Breeding
Hi Jim
Welcome to the Forum and the sport in general
You'll find there's many different approaches to all forms of Management.
At my loft, once the birds had completed their moult I'd have them on a largely depurative/barley based mix and then put them onto a widowhood/breeding type mix 10 days before mating.
In terms of medication, the birds would have been wormed and treated for cocci at least 2 weeks prioor to mating
Once sitting I gave them a 5 day canker treatment in the water. By doing this I absolutely knew that the parents, when feeding the newly born squabs were 100% clean and healthy
An important part is the "pre-mating".... I used to put the hens in the box and lock the cock on the outside for "x" hours a day for 3-4 days. By doing this they start to mate without the physical interaction. By doing this you lessen the chances of the cock being hyper-aggressive towards his hen when they do have physical contact with each other
Hope this is of help
Mike
Welcome to the Forum and the sport in general
You'll find there's many different approaches to all forms of Management.
At my loft, once the birds had completed their moult I'd have them on a largely depurative/barley based mix and then put them onto a widowhood/breeding type mix 10 days before mating.
In terms of medication, the birds would have been wormed and treated for cocci at least 2 weeks prioor to mating
Once sitting I gave them a 5 day canker treatment in the water. By doing this I absolutely knew that the parents, when feeding the newly born squabs were 100% clean and healthy
An important part is the "pre-mating".... I used to put the hens in the box and lock the cock on the outside for "x" hours a day for 3-4 days. By doing this they start to mate without the physical interaction. By doing this you lessen the chances of the cock being hyper-aggressive towards his hen when they do have physical contact with each other
Hope this is of help
Mike
I think important to make sure your hens are not fat
Treat as Mike says with worming twice 12-14 days apart well in advance
I am very tight on corn now even though it’s cold there be no corn sat in my trays and I leave them Looking for more in January
About 28-30 grams I like to make them feel the winter a bit
I know there not be fat when pair feeding mostly barley ,as Mike mentioned add heavy corn near to the time
I also dry yogurt on the corn of the hens food a few days a week for about 3 weeks and I use a bit of oil on the corn two days a week
Plenty of of fresh grit and minerals daily I never leave it sat around though
Best of luck
Treat as Mike says with worming twice 12-14 days apart well in advance
I am very tight on corn now even though it’s cold there be no corn sat in my trays and I leave them Looking for more in January
About 28-30 grams I like to make them feel the winter a bit
I know there not be fat when pair feeding mostly barley ,as Mike mentioned add heavy corn near to the time
I also dry yogurt on the corn of the hens food a few days a week for about 3 weeks and I use a bit of oil on the corn two days a week
Plenty of of fresh grit and minerals daily I never leave it sat around though
Best of luck
Be ideal JimJim wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 2:09 pm Thanks for the reply’s guys. No stock birds so breeding off my racers. Wormed them 1st Dec & repeated 12 days later. Looking to pair up after Blackpool.
Just check the weight is ok unless your having them out regular then they should be flying for fun