jord
50 posts
Feb 10, 2006
9:34 AM
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ive heard of putting eggs under other pigeons but would more info can any one help.
JORD
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Shaun
276 posts
Feb 10, 2006
10:14 AM
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Jord, you would do well to read the archives of previous posts here, as this subject has been covered on and off many times.
The basic principle is that more birds can be churned out in less time if you have fosters. One or more good pairs can produce the eggs, then fosters will sit them, then raise the young. Meanwhile, the good pairs go straight back to breeding and can produce further eggs - when they're on a good cycle - every 10 days or so. Breeders tend to allow the good pairs to raise the odd round themselves, perhaps one in every three or four.
Similarly, one good cock could be used to mate with a number of different hens, simply to get as much out of that cock in as short a time as possible. Again, it's the fosters which sit the eggs and raise the young.
The main difficulty is having the fosters lay their own eggs around the same time as the good pairs. If this can be done, the eggs are switched from the good pair to the fosters, then the fosters' eggs are disgarded.
If you read the previous posts on fostering, you will see the finer detail of how to achieve all of this.
Shaun
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jord
51 posts
Feb 10, 2006
10:39 AM
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do the foster parents have to be able to lay eggs?
JORD
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Velo99
217 posts
Feb 10, 2006
11:14 AM
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Jord ,
Yes they do. They also have to be "on cycle" with the pair your are fostering. If it is more than a couple of pairs it can be confusing.If you are gonna foster I would suggest you get some wooden eggs. When you pair up the first time of the season,when all of the pairs have laid . Throw all of the eggs away. They should all lay again within 10 days and be "on cycle". Now here is the tricky part. The A pair lays. Take those eggs and put them under B pair throwing their eggs away. Ten days later the A pair will lay again and the C pairs eggs will have hatched already. So when you put eggs under the B pair you have to throw away the eggs from the C pair so they will be "on cycle" with the A pair. So you can use wooden eggs further down the line of the C D E pairs to keep them on cycle. A pair will sit a nest for about 20 days before abandoning it due to the eggs not hatching. It is easy once you get the math down.Another point, some guys use homers and modenas for fosters. They can raise three or four roller chicks.
I have a question for you more experienced breeders. When the A pair is sitting chicks on the odd round ,how soon do you pull the eggs while the fledglings are still on scene? My breeders are going for round two now.
YITS
V99
Last Edited by Velo99 on Feb 10, 2006 11:18 AM
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Shaun
277 posts
Feb 10, 2006
11:18 AM
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Yes. The whole point to fostering is that you fool the fosters into thinking the eggs are their own. You can't just stick a couple of eggs under any old pair and expect them to sit - they have to be at the same stage in the breeding process themselves. So, the fosters will have mated and the hen will have laid her own eggs. So long as the hen from the 'good' pair has laid around the same time (say, within a couple of days either before or after the fosters), then the switch can be made.
Shaun
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Shaun
279 posts
Feb 10, 2006
11:37 AM
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Hey, Kenny, there must be a few minutes delay getting my post across the Atlantic - your response wasn't there when I started to write mine!
Shaun
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Velo99
218 posts
Feb 10, 2006
3:00 PM
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My PC used to go out with the server!!lol
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old guy
5 posts
Feb 10, 2006
3:58 PM
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If you foster several rounds in a row from your hens, watch them carefully for calcium deficiency. I give calcium glutinate in the drinking water and break human calcium tablets in two or three pieces and put one down the hens throat 2 or three times during her cycle. If she doesn't get enough from her diet she will draw it from her skeleton and start having trouble flying or even standing. You can damage a good hen.
Wayne
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Tony Chavarria
Site Publisher
481 posts
Feb 10, 2006
5:57 PM
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Hey Shaun, my foundation cock bird 903 and one of his daughters are both sterile now and she won't lay an egg and hasn't for a couple years but I can put two eggs under them (1 at a time) and they will set on them and raise them up. Yes, they DO produce pigeon milk.
Because I use so many foster pairs for my Ruby Rollers, I have to use a chart to track and figure out which pumper is going to get the Ruby Roller eggs.
I try not go past 4 days of the first egg laid and the last egg laid between the two pairs. Wait TOO long and the pumper wont have any milk for the new squabs.
I keep a good oyster type grit in front of all the breeders. They eat it like candy when I serve them a fresh batch.
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FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
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rollerpigeon1963
61 posts
Feb 10, 2006
7:37 PM
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Fostering:
I use fosters in my everyday loft. For every pair of breeders I keep 3 pairs of fosters. I use individual breeding cages for the breeders and an open loft for the fosters.
I put all the birds together all at the same time. When a breeder lays it's first egg I look and see which foster pair laided the day before. When she lays the second egg I replace them with the fosters eggs. I like to see the fosters lay first because that way there milk will come in a little sooner. And are ready to feed the breeders eggs once they hatch. Now when the first round is laided I break all the remaining fosters eggs and have them on the same cycle as the breeders. And when round two comes about I do the same as with round 1. And then for the third round I allow the original breeders to raise a round for themselves. Never fostering more than two rounds. I have seen when I foster to many rounds and the original birds forget how to hatch there own eggs. Either they leave the nest or the leave the baby way to early. But after a few rounds they get back on track. But who has that kind of time LOL LOL.
Not here is a big hint. If you have a few pair that you would like to try use them as fosters. And on the 3rd round they can raise there own. If they wasn't use for fosters. Of the first two rounds.
Now when the first two rounds hatch and raise their babies and go laying back you have to break them up until your ready for them to fall in the cycle with the 3rd round.
Hope this helps and it has worked well for me in the past. Just keep good notes and have fun raising from your favorite pairs.
Best of luck Brian Middaugh
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Shaun
280 posts
Feb 11, 2006
12:03 AM
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Hey, Tony, that's a new one. Do you think your hen is going through the normal hormonal cycle even though she can't actually lay? Is she actually being mated?
Shaun
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jord
52 posts
Feb 11, 2006
4:30 AM
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cheers lads for the information.tony i only need one paire of fosterers. my hen is also barren but gets tread often this paire will sit the eggs for sure but can they raise the chicks.they were good parents and i strugle to keep them off other nests.
JORD
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jord
67 posts
Mar 31, 2006
7:30 AM
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hi just thought id let you lads no that they raised one of the chicks i had to cull the other it was deformed i put more eggs under her today and she sat them straight away exc fosterers
JORD
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Velo99
314 posts
Mar 31, 2006
5:56 PM
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I am getting ready to twist off in a big way. I am going to breed one cock to three hens and have a foster for each hen. The fosters will be one one side and the poly`s on the other. I think this cock is randy enough to handle the job.If it works I will have thirty chicks from the same line of hens. I have mom and two identical but better daughters to mate to this dynamite cock. Then I will put Ricks plan into operation.
yits
V99
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