How to raise pigeons

I think we are all very familiar with pigeons. We can often see flocks of pigeons flying in the sky, or flocks of pigeons playing in the square. Pigeons are domesticated by the breeders, and after they fly out to play, they will find their way home when they hear the breeder's call.

Feeding and management techniques of squab

Young pigeons that come out of their shells before they leave the nest for sale or breeding are called squab. During this period, squab are fed by parent pigeons (breeder pigeons). It was observed that the pigeons were fed the whole slurry (called pigeon milk, from thin to thick) to the pigeons within 7 days, and then fed the slurry mixture and the whole grain gradually after 7 days. If the parent pigeon is healthy and the feeding performance is good, the squab grows very fast, generally growing to 18-20 days, and the weight can reach 1-1.2 jin, which can be sold at this time. If it meets the requirements of seed selection, it will be raised for another 10-15 days, and when the pigeons have full feathers, they can leave the nest to breed and live in groups when they can feed themselves.

Feeding and Management techniques of Child Pigeon

The squab selected as the seed is called child pigeon before leaving the nest for sexual maturity and pairing. The purpose of raising child pigeon is to obtain a good reserve breeding flock in order to expand production and replenish the breeding flock at any time.

Feed for child pigeons with larger grains (such as broad beans, corn, etc.) had better be ground into small grains, and then soaked in water to dry before feeding. Drinking water can be properly added with salt or compound vitamin B1.

Child pigeons begin to molt in about 50 days, at this time they are more sensitive to the impact of the external environment, easy to catch cold and tracheitis, so it is necessary to do a good job of cold protection and warmth.

When the child pigeon grows to 3 months old, the mobility and adaptability become stronger and stronger, and gradually turn to the stable growth period, at this time, the pigeon flock can be dewormed for the first time and select the best to get rid of the bad work.

When the child pigeon reaches the age of 6-7 months, it has entered the mature stage and can be paired and put into production. We have to do another selection, elimination and deworming before pairing. Pigeons are monogamous birds, and adult pigeons have a choice for their mates. after pairing, they are emotionally single-minded and do not engage in promiscuity or abuse like chickens or other birds.

Feeding and Management techniques of Pigeon production

Pigeons that have been paired and put into production are called production pigeons, often called production pigeons.

1. Feeding and management techniques in the new pairing period: newly paired pigeons are kept in captivity and inspected several times a day in the first few days to see if they are harmonious. If the pair is matched properly, usually a pair of pigeons will get along well after 2-3 days; if they are still not harmonious and fight frequently 4-5 days after pairing, it shows that the pair is not a suitable pair, or both are male pigeons, or although they are male and female, they do not want to match each other, so they should be rematched in time.

2. Feeding and management techniques during the egg-holding period: newly paired pigeons begin to lay eggs after they are in harmony with each other, become familiar with their cages and settle down, so they should lay nesting pots with nest grass as soon as possible and keep a record of laying eggs.

3. Feeding and management techniques during the feeding period: under normal circumstances, two hours after the squab comes out of its shell, the parent pigeon will aerate the squab mouth to mouth to make the squab adapt to being fed with pigeon milk. After another 2 hours, the parent pigeon will be fed with very thin pigeon milk. At this stage, we should pay attention to whether the parent pigeon is fed to the squab. If it is found that the parent pigeon is not fed to the squab, it is necessary to carefully distinguish whether the parent pigeon is sick or whether artificial measures should be taken to train the parent pigeon to feed the squab.

Feed mix and health sand formula

1. Feed collocation: in feed matching, we should try to be diversified and avoid being too single because a variety of feeds are combined together, which plays a role in learning from each other's strengths and offsets in nutrition, which is conducive to improving the vitality or fecundity of pigeons. The following dietary formula should be used for breeding pigeons: (for reference) 40% corn, 30% wheat, 20% peas (mung beans) and 10% brown rice.

2. Health sand formula: an adequate supply of health sand is very important for raising pigeons, especially caged pigeons. The following formula should be used for breeding pigeons during the nestling period: (for reference)

Methionine 0.3% lysine 0.6% andrographis paniculata 0.5% gentian 0.6%

Iron powder 0.5% alum 1% more vitamins 1% trace elements 1%

Charcoal powder 4% salt 4% old gypsum 6% bone powder 10%

Yellow mud 10% shell powder 25% medium coarse sand 35%

From the above introduction, we know that there are many kinds of pigeons, the more common are child pigeons, production pigeons, squab and so on. Although they are all pigeons, their feeding methods and management techniques are different. Therefore, breeders should first understand the living habits of all kinds of pigeons before breeding.