floating eggs

[edthekid]

new to floating .. mate has some eggs from some great birds..the eggs are about 4/5 days old.....i have a couple of pair that have just layed and a couple of pair that are 10 days old......what should i swap

[Guest j.bamling]

the most i have dared float is 4 days either way. But best if the eggs chip before the pairs are due too ,If they sit too long over the top they will leave them !!

[Guest TAMMY_1]

new to floating .. mate has some eggs from some great birds..the eggs are about 4/5 days old.....i have a couple of pair that have just layed and a couple of pair that are 10 days old......what should i swap

 

Like yourself I  am new to this, I have just done it for first time ever, Chrissy brought me up a pair of eggs two weeks ago and I kept them and  placed them under a pair that had laid it's second egg last sunday, so I would put yours under the pair that had just laid and let the others hatch as they have been sitting longer. But that is only my opinion and as I said I am new to this as well and is a totally new experience for me as well, we are now just hoping the eggs hatch out

[edthekid]

as a matter of intrest..when do the birds produce its milk....does it take x amount of days while sitting

[Guest chrisss]

i have found that 4 days max will do, so go for the ones that have just layed it means that the eggs hatch out a bit before the birds expect it , most of my birds are ok to lay but too old to bring the ybs up so i do tend to foster a bit my birds will sit [on average] 3 days over so you should be ok good luck

[billy wilson]

i think softmilk starts at about 10 days so if you put eggs under the pair sitting 11 or 12 days ready to hatch they should be okay because once the milk sack has brocken the soft milk will keep on coming,ive done this myself and it works

 

 

 

                                   billy

[Guest IB]

I think the birds that have just laid within the past few days are best with the proviso that they are good, proven feeders - no use risking your most valuable eggs on a pair of daft yearlings that are off the eggs every 5 minutes or so, or in a box you know an errant cock is visiting.

 

I've asked the same thing about pigeon milk before - when does the bird start producing it? Don't know for certain, but I have been floating eggs for years and I've never had a pair that didn't have milk when the youngster hatched. My guess is that changes in the crop occur within a week of the pair starting to sit, and by the second week its more or less there just waiting to be 'triggered' by the bird sensing movement in the egg.

[edthekid]

is there any links on this..scientific proof...because i personly think its produced in the egg making stage.....probly wrong wont be 1st time...lol

[NANCYVIEWLOFTS]

i remember a good flyer once saying that they did not believe in floating eggs as they thought that it contributed to YOUNG BIRD SICKNESS as the immune system in the young in the egg was different to the foster parents immune system and when they hatched out it could cause problems

im not saying i believe it but it is food for thought

some people say that bringing youngsters in from another fanciers loft could also cause trouble re YBS but i know of many fanciers whos stock loft is not on the same site as their race loft so would that count as another loft

[Guest j.bamling]

i remember a good flyer once saying that they did not believe in floating eggs as they thought that it contributed to YOUNG BIRD SICKNESS as the immune system in the young in the egg was different to the foster parents immune system and when they hatched out it could cause problems

im not saying i believe it but it is food for thought

some people say that bringing youngsters in from another fanciers loft could also cause trouble re YBS but i know of many fanciers whos stock loft is not on the same site as their race loft so would that count as another loft

 

I dont agree with you on this point, i have done tons of Floating eggs even this year infact i have 6-7 pair of stock birds just for floating

i have also brought in ybs from a few differant lofts over the last few years and have never had Young Bird Sickness  

[Guest IB]

is there any links on this..scientific proof...because i personly think its produced in the egg making stage.....probly wrong wont be 1st time...lol

 

There's lots of stuff that simply state 'they produce' there's very little that state 'when' they produce it. Couple of pieces that contradict each other:-

 

Wikipedia says:-

 

Pigeon's milk begins to be produced a couple of days before the eggs are due to hatch.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_milk

 

It cites 4 references. 1 link is broken, only 1 of the other 3 mentions a time and says:-

 

Common-crowned Pigeons, like all other pigeons and doves, produce a substance known as "crop milk". Shortly before the chick is due to hatch, the lining of the parent bird's crop begins to thicken. This lining sloughs off to form a cheesy material which the parents regurgitate to feed the chick

 

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-crownpigeon.cfm

 

 

This Pigeon Site totally contradicts that but offers no reference to substantiate its claims:

 

Doves and pigeons along with some species of parrots are the only birds that produce crop milk. Studies have shown it is manufactured in the crop and the process beings while the parents are brooding the eggs. Soon after sitting the eggs the cell division of the crop increases about 600 percent. After about week the process increases at a higher rate.

 

http://pigeonracing.homestead.com/Pigeon_Milk.html

 

 

[Guest Vic]

I would rather have  foster birds sitting overdue, (3 days maximum).  than vicer versa anytime. Milk? I would say 7 days onwards.