Pigeons Inbreeding

[ROTTnBRITT]

Is this something that you need to worry about with your loft?

[Munster]

Is this something that you need to worry about with your loft?

Na, isnt that how they get rollers?

[brad27]

As long as you call it linebreeding you'll be ok

[Fran Seagren]

Have any of you seen the movie, "Idiocracy"? I have two young pigeons that recently laid and hatched one of the two eggs. They were all lovey-dovey sharing the nesting duties, but now that there's a baby involved, the male wants to hog the nest, and he's been downright mean to the Mrs. I've been suspect of his mental state since I first acquired him. Now, I'm pretty sure he's not playing with a full deck. So, what should I expect from his offspring? "Rollers"?

[zzweims]

Years ago I shot a pigeon over the pond for a pup. It fell 50 feet, another pup got loose, and the two pups tore him apart. I tossed his bloody carcass in the back of the truck on a hot summer day. Two days later, he sat up begging for water. I banded him (I don't shoot banded birds) and nursed him back to health. A year later, 'Lucky' and 11 other pigeons were sitting in a tree that was struck by lightening. 9 fell to their deaths. Only Lucky and his daughter (out of his mother) survived. I banded her and named her 'Fortune.' Over the years, I eliminated all of my pigeons except Lucky, Fortune and their offspring. After 10-15 generations of intense inbreeding, I had a line of the toughest pigeons you ever did see!

Aline Curran

[snips]

Wow, quite a story.

[gotpointers]

Years ago I shot a pigeon over the pond for a pup. It fell 50 feet, another pup got loose, and the two pups tore him apart. I tossed his bloody carcass in the back of the truck on a hot summer day. Two days later, he sat up begging for water. I banded him (I don't shoot banded birds) and nursed him back to health. A year later, 'Lucky' and 11 other pigeons were sitting in a tree that was struck by lightening. 9 fell to their deaths. Only Lucky and his daughter (out of his mother) survived. I banded her and named her 'Fortune.' Over the years, I eliminated all of my pigeons except Lucky, Fortune and their offspring. After 10-15 generations of intense inbreeding, I had a line of the toughest pigeons you ever did see!

Aline Curran

+1 best story i have read here in a while. Thanks

[ezzy333]

We often breed father/daughter or mother/son and even breed brother sister sometimes in pigeons to produce our best breeding stock. And when we were raising rabbits our best does were bred back to their father and the young from that were breed back to the father again and then we brought in some new blood and started all over again.

Normally with the pigeons we find the best flyer's are often about 35% inbreeding if you check them out. My theory has always been with all livestock is to use tightly line-bred breeding stock and then bring in a out-cross that may improve any weaknesses you have in your breeding and the offspring will be your good ones and then those should be used back into your breeding line.

Ezzy