UkPigeonRacing

So today I paired my pigeons up. The cocks have been in their sections for about 3 months. There are 16 neat boxes in one section and 8 in the other. I also have perches in both sections. In the section with 16 nest boxes in I had 23 cocks in there. The top three rows of nest boxes were all taken. The bottom row of 4 boxes had a couple of cocks taking them and the other two changed who wanted them. I shut the 12 pigeons that already had boxes in the higher three rows in their boxes along with the 2 in the bottom row plus 2 other cocks cocks. The 7 cocks that didn’t have boxes were taken out. In the other section 2 old cocks had their old boxes. The other 6 weren’t quite so sure although 3 of them did have boxes they favoured. These were all shut in their boxes. I then basketed up the 24 hens that I had chosen to pair up. All the 2 year olds and older were selected plus some of the yearling hens. I left in the young bird loft the later bred hens plus a couple of others. The spare cocks and the hens that weren’t selected for pairing have been put together in the young bird loft. 8 cocks and 10 hens. These 18 can pair how they want and if any boxes become free will be moved into the main loft.
I had selected the pairings of the others in the racing sections. I put all the hens with their chosen mates. There was a lot of cooing and dancing but very quickly they nearly all settled and were cooing in the nest bowls. There were just two pairs I wasn’t to sure about to start with. One was a pair of yearlings where the cock seemed a bit keen but after a while the settled too. The other one was Muzzaboy boy who I had decided to pair to Polly. Polly is the 2 year old hen that follows me everywhere and is sat on my shoulder whenever she can. I did wonder whether she would pair as she seems more interested in me than a cock. I had decided to try to pair her hoping she would stop coming indoors during the summer. Muzzaboy was keen and cooing low in his bowl. Polly was slightly interested until I walked into the loft. By this evening Polly had seemed to have conceded to muzzaboy’s affections.
I straight away started opening the nest boxes up allowing a pair to have the freedom of the loft. Every hour or so I went up the loft to change the pairs with their freedom over. By this evening I had had 5 pairs out in each section. I had one pair in the bigger section that I had to put back in and one pair in the other section that I had to coax the hen back to her box. I will continue to rotate them around for the next couple of days until I’m happy that all pairs know their nest boxes. Then I will start to let two or three pairs out together making sure that they return to their own mates and boxes. I would like to think that by the weekend most if not all the pairs will be out together. I certainly find that they settle much quicker this way than just letting them sort their own mates out. I am very pleased with how quickly and easily they have settled in their pairs.

Good to see all going well mate

Good to hear that they are settling down well, Andy.
I thought they might, they look to be in great condition, and I think it's a good sign when they pair up easily. If they are only sort of half interested It rings alarm bells for me. Possible health issues?
You are off to a flying start, and I hope you have a good season.

Let more pairs out during the day. Most went back into their own boxes on their own. The ones that didn’t are paired together fine but just not sure where their boxes are. Once put back in they were fine. I have just 3 pairs in the main section that haven’t been let out yet. They will be the first ones let out tomorrow. In the other section of 8 pairs they have all been out. I have had two pairs out together in there also with no trouble.

Good to see going well

Things still going well. I have got several pairs out together now in both sections. I just have the odd ones that I knew would be a bit of a pain. I have 2 old cocks in the smaller section who are trying to take over a couple of boxes. I just have to shut them in while the other 2 pairs are out and then swap them around so that when they are out the other 2 pairs are shut in. In the other section I have to watch which pairs I let out together as a couple of the hens will try going back into their old boxes and to their old mates. I hate having them shut in boxes as they do get messy. Having to feed and water them in their boxes isn’t easy either. It has only been 2 days since pairing them up and all pairs seem happy with their mates.

Well done Andy, good to see it's all going well so far. All being well this time next week they'll be going down on eggs what are you giving them for nesting this year ???
As mine have been mostly shut up and the loft has been wet I've just used nest felts this year, I do prefer to see the birds build their own nests but the felts seem to work ok.

Trev wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 8:28 am Well done Andy, good to see it's all going well so far. All being well this time next week they'll be going down on eggs what are you giving them for nesting this year ???
As mine have been mostly shut up and the loft has been wet I've just used nest felts this year, I do prefer to see the birds build their own nests but the felts seem to work ok.

I like just putting straw down in the corners of the loft and allow them to build their own nests. I think this helps the pairs bond to both each other and their box. I have all but 4 pairs out in the section with 16 in. The ones still shut in are ok but I have to rotate with other pair’s because the hens try going back to their old mates/boxes. In the other section with 8 boxes I have 2 or 3 shut in. 2 if I have the 2 old cocks shut in but 3 if they are out as they try taking over other boxes.

I like to use a nest felt with a handful of straw on top. The birds seem to like it.
I have only used the nest felts the last year or two. I especially like them for single youngsters as sometimes you can get that splay leg happening where the baby pushes the straw away. I had a big single youngster a couple of years ago start to develop splay legs. I put him in a new nest bowl with a nest felt, and a 10 days later he was standing straight up and walked out of the bowl.

I now have all 16 pairs out and happy in the main section. Still having to shut 2 in in the other section of 8 because of 2 old cocks. They all know where their boxes are but the old cocks when let out keep going into the boxes below them.