- Sep 15, 2013
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So one week ago I got a "pair" of Lahore pigeons. I say pair in quotations because we just went in the loft, caught several to compare pelvic bones and I picked two I liked who appeared to be male and female. When I got them home I put them in a pairing cage to make sure they became a boned pair before I put them in my loft with other breeds of pigeons, and luckily within a couple days I noticed pairing behavior like grooming. Four or five days in I noticed the female had laid an egg. If it had been another breed I probably would have just discarded it until I put them in the loft with breeding boxes, but because I want to get as many chicks out of this pair as possible I instead put in a clay pot filled with bedding and put the egg in it. Happily the female has been sitting on it for the last two-three days, and tonight I noticed the male sitting in on finally too. So far she has not laid another egg though, not sure why...
So my question is - does that seem really fast for pairing to you? Is the egg likely to be fertile? They were in a loft with other Lahores, and I have no way of knowing whether they were already a pair when I got them or if they were paired to other pigeons. Would it likely be fertilized by the male in the cage or can pigeon hens store sperm like chicken hens can, and in that case might it actually be fertilized from her previous mate? Thanks!
So my question is - does that seem really fast for pairing to you? Is the egg likely to be fertile? They were in a loft with other Lahores, and I have no way of knowing whether they were already a pair when I got them or if they were paired to other pigeons. Would it likely be fertilized by the male in the cage or can pigeon hens store sperm like chicken hens can, and in that case might it actually be fertilized from her previous mate? Thanks!