cross breeding pigeons!!!!!

[pigeonE15]

my huge mistake!!!!
well i have a coop with pigeons and chickens.and my problem was that i had 3 rolling pigeons and 1 homing pigeon, and one of the rolling pigeons pared up with the homing pigeon, and are now on there second clutch. and my concern was since the babies are cross bred can they breed each other ( meaning the two crossed siblings pair up ) and have babies??? will the babies come out normal???? can i only breed the crossed bred ones together??? PLZ HELP THIS IS MY FIRST THREAD AND DONT REALLY HAVE EXPEIRIENCE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wieb1000]

I have the same thing except i have a barn pigeon and nun pigeon pair that have had 2 clutches already! Im wondering the same thing if the kids will be weird, my cross youngin is sitting on eggs with another barn pigeon! Beautiful birds

 

[Shanty]

There are two main schools of thought (if you like things in easy black vs white). There are probably a few more, too, but you don't want that dissertation.

One school--the purists--says NEVER cross pigeons. The other school says it's OK if you have a reason or a plan or you are "grading up" a rare breed (or one where you have ONLY one pigeon of a specific breed). Pigeons in a mixed flock will mate freely. They will produce more "normal" baby pigeons but they will be crossbreeds or mutts IF they mate with birds of a different breed. That's it. No way around it. It will happen as you well know. Pigeons don't care. That's fine if you are a "pigeon keeper" who intends to simply enjoy the crossbred pigeons around his or her own place. You can't show them; you can't race them or compete with them in any fashion.

I used to keep Spanish thief pouters that were of two rare breeds. In one breed, two pairs were imported to the US from Spain. The offspring of those two pairs were sold to another fancier (he bought two pairs) who, in turn, sold me seven youngsters. Now I knew they were bred close. That's obvious, so I crossed one of the offspring to another Spanish "sister" breed in order to put some vigor and new genes into my small breeding colony.

I also crossed a feral pigeon (yup, we called 'em barn pigeons in Washington state where I grew up) into that Spanish breed, then crossed the half feral-half Spanish cock to a pure Spanish hen. The offspring were gorgeous and the thieving gene is quite strong. I had a PLAN and reason to make crosses like that, so I follow the philosophy of the second school.

Here's a photo. You can easily see the feral bloodline of the crossbred cock. He LOOKS feral.




In any event, enjoy your birds no matter what they might be--crosses or pure breds, but make an attempt to segregate them and pair them correctly IF it's important to you.

 

[pigeonE15]

the babys

 

[pigeonE15]

are beautiful not deformed

 

[pigeonE15]

they do home tho

 

[Hokum Coco]

Cross breeding and inbreeding happens a lot with pigeon fanciers (usually with good results). No one can predict the outcome. The proof is in the pudding as the adage goes.

 

[fowlsessed]

Yea, there will be no physical or mental problems because of cross-breed breeding or breeding the crossed babies any direction you want. As said, they may actually prove to have "hybrid vigor". Performance may not be up to par, homing or rolling, and those breeders who say never to cross may get on you if you let them. So it won't help their performance, your ability to sell them, or your reputation among many, but that may be irrelevant to many pigeon keepers who keep them as pets and/or yard ornaments/entertainment.

 

[pigeonE15]

oh ok all of you guys thanks. sadly one of the hybrids died... i dont know how but it just did. but his other sibling is still strong and healthy and BTW: the second clutch of pigeon eggs has hatched yesterday!!!!!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Pigeons and loss go hand and hand. Wishing you Good luck in the future E15.