Pigeons are not whimsical individuals, but even they require special care in the winter season. First of all, they need to ensure proper living conditions while maintaining a suitable temperature regime in the pigeon. It is equally important to correctly adjust their diet, increasing the daily calorie intake rate, so that birds can get all the necessary energy to warm their own body.
Requirements for pigeon
Before the onset of winter colds, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions in the pigeon so as not to weaken the immunity of birds and the development of colds. How to create the necessary conditions, find out further.
Temperature condition and warming
Pigeons do not need to create a “tropical” climate in winter, as they can safely withstand sub-zero temperatures of -7 ° C. However, if the room gets colder, then the probability of freezing pigeons is quite high. In this case, it will be necessary either to carry out additional heating of the room, or to increase the calorie content of the bird ration.
Experienced breeders do not see the need for additional heating of the premises in the winter, as their observations show the following: if the pigeons are full, they do well without heating. However, not everything is so simple.
Indeed, with proper correction of nutrition, low temperatures do not pose a great threat to pigeons, but food and water often freeze in the cold. So, if the plumage protects the bird from cold weather, then its hypothermia is difficult to avoid when frozen food or cold liquid enters the body.
In order not to encounter such a problem, you should still think about warming the dovecote. To do this, follow these steps:
- close up all the cracks in the room;
- if possible, install double-glazed windows to keep warm;
- sheathe walls with heat-insulating material like polystyrene or drywall;
- provide thermal insulation of the roof, which is enough to sheathe the same materials as the walls.
Pigeons can peck the skin. To prevent this, sheets of chipboard / fiberboard should be installed on top of it.
Lighting
The optimal daylight hours for a pigeon lasts 12-14 hours. If in summer you can get by with the sun's rays, then in winter the daylight hours are reduced, so there is a need for additional illumination.
To illuminate the room with artificial light, you can use incandescent lamps. The source should not be excessively strong, so you can do with 1-2 light bulbs with a power of 50 watts each. With their help, daylight hours can be artificially extended to 12-13 hours, otherwise the bird will not be awake in the evening.
During the onset of severe cold weather, daylight hours should be extended to 14-15 hours, as well as an additional meal.
Ventilation
To organize normal ventilation, that is, air exchange, two pipes are carried out in the dovecote - the supply and exhaust pipes. The first is often mounted under the ceiling, and the second - at a height of 15 cm from the floor.
In winter, it is rather problematic to ventilate the dovecote, since there is a risk of hypothermia. In this regard, valves should be installed on both pipes, which partially cover the air inlet and outlet. Such manipulation will prevent drafts, as well as maintain a comfortable temperature in the room. For the same purpose, the front door should be tightly curtained with a warm blanket and plastic wrap.
Breeders with experience recommend making nest boxes quite deep (at least 35–40 cm) and placing them under ceilings.
Cleaning
In wintertime, cleaning up in the pigeonhole is quite problematic, because the weather outside drops to critical values. Meanwhile, in no case can one refuse to clean the room - it must be carried out once a month, moreover, in full and with the use of disinfecting chemicals.
During the cleaning work, the bird needs to be relocated to a comfortable place where the normal temperature is maintained. The cleaning itself is carried out taking into account such rules:
- remove feeders and drinking bowls from the premises before cleaning;
- for disinfection of the premises, choose drugs with a fast drying time and the ability to destroy harmful microorganisms at sub-zero temperatures;
- to dilute chemicals use heated water, especially in severe frosts;
- using special tools to process all surfaces in the room, including the ceiling;
- sanitize all the tools used to care for pigeons.
Birds can be returned to the dovecote only after the disinfectant solution has completely dried.
How to feed pigeons in the winter?
With the onset of winter cold, the diet of pigeons needs to be adjusted by increasing the daily calorie intake rate so that the bird receives enough energy to warm its own body. In addition, it will be necessary to exclude certain types of feed from the menu and increase the dose of vitamins and minerals. So, there are many nuances of feeding pigeons in the winter, so each aspect should be given special attention.
What to feed?
