Jutman
9 posts
Jan 09, 2008
5:37 PM
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How many pair of fosters should you have for each breeder pair.
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sundance
372 posts
Jan 09, 2008
5:46 PM
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3 seems to work well for me. But I`m not doing that this year.
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Butch @
Sundance Roller Lofts
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quickspin
249 posts
Jan 09, 2008
5:50 PM
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Every one is different you have to know which ones you would like to breed more and the rest use them for foster if you have room.
It really depends on how many good pairs you have and how much room you have to work with them.
I have 9 individual cages so my max pairs is 9. If I only had one good pair I would of use 8 foster for that pair. I hope this helps and others will explain better also.
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Jutman
10 posts
Jan 09, 2008
6:00 PM
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1 pair could keep 8 fosters busy. Thats amazing. I have lots of room, but only a few individual cages. I better get busy. I watch these threads alot and it seems like the best answer is "what works best for you". Thanks Ron
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rollerpigeon1963
218 posts
Jan 09, 2008
8:14 PM
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Jutman,
I have a 6 month window for flying and the first birds you get out you have to get them up and out as soon as possible. The reason why is the birds will only be 6 months old by the time you have to lock them down. So your very first year you are flying young birds that are just coming into the roll and will only get better. If you keep flying them you will loose more than your share and the more you loose the more information you will never receive.
I put the birds together around the middle of feb. And hope they start laying around the end of feb. Hatch out around the middle of march and then get the birds out on the wing around the first of april. Now my breeding season is feb-may. So you see I have to use fosters so I can get plenty of birds around the same age in in the air together.
I use 3 pairs of fosters for every pair of breeders. I allow the breeders to raise their own every third round. When the first round is laided I pull all the eggs from the other foster birds except for the ones carring for the original breeders eggs. So this way the fosters that are left is on the same page as the original breeders. And I keep doing this everytime a round is laid. This way it will allow me to raise more of the original breeders in shorter time than most people.
Now my fosters is late hatch birds that I didn't get in the air because of either weather/work or what ever happen to keep them inside. So if they happen to raise a round while the original breeders are raising their own it wont hurt to try their babies. Since they are the same family and should have the gene pool so what the heck.
If I raise anything after may the birds are so young that you don't get much information from them before you have to lock them down. And for them to be locked down for 6 months is hard on you and them. And why feed something for another six months that might be a cull? a cull eats as much as a champion so why not keep your best?
I don't know if this is something you were looking for but its something that has worked for me in the past and plan on doing it again this coming season.
Thanks and best of luck
Brian Middaugh
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Donny James
243 posts
Jan 09, 2008
8:24 PM
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i got 4 pairs...................donny james
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Jutman
11 posts
Jan 09, 2008
9:16 PM
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Brian, Ton of info and it really helps. The more I read the more I learn. How many pairs do you breed? Thanks alot. Ron
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maxspin
157 posts
Jan 10, 2008
7:35 AM
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For best results (2) pair of fosters for every pair of Breeders. Let your breeders raise every third round. If you pump more eggs than that out of your breeder hens could cause problems.
Everyone's situation is different. It depends on how much time and space you have.
I use (6) pair of Breeders and (6) pair of fosters. I pick my most promising (3) breeder pairs and use the fosters for them.
Keith Maxwell
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