Expert: Chrys Meatyard Date: 4/20/2008 Subject: making pair
Question Hi,
i want to pair up Baku Tumblers,recently i bought 2 baku tumbler,hen and cock. but the hen is now pair up with a Roller/Tippler. few days ago i saw baku tumbler mating,but night time she sit with roller. it good to break up pairs or leave it. i guess now is breeding season, but my pigeons are not laying any eggs. i have light on. the nest boxes are 12 inches(all sides)some even bigger and i have put some nest bowls.
Answer Hi, Umar,
If you want to be sure that 2 birds pair up with each other, you need to put the 2 birds you want to pair up together into a separate cage/enclosure by themselves for about a month. You cannot have these birds you want to pair up in with any other birds.
Birds know better than we do who they should pair up with in order to produce the best offspring. Mother Nature made sure of this in order for there to be survival of the fittest. However, humans have their own ideas of what they want, so they force pairings. By enclosing a pair of birds together for about a month (sometimes it takes less time than this, sometimes more, depending on the birds) in a cage/enclosure with no other birds, they will most likely pair up.
12-inch square nestboxes don't seem big enough to me. Your nestboxes need to be large enough so that both adults can sit in them together (hen on the nest/in the bowl, male next to her), plus 2 hatchlings (until they fledge). This might be why you are not seeing eggs. Eggs don't come overnight! If your birds are new pairs, it can take time. I don't know your situation.
It's also not uncommon for a cock bird to have 2 hens or vice versa. I see this sometimes in my homing pigeons. Sometimes I see all 3 birds sitting the nest side-by-side.
Pigeon fanciers often re-pair up birds that don't produce the type of offspring they want, so this is common practice.
