TO COLD BIRDS NOT PAIRING UP YET

THE HENS HAVE BEEN IN WITH THE COCKS NOW FOR 10 DAYS AND OUT OF 9 PAIR ONLY TWO PAIRED UP NEVER BEEN THIS LONG THE LAST THREE YEARS

john got 36 pairs only one hasnt paired up , i would put them in boxes together instead of letting them pick there own mate

well i will give them until friday if nothing happening i will ock them together see if thats going to help really has been a night mare so far

did you lock them up in the first place

hi john, are these new pairings or birds which have been together last year......?

no david there last year yongsters same as the rest in that section

oh right john, i put three pairs of yearlings together and only one pair took to each other and all the other two pairs did was fight........so i put those in a section by them selves with a couple of spare hens and over the last few days the cocks have picked their own mates which im not too bothered over as they might only be feeders.......

yes well my plan was to let them pick there hens and then after they are paired i was going to float the stock lofts eggs under them as none of that 9 pair has prooved there self yet but if they dont pair up in the next 3 days i will have to think of sommit ealse david

what about seperating them for a few days john, then trying them together again.....?

Hi stormqueen, have you tried putting a few of them back into the young bird shed, the one they raced to as babies, once they're in the corner with a bowl a couple of days you can transfer them back

i might try that thanks for that

That will work John i have a pair in young bird section now and tthey have paired up, so will leave them for a couple of more days before i put them back
Ken

my reasoning is it's all about contentment, they will be confident in their old surroundings

Thats very true the cock went straight to his old pippo box
Ken

fred holbard wrote:

my reasoning is it's all about contentment, they will be confident in their old surroundings

sounds about right fred, the two pairs i mentioned were put back into their yb section.......now they are paired up so ill transfer them into the nestox section tommorrow hopefully..

be careful when you transfer them back to the old bird shed, because although they will be paired, the cock may still bash the hen, I would return the cock first leave him in the box (half shut) and he will call like mad, that's the time to reintroduce the hen

hi fred, what i was planning on doing is locking them both in the box with a partition in between them so they can see each other for a while........then ill keep trying them without the partition to see how they go and maybe still leave them in the box overnight to get used to their new box as the hens have never been in the nestbox section before.

what do you think.....?

yes David that sounds perfect, you must remember they are still big babies, it will take time for them to become men, they think of the hen as a threat to their territory so it's softly softly catch a monkey.

yes fred i think you are spot on there, all the yearling cocks were doing is fighting like mad with the yearling hens.......just didnt want to know about pairing up.
the only pair of yearlings which did pair without problem were paired up to each other as ybs in the yb section so all i did was put them back together, altho they di fight a bit at first......

here's another thing you can do to change their environment, if you have the time, I don't I'm at work

let them out into the air a pair at a time, so long as they ain't stock birds

let the cock out first, let him have a fly, land on the shed, then let the hen fly up to him

when the cock treads the hen for the first time, you will see a different pigeon.

yes fred ive heard of that before, but i didnt have time to do it this year......one other problem i will have when i put the two pairs into the nestbox section is that they didnt already have their own box so ill need to lock them in one till they take to it and defend it, the boxes i have earmarked for them have been closed up tho so no other cocks have cobtro; of them......

hi lads, I paired up on saturday 24 pairs, stock and racers. the stock birds were locked with the hens all new pairings, after day 1 from 11 pairs only 2 hadnt paired up. However in the racing loft 13 pairs left together to get on with it after day 1 only 5 had paired up and from those 2 found mates from last year so dont count. What a difference so I would say putting them in boxes first is a must.

yes martyn, would always try them in boxes first with a partition between them.......then i usually watch them during the day and if i see they are showing interest in each other i open the partition to see how they go........if they fight i seperate again or if they are not too bad i put half a brick in the box for the hen to get away from the cock if need be. if after a day or so they dont like each other i either try another hen or put the birds into the yb section loose to let them relax and seeif this is better for them......

Hi david, yep thats it I do the same as you then, lock the cock in the nest pan side and the hen in the alley, he can see her and drive but not touch works a treat.

yes works a treat with a widowhoodfront as a partition......