubation period is 19 days.

One tip I can give you is, to make sure that the birds have fresh grit and minerals every day. And I make sure that they have access to clay blocks at all times. It will make the differance between youngsters and well reared youngsters. The problem we all have with racing pigeons is that it is not good enough to rear youngsters. The youngsters we rear will have to be the best of the best to justify their existence.

[kev43]

OWEN,,, thats what av said but without al the eeege beegee obvious the lads goin 2 make sure his bird are fit and well b4 he pairs up what numpty wudnt if he got a bit savvi about his birds   :)