engleski

Effect of feeding and housing of young pigeons of the commercial breeds King and Texan on their body weight increase until weaning

Rearing commