Pigeon Fanciers Information Portal
The weather forecast today was a clear 70°F and after I finished taking down the christmas lights decoration I started working on cleaning the breeding cages in the loft. This time I tried the pressure washer that I haven’t been using for how many years and it really helped in the cleaning process!
All that birds droppings that had been stuck for months came out easily and after letting it dry out in the sun its all back and ready for pairing!
Next project-another double kit box!
After 7 months with lots of wasted clutches of eggs my roller pigeons finally starting to multiply!
The first initial pair that my mentor gave me had so many disappointing moments.
The cock doesn’t want to sit on the eggs even after the 5th time the pair had laid it’s eggs. At first we thought it’s only the cock’s first time being mated but it looks like he was trying. There are times he tried to take his turn to sit on the eggs but somehow he couldn’t put those eggs underneath him so he just gave up the idea.
One of the roller pigeon that had settled and been very good in trapping mated with a wannabe roller.
They tried 2x and finally after the 3rd clutches they hatched their eggs!
I’ll post the pictures as the day goes by to keep track of their growth.
So going back to my first Grizzle & Yellow James Turner strain pair, I had to foster their eggs with another proven pair and it was a success! The picture above is the breeding cage I set them up on.
I had to make some DIY automatic/gravity pigeon feeder out of a plastic juice bottle and CD case and it can hold about 5 days worth of pellets feed. I have to think of a way to control the waste though.
The DIY automater pigeon waterer is also from a juice bottle and a water bottle that last about 4 days. I need to find a taller bottle so it can hold more water. I’m afraid to use a glass bottle because it might put too much weight strain.
At last! My roller pigeon pair are preparing their nest! I just tested it out when I put some shredded paper in their breeding box and they started picking it up and gathering them. Yes! Finally I will see my first eggs!
Of course it was a sight to see when the male pigeon brings the nesting materials to the female and she then picks it up and arranges her nest.
And lo and behold an egg came about!
But wait…. its not white? I was almost the same color as this reduced female roller pigeon. But in anyways I was ecstatic! I was already dreaming about how many eggs they can produce before the end of the year and even to the point of ordering my 1st 100 pigeons bands.
Yup. I ordered my 1st batch from Rick M. site and should be arriving in about 2-3 weeks.
But this morning, I was floored by the sight of the nest. At first I couldn’t find the egg thinking it probably rolled to the side. So I picked up the clay bowl and searched.
Nothing… then I looked inside the clay bowl and saw this…
Apparently the 1st egg was soft so it was easily punctured. The inside had leaked on the bowl and my heart just dropped. Was the feed I’m providing not nutritional enough? Calcium deficiency? Or was it just a dud? Questions circling around my head while the sadness just lingers on.
So I cleaned up the bowl, wiped that demised squab without being given a chance to hatched and put back the bowl and hope the 2nd egg will be better. 🙁
This is how i got hooked on the Burmingham Roller Pigeons!