My Pedigrees and Breeding Records for 2002 - Young Birds
March 17, 2002
I have had nine more young survive, I lost several due to the root cause of dampness and drafts. In
late February we had several -15 nights, several very windy/drafty days (50+ kmph winds for much of the day), all
giving a chance for moisture to get under the birds nests. I noticed under several home-made boxes and even the
paper bowls, condensation. In the future I will allow air under the nests by puting a few twigs under them and
ever so slightly raising the bowls. I am also going to build a false ceiling in my loft, extending it above the
nest boxes to help contain the heat and protect against some drafts.
Surprisingly I have a couple interesting color patterns out of my birds, a few pics will follow soon..
February 3, 2002
I have had another round hatch from my young Sire - 01 EDM 950 and Dam - 01 EDM 912, this pair is very paternal, and
quickly accepts food and water offered in their nest box. I water my birds 3 times a day, because of ice problems in my loft. The
water tends to freeze quickly and with young in the nest, I prefer to make things as easy as possible for the first few days, for the parents and young.
I will try to get a few pictures of these birds,if it is not too cold.
2002 IPB B 4917 - Alias "Cube" is doing well, he is now about 5 weeks old. He has the run of the old bird section, he flew to the highest perch today, and is holding up okay the normal pecking and
fighting that pigeons do. I intervene only occasionally. I noticed last night that he defended against a particularly aggressive hen, but that was
probably because I was in the loft (this particular young hen is a bit nervous around me). I hand feed from about 20 to 30 days, feeding about 30 large peas and 10 kernels of corn. Showing a young bird the watering can and practice drinks, coupled with hand feeding gives a young bird an edge during this time of rapid growth, although I might only be adding 20% to the birds diet this is significant. If I am not satisfied in the evening with the amount a weaning young bird has in his crop, he gets another dozen or so peas and corn. A good side effect of hand feeding is that as a result he is tolerant of me stumbling around and
will be easy to catch when required.
January 30, 2002
Well, although we have had the mildest January in probably 50 years, we are getting back to more seasonal temperatures now.
Last few nights we have been down to -15C or 5F. I am finding the temperature is a bit too low for easy breeding, combined with
all the other stress of winter. As this is the first nest for 14 of my 16 birds, the artificial long days I keep, the birds' in-experience (and my in-experience)
is working against them.
I've lost two nests, both nests one egg was infertile and youngster that didn't make it. After hatching the youngster seemed to get chilled and
didn't make it, I suspect it was just the young cock birds, being a little too protective of his space and jumping off the nest
during the day the cock bird jumped off his nest to fight with his rivals. To remedy this problem I am slowly building proper nest fronts to try to
better manage the birds. Overall, even though this first round has largely failed, I am glad both myself and the birds had the experience, sometimes it is best to learn the hard way.
As suspected, my third nest, the old plum mealy and splash hen on my home page, had infertile eggs. I have to admit though the old mealy seems to be
healthier and more vital than last month. The old mealy hobbling around, picking fights and protecting his space, all in all seems well.
For the reader, pigeons have lots of space, perhaps too much. I expect that as the weather warms and spring kicks in that I will complete some
partions to separate and give each pair a little more personal space where other birds can not interupt them.
January 12, 2002
Alot has happened with my birds in the last 10 days, 2 other young pairs have laid eggs,
and a third pair - my old mealy and splash hen on my home page, I suspect these eggs may be infertile due
to the cold damp weather the old mealy's arthritis has made him less nimble. I need to make
a nice little apartment for him so that the young agressive males don't keep him from treading his hen.
With several young males competing and fighting, this doesn't do much good for an old settled bird(s).
It's also more risky to breed in the cold and damp - even if a bird is young and healthy, raising young in January in Ottawa - Canada, in a loft
with good ventilation is probably not the best approach. Next year I will probably want to have the first hatchlings in February, for that extra
edge in young bird races. I should also point out that this has been a super mild winter, -10 only a few nights and often up to 0 and above freezing for
a few nights, I think eggs and young could chill in the nest if we had -30 and -40 weather which is to be expected at this time of year in Ottawa.
For new readers here, the only trick to starting your birds breeding is to extend daylight hours by having a light in your loft.
I keep my light on from about 7:30am to 9:30pm, about 14 hours, (It's just a 60watt bulb).
January 2, 2002
Well, 4916 became 4917, She is now 7 days old, and somehow her band slipped off.
I didn't have much trouble putting the new band on her foot, I think the trick is to have the back
toe closer to the body, inside of the leg bone, as you pull it through the band. I'll take a picture the next time
I do this. ...it was -8 today so I didn't want to chill the little guy too much.
January 1, 2002
I was quite rusty banding my first 2002 young bird (4916) today. If the cold doesn't get her, this is the first bird I will have raised after being out of the sport for 25 years.
(It is supposed to go down to -30C this weekend). I lost 4916's nestmate at 3 days, a combination of the winter cold here in Ottawa and me letting my young birds breed a little too early.
I am making plenty of mistakes in my pigeon management, having to re-learn a lot of lessons. All the books and great advice that I am getting from fellow fanciers is not really a substitute for good discipline and experience.
End of February or early March is when I would usually have the birds laying in this cold climate, even though it has been a mild winter we still go to -9C nightly. My enthusiasm and young stock overpowered me...
My Pedigrees for 2001 - Initial Stock
I got a great family of birds from Tom Makowecki, Janssen crosses that Tom has been breeding for many years.
I have just started raising a first generation of young flyers from this family.