Building a New Pigeon House

[Mighty Heart]

I'm getting ready to build my new pigeon loft. I currently have all my birds in a 6x6 foot cage with some shelter. I'm thinking of building a 12 or 15 ft X 6ft
long housing with three sections. My question is...When do I separate the sexes and is it ok if they can see eachother through the divider walls? I only know how to sex the birds through behavior and sometimes coloring so I have to watch the birds a while to know. Any further suggestions?

[Charis]

You don't HAVE to separate your birds. They will be happier together and it you don't want more Pigeons be diligent about removing their eggs and replacing them with wooden ones. You don't have a huge amount of Pigeons so this shouldn't be too difficult to pull off.

[spirit wings]

I agree with charis....just to put this out there you might as well make it 8 x 16 as the plywood comes in 4 ft sections. Now some do beleive that to give the hen a break it is good to seperate...you could always make the three sections and just leave the door open on two ajacent ones if you do not seperate, that is what Im doing now...I just have wire seperating the sections as Im cheap and did not want to buy more wood, but solid wall or half wall may be best.

[Lovebirds]

The girls are right. You don't HAVE to separate the sexes, BUT, if you do, they need to be TOTALLY separated so that they can't see it each other. It's really not fair to the birds to be able to see each other but not actually get to each other, so...........either keep them together and make use of the dummy eggs, or separate for part of the year. Once separated, they will make you feel sorry for them for about 2 or 3 hours........and then they start acting like pigeons.
The main reason to separate, is like SW said......to give the hens a break, however, you will still have a few hens that will mate up with each other and lay eggs anyway. Not ALL of them will, but there's always a few who do.
If you're talking about breeders, you don't want the hen laying constantly. A hen only has so many eggs to lay in her life time, and once they're all laid, that's it. No use in letting her lay eggs to just throw them away, if you can get around it.

[jbangelfish]

If you are breeding pigeons, it is best to separate them for a couple months or so to give both parents a break as laying eggs and feeding young is a strain on them, even though this is what they love to do. If you separate, as others have said, it is best if they cannot see each other but it's not mandatory as they can't breed if they are not together. They will certainly try to get together if they can see each other. The total separation allows you to mate how you choose for the next breeding season and they will be anxious to get going and usually pair off very quickly. The rest period allows them to build strength for the next breeding season.

If you are not actually breeding them, leaving them together is fine as they are not being worn out by raising young. The hens will lay eggs whether they are with a male or not but they will take a bit of a break when you separate a pair. Leaving them together and having them sit on dummy eggs is probably the best method of not breeding. It may cause alittle frustration and does put their bodies through some hormonal changes, including the production of pigeon milk with no young to feed it to. I find it best to let them breed but certainly many people do not breed and just simply keep pigeons.

As for sexing, you just have to get used to your birds. You should learn over time what their differences are. The hens are the ones that sit on the nest over night, if all else fails. Sometimes, they are not so easy to tell apart and various behaviors become the most reliable means. Prior to laying eggs, the male will chase the hen to the nest, it's called driving the hen and is a very reliable indicator of which one is dad. They become quite pesty at this time.

Bill

[maryjane]

I keep mine together all the time, and just replace their eggs with dummy eggs. Works like a charm. And that way they're happy, too, with their mates all year 'round (as it should be ). Of course I understand for breeders, etc. they have reasons for separating them.

[learning]

For those of us that race, it is imperative that the new youngsters have the very best start that they can. I will keep my breeders separated until around Thanksgiving and then start pre-mating the pairs I want together. Before I put them together I will make sure they are completely through their molt and in the upmost health. I will worm them all at this time as well. Starting around Christmas I will put them together for the season. I plan on only raising two rounds for my race team this year. I want my breeders to be able to put 110% into their youngsters so I will limit them to two rounds. This also keeps the youngsters about the same age as I go into the training phase of young bird season. I may raise one more round for birds to send to one loft races or to give to new flyers in need of a start but my race team will just be from those first two rounds. I plan on having my breeders separated by the end of March or so. They will stay separated until the following Thanksgiving and then the process will start again.

This is just the way I am going about it, there are a million and one ways to skin a cat (just a figure of speach! , although I am more of a dog person) when it comes to pigeons.

Dan

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by learning

For those of us that race, it is imperative that the new youngsters have the very best start that they can. I will keep my breeders separated until around Thanksgiving and then start pre-mating the pairs I want together. Before I put them together I will make sure they are completely through their molt and in the upmost health. I will worm them all at this time as well. Starting around Christmas I will put them together for the season. I plan on only raising two rounds for my race team this year. I want my breeders to be able to put 110% into their youngsters so I will limit them to two rounds. This also keeps the youngsters about the same age as I go into the training phase of young bird season. I may raise one more round for birds to send to one loft races or to give to new flyers in need of a start but my race team will just be from those first two rounds. I plan on having my breeders separated by the end of March or so. They will stay separated until the following Thanksgiving and then the process will start again.

This is just the way I am going about it, there are a million and one ways to skin a cat (just a figure of speach! , although I am more of a dog person) when it comes to pigeons.

Dan

That's what I do to. Can't add a single thing.

[Mighty Heart]

Yes, I currently do use dummy eggs and I guess I'm doing good on the sexing as well. I just feel SO GUILTY when I take the real eggs out. I'm the one who is bothered by it....oh well. I don't breed or race. My birds are all ferals that were rescued and live with me permanantly. They are so diligent about the task of nesting and raising the young. I just figured the hens did need a break sometimes. I guess I'll just be very observant of them and make sure they aren't stressing too bad. Thanks everyone!