In winter, the pigeon is cool, so you need to feed the bird especially well, giving from 30 to 50 g of food per day. The best option for feeding pigeons is a grain mixture. The more types of grain in it, the better. The most useful for birds are barley and oats, together with which you can also give:
- millet;
- sorghum;
- wheat
- corn;
- sunflower and hemp seeds.
Here is an example of the optimal grain ratio in the winter menu:
- oats - 40%;
- barley or pearl barley - 40%;
- chopped corn - 10%;
- chopped lentils - 10%.
In addition, in one of the winter meals, pigeons should be given grated boiled potatoes, pre-mixed with wheat bran. From other root crops, pigeons can also be given carrots and cabbage, and from fruits, apples and bananas. It should be borne in mind that up to 30% of wheat can be included in any mixture in a grain mixture.
If the birds are left for a week or more for self-service, several bunker (automatic) feeders should be put in the dovecot. In each of them, you need to pour homogeneous grain so that the birds work less with their beaks and do not rake the food on the floor in search of a more delicious cereal.
What can not be fed?
The main difference between winter and summer diets is that in winter it is necessary to minimize the proportion of feed with a high protein content. This is necessary in order to reduce sexual activity in birds. The fact is that a high proportion of protein in the total diet will lead to the untimely appearance of chicks, which in winter have low chances of survival.
Records for protein content are legumes, so they need to be completely excluded from the diet. To compensate for their lack, pigeons need to be given an additional portion of barley and oats.
In large quantities, birds are also not recommended to give:
- peas;
- wikis;
- buckwheat.
In addition, pigeons should not be given foods whose use leads to illness or death. So, under a complete ban such products fall:
- bakery products, including white, gray and black bread, are poorly digested and provoke diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- milk, cheese and other dairy products - lead to dysbiosis in adults;
- fish, meat and meat products - are completely not absorbed by the body of the bird, so after their use the pigeon can die.
Sunflower seeds are rich in fats, so from time to time they can be given to pigeons, but only in small quantities.
Vitamins and Minerals
In winter, it is difficult to find fresh grass, so birds develop a deficiency of nutrients. To solve this problem, the following vitamin products should be introduced into the diet:
- herbal flour;
- grated carrots;
- dried greens of dill and parsley.
If there is no way to diversify the menu with these products, you can buy a special premix in the store. It will allow the pigeons to endure the winter persistently and not get vitamin deficiency in early spring.
Vitamins A, D, E and K are necessary for birds. If it was not possible to purchase their factory complex, vitamins can be given separately. It should be borne in mind that they are fat-soluble vitamins, so they are absorbed only with fats, after which they end up in adipose tissue and liver.
Vitamin C enters the body of individuals along with root crops. Its additional introduction is relevant only if the birds are diagnosed with a decrease in immunity. It should be borne in mind that ascorbic acid is water-soluble, therefore, it quickly falls into the blood and is consumed by the body just as quickly. Reserves do not accumulate even with an overabundance, therefore, its level should be constantly maintained.
As for the vitamins of group B, the pigeons get them along with the grain, which prevails in the winter diet, so it is unlikely to have to face their lack.
Of course, it is equally important to give mineral supplements to birds in the winter. They can be purchased or prepared on their own. Here is the optimal composition of the complex supplement:
- 4 parts of grated red bricks (brick chips);
- 2 parts of crushed old plaster;
- 1 part of river sand;
- 1 part of crushed eggshell;
- 1 part meat and bone meal.
All components must be mixed and filled with 2% salt solution. This mixture should be given to pigeons as a mineral supplement. For the same purposes, you can use chalk, sulfur, a fertile layer of earth, crushed lime and gravel. Broths based on nettles, needles or berries are also useful. They can be given as drinking water or used in the preparation of mash.
The feather cover of pigeons suffers from cold air - it becomes less soft and fluffy. To strengthen it, you need to introduce flax and rapeseed into the diet. Their daily rate is 4 g.
Number of feedings
Diet also depends on the time of year. So, if in summer feeding is done 3 times a day, then in winter - 2 times a day. As a rule, the first feeding is carried out at 9:00, and the second - at 20:00. The evening portion must be supplemented with a vitamin-mineral mixture, and its composition needs to be strengthened compared to the summer, because in the colder season the birds are denied access to fresh grass.
Features of feeding different breeds
Feeding pigeons should also be adjusted according to their breed:
- Meat breeds, German and other large birds can be fed large grains like peas and corn.
- For winter pigeons, it is better to give a grain mixture, which consists of oats and barley (4 kg each), as well as lentils and pre-chopped corn (1 kg each). The number of components can be changed, but the ratio must be left the same. This mixture of birds should be given at the rate of 35 g per adult.
- To small and short-billed breeds to give small grain or cereals.
- Decorative pigeons should be given no more than 40 g of food per day, since they lead a sedentary land-based lifestyle.
- Feed datysh moderately to prevent their overeating.
- Exhibition pigeons should be given a high-oil food — hemp, flax and sunflower seeds. In addition, such individuals need to be given germinated grain and vegetables grated or finely chopped.
If the birds are bred for slaughter, the feed rate is above 40-50 g per day and is determined individually.
Features of feeding chicks
If the chicks are left from their parents in the cold season, it is extremely important to strengthen their food. The daily feed rate is about 40 g. It is worth feeding them three times a day in this way: 10 g in the morning, 10 g in the afternoon, 20 g in the evening. Chicks do not like legumes, but willingly eat wheat, so it can be added to the grain mixture. It should also be enriched with fish oil.
By the time the chick leaves the nest, the diet should again be adjusted, reducing the wheat content and increasing the proportion of protein feed.
Read more about feeding pigeon chicks here.
How to water pigeons in the winter?
When the temperature in the room or in the enclosures is minus, some recommend filling the drinkers with snow, and not with water, so as not to destroy the pigeons. Experienced breeders warn that in winter, pigeons should not be given neither snow nor meltwater, since such actions lead to severe hypothermia of the bird, which can become sick, and in the worst case, die. This rule applies not only to representatives of capricious breeds, but also to pigeons accustomed to severe frosts.
There are three ways to solve the problem:
- every 2-3 hours to change cold water in drinking bowls to warm;
- install heated drinkers in the dovecot;
- pour small volumes of water into the drinking bowls several times a day so that the birds have enough water for 30-60 minutes.
It should be noted that the problem of hypothermia will be irrelevant if the blueberry is insulated, and the temperature outside the window is kept above -20 ° C. In any case, remember that the temperature of the drinking water should not be lower than + 8 ° C.
After thaws, pigeons need to be visited every day, making sure that the water in the drinkers does not freeze, and the snow in the vessels does not set.
Preparation for the tribal period
Individuals of different sexes should be kept separately in winter so that they do not waste their energy on early oviposition. Meanwhile, this is a great time to pick up pairs on paper or in a special pigeon diary from which you can get chicks that are closest to the breed standard. The following recommendations should be considered:
- It is not necessary to leave only a high-class bird to the tribe, since high-quality offspring can also be obtained from not very successful pigeons. In addition, sometimes almost perfect chicks are quite ugly.
- You can not bring pigeons with the same disadvantages unacceptable by the standard, since in the future the offspring of the couple will fix the marriage.
- Without emergency, you should not pick up a couple consisting of close relatives.
- No need to focus on the exterior of the bird: caring for hatching and feeding the chicks, orientation on the ground - all these characteristics are inherited.
- In the absence of a suitable pair, the necessary bird can be sought from colleagues-pigeon farmers, however, new birds should not be immediately allowed into the pigeon, as this is unsafe. Initially, they should quarantine them by holding them for some time separately from the rest of the pigeons. Their condition should be monitored and, if possible, their litter should be submitted to the laboratory for analysis. Low-value young growth can be planted with them. If the bird is sick, this will certainly occur.
- It is better not to buy pigeons of enclosures, because they bred behind bars all year round, lose their ability to fly in a circle and be able to navigate the terrain. If in the cage they cannot be distinguished from flying birds, then outside it everything becomes apparent.
City pigeons live 3 times less than domestic animals, and also often suffer from various diseases. However, even if the bird is kept in comfortable conditions, in winter it is necessary to pay special attention to caring for it so that it can safely survive the cold season and prepare for the breeding season.