loft setup

[snowy]

hi all only me again,

just asking for abit of advice again!, all views welcome

ive got a 10x8 loft with 2 sections, at the moment ive got cocks in one side & hens & late youngsters in the other,(as soon as i can tell the sexs i will seperate) the cocks have their boxes, & was wondering when & how do i put the hens in? i want to breed certain cocks n hens, so do i just put the hen & cock in the same box? & what shall i do regarding the weaning process? alot of these birds are prisioners.

regards & thanks again

[snowy]

also, i have not put the fronts on the nestboxes or any bowls, when do i do this?

[Peckedhen]

Did you join the RPRA yet?  In their information pack they send a great booklet -  'Racing Pigeons' by Guy Barret which explains how to go about it.  I've found it more helpful than anything I've read so far. (Apart from on here of course! )

[Guest Silverwings]

snowy ,if you have the standard widowhood boxes with the plastic fronts ,its a good idea to get an additional set of fronts you can then use them to split the box ,and isolate the cock and hen in each half , as soon as the hen takes to the cock you can then let them run together ? that way the hens dont get knocked about or damaged !

[snowy]

THE NEST BOXES I GOT ARE ONLY SMALL WITH THE WOODEN FRONTS WHERE THE PERCH DROPS DOWN

[mealybar]

Did you join the RPRA yet?  In their information pack they send a great booklet -  'Racing Pigeons' by Guy Barret which explains how to go about it.  I've found it more helpful than anything I've read so far. (Apart from on here of course! )

 

The RPRA booklet is online at http://www.pigeonbasics.com/articles/rpracontents.php

 

[snowy]

YES GOT THE BOOK & READ IT, JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANY OTHER VIEWS.

thanks

[mealybar]

You may have read this before, but I'll post it up again as it might help someone else.

 

Over the winter you have your cocks and hens seperated, cocks in the boxes section of the loft, here they will settle to 'their' box. Once you come to pair them up lock all the cocks in their boxes, and then add the hens, the correct hen you wish to be partnered to each cock, place her in the box with the cock (locked up). They may seem to fight at first, but usually within a few minutes they will be settled in one corner, the cock cooing to the hen. - Keep an eye on the birds when the hens go in, sometimes you will get a pair that simply wont pair up, or continually fight, in this case there are ways to try and ease them into pairing together. - Once they have paired, probably start this the day after putting them together (their still locked in their boxes - food and water can be put in pots on the front) let one pair out to have run of the section/loft. When I'm doing this I get 2 pairs out in a day, morning 1 goes out, when I get home they get locked away and the next get let out until the next morning. I'd let them out on their own like this a few times - while doing it leave some nesting material on the loft floor, building a nest in their box will quicken them to settle - Once all of the pairs are finding their way around alright, start letting two pairs out at a time, it might pay to watch them at this stage for a wee while too, as the cocks could fight - especially if they go into the wrong box. Once they have all been out, whilst another pair is out, let another pair out each time until they are all free in the section, and are all paired up, and should be laying their first egg within a couple of days.

[jimmy white]

ITS JUST A THOUGHT SNOWY, BUT MAYBE YOUR FIRST YEAR,CONCENTRATE ON BREEDING A TEAM OF YBS,AND AS YOU HAVE SOME PRISONERS,MAYBE BUILD AN AVIARY AT THE SIDE OF THE BREEDING SECTION OF YOUR LOFT, AND JUST KEEP THEM ALL AS PRISONERS UNTILL YOU BREED A TEAM OF YBS. YOU COULD RACE ALL YOUR YBS TO THE OTHER SECTION.MIND YOU YOU COULD ALLWAYS PUT THE BIRDS THAT ARE HOMMING OUT NOW AND AGAIN BY HAND, JUST TO GIVE THEM A STRETCH AND BATH ETC  JUST FITTER ABOUT WITH A FEW SUGESTIONS, THEN DO IT THE WAY YOU THINK SUITS YOU BEST, IF YOU LET ME KNOW HOW MANY BREEDING PAIRS YOU HAVE AND HOW MANY YBS YOU WANT, I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP YOU, YOU COULD MATE UP IN JANUARY, THE OLD BIRDS SHOULD BREED OK BUT THE YOUNGER ONES WILL BREED WHEN THEY ARE READY THEMSELVES, MAYBE YOU WOULD BE BETTER STARTING OFF,,  RACING JUST YBS THIS YEAR AND ANY LATEBREDS YOU HAVE, CAN BE TRAINED ALONG WITH THESE, TO FORM A TEAM NEXT YEAR OBS AND YBS

[snowy]

thanks mealey bar & all,

jim, yes thats what ive decided to do, get a team of y/birds together for next year, when i breed them.

[piggy]

hello there,hope the boxes are ok,

 

glad to here youve seperated the sexes,

 

how are you feeding the cocks,individual or in a trough,as its only my thought but if they are fed individual they will become more protective over box and easier to catch as prisoners!

 

the nest box fronts are the natural type with the perch on the front, now i would pair up

in feb, i would put the hen in the box and lock it and the cock will dance around on the perch,what do people think leave all birds like this for about 1-2hr then let them together a couple of pairs at a time, as for when to put nest bowls in i was thinking of about a week before you pair up?

 

im working out my pairings now,and yes will have a couple for you,

 

did we say you will have 4 pairs to breed from, so two rounds = 16 y/b + my 2 = 18 if you can get a few more i think a team of 20-25 will be adequate, me myself only rear about 30 never do well at y/b racing but on the other hand get them all back not very far away from each other and only ever lose a few!

 

cheers stu,  

 

 

[Guest shadow]

AS you are only starting and the nest boxs small I would just let the pigeons pair up them selves.Rather than you trying to force partners on them by locking them up this way you will cut down on the cocks fighting and the numbers of pairs changing because they fancy different partners and things will settle down quicker.  

 

Quality not Quantity

[snowy]

piggy, yes they are great mate, just the job for what i will need them for,  theres a couple of pairs i want to breed together as i want to keep the bloodline of these pure, but that wont be a problem, thanks again all