Keeping pigeons together?

[Kleonaptra]

They get a mixture of parrot seed and layer mix. Believe me I have tried everything on this oriental bird. The boys thrive on anything but the female (Isha) has been so hard to please. I got her at auction as a mate for my boy, she has obviously been pampered and I tried every kind of food you can imagine to please her. Ive kept all kinds of birds, trained three different kinds of hand reared parrots and rescued lots of different species, the only thing I can come up with is this bird is dumb. She fouls up the water dishes, falls off perches and gets startled by her own fantail. After offering every kind of food that was recommended - we have lots of pigeon clubs around here - and having to throw it out untouched I just went back to the basic seed mix the boys like. Im looking into a pigeon feed at the new place I get my horse feed but most Ive seen look almost identical to what they get now. I only add the parrot mix because it has some small white seeds they like - they always pick them out first - and extra black sunflower seeds.

The worst thing for me was when she would incubate the eggs for about 16 days then sit on it too hard and break it on herself. Awful mess. She doesnt like being handled so getting her out and cleaning her was stressfull AND disgusting. I do not remember her feeding miracle Mike ever once, father pige did it all. For little Mike Im determined to get a very ordinary sensible girlfriend, no getting distracted by pretty fantails!

 

[loftkeeper]

two things come to mind about breaking eggs in nest first is the egg thin shelled or rough feeling in your hand if so calcium is the problem you can give one human tablet to help get some health grit for pigeons oyster shell grit or just feed a chicken layer pellets some pigeons will not eat a complete diet so you have to step in next are the nest well padded in the bottom i use carpet backing for padding do the birds jump in nest or just walk sides to high will cause birds to break eggs jumping in it I use plastic dog bowls buy them at the dollar store a hen needs to rest between laying recommended to let them set ten days then remove eggs this is what the folks that use foster recommend might be why she has bad eggs

 

[Hokum Coco]

The worst thing for me was when she would incubate the eggs for about 16 days then sit on it too hard and break it on herself.

All excellent suggestions from loft keeper.
That being said it is my experience some pigeons just loose the ability to lay hard shelled eggs no matter what you try.

Whether it be old age, inbreeding, or poor genetics I have no idea what the problem is. It is very frustrating as a pigeon fancier I might add.

Someone should invent some sort of epoxy resin we could dip the fragile shell into to give it more integrity.

 

[laughingdog]

Too inbred fantail problems with new standards for american fantails. also partly due to influences of more senji genes to make head neck go back real far shaking or rattling desired, and chest stick out real far and then their legs and feet smaller thinner daintier longer seeming. they look just like the turkey crosses that drown in rain and are a cross or artificially inseminated with catch thing like for layer hens, so they don't crush eggs eventually. i could be waaay off though..

 

[laughingdog]

Am fantail breeders foster eggs out to get young also because of those troubles you mentioned, and also to get fertile eggs they trim way down females tail, or tape together.

 

[Kleonaptra]

She does tend to bend her head back very far, pushing out her chest and shaking. When she wants something - like clean water or more food - she shakes while giving me doe eyes.

I really didnt get them to breed pigeons. I was working at a stable and my friend found Father pige in a feed bin all yellow and fluffy. I bundled him into a shoe box so the boss wouldnt kill him. They did terrible things to pigeons there and NONE of their methods were effective against the 'pest'. I hand raised father pige and we bought Isha just so he would have a friend. For the first few months I killed myself trying to get this girl pigeon what she needed, ended up saying hey, what am I doing, I dont need a dozen baby pigeons, and started stealing the eggs.

(They were beautiful smooth pearl like slightly pink eggs by the way. I always found it amusing such a beautiful bird laid such gorgeous girly eggs)

When we moved in here I got lazy, and a broken egg had a half formed squab in it. I felt so bad I went back to helping them. I even tried incubating the eggs myself, got a hatch but failed in squab raising. Got so disheartened, went back to stealing eggs. I had given them a nest bowl with soft hay for bedding. When my foal was due I got slack again, forgot to steal the eggs, and got a shock the day after the foal was born to see a little head in the nest bowl. I thought for sure they would kill it - they had once before trampled a squab - and every day could not believe the little fellow was thriving. Father pige seemed to actively keep Isha away from it, the few times I saw her sit on him she would actually stand on him scratching him with her claws until father pige pushed her off. He always looks at her like "lucky you got your looks honey"

Mike is a really gorgeous bird too. A beautiful pale grey with standard pigeon markings and a slightly wider tail.

 

[jak2002003]

Very interesting to read about you pigeons.

Sometimes, you will just get a 'bad' parent pigeon.. and no matter what you do, they don't have the instincts to do the job properly.

This is, however, quite rare.

In all my years with fancy pigeons I only ever had one female that was like yours.

She would mate with many males.. and not be faithful to her mate... she would lay eggs in different nests and it was very confusing for me to find strange cross breed young in different nests!

He most annoying thing was to keep getting off her nest and letting the eggs cool. She would also stand on the eggs and break them.

When the eggs did survive she would only feed the chicks for a few days.. then abandon them.. leaving ALL the work to her mate. During this time she would pair up with another male.. or try to break up an existing nest.. causing a lot of fighting.

Even thought she was a frustrating bird to keep.. I was very sad when she got killed .. as were most of my flock.. when a mongoose got into the coop.

The fantails I had were the BEST parents.. they were very placid, gently and attentive to their eggs and chicks. I never trimmed their feathers and they were very fertile. I used to use them to foster other breeds of pigeons sometimes.. and they always accepted them. Even when I had to move their nests they were not upset and kept feeding the young.

 

[elsfieldchickens]

can we see pictures of the pigeys?

 

[Kleonaptra]

Knew this question was coming, took pics yesterday afternoon.



Heres the parents. I know father Pige was born in 2008, but I have no idea how old Isha is. The ring on her leg says 2005, would that be her birth year? No matter what, both were over 5 yrs when they raised Mike, and I read somewhere they breed less after 5yrs.



Heres Mike. He's a handsome devil. He was so shy when I first weaned him and now he has cuddles with me every day, he's such a sweetie. I havnt put them in the new coop yet, I should get it all done on Saturday and I'll take some pics of them in the new coop.

 

[Kleonaptra]

Very interesting to read about you pigeons.

Sometimes, you will just get a 'bad' parent pigeon.. and no matter what you do, they don't have the instincts to do the job properly.

This is, however, quite rare.

In all my years with fancy pigeons I only ever had one female that was like yours.

She would mate with many males.. and not be faithful to her mate... she would lay eggs in different nests and it was very confusing for me to find strange cross breed young in different nests!

He most annoying thing was to keep getting off her nest and letting the eggs cool. She would also stand on the eggs and break them.

When the eggs did survive she would only feed the chicks for a few days.. then abandon them.. leaving ALL the work to her mate. During this time she would pair up with another male.. or try to break up an existing nest.. causing a lot of fighting.

Even thought she was a frustrating bird to keep.. I was very sad when she got killed .. as were most of my flock.. when a mongoose got into the coop.

The fantails I had were the BEST parents.. they were very placid, gently and attentive to their eggs and chicks. I never trimmed their feathers and they were very fertile. I used to use them to foster other breeds of pigeons sometimes.. and they always accepted them. Even when I had to move their nests they were not upset and kept feeding the young.

I do worry that Isha will not stay with Pige in the big coop. I dont want fighting, but I can garuntee if theres trouble to be got into, this will be the bird that does it.

Isha used to let the eggs cool too. I initially thought she'd be a good mum because when I saw her with her first egg she was gently cradling it and adjusting it with her beak. Soon after she got distracted, wandered off and let it roll away. She would wander about and do her own thing and then suddenly go 'Oh! My egg!' and rush back to it. Still, I bought her at the bird auctions for $6 Im not sure about bird auctions, but I know at horse auctions its a whole lot of unwanted stock...Anyone with a good animal never sends it there. For our next bird we are going to a new place around the corner advertising pigeons for sale, I have no idea if it will work out, if not we will be back at the auctions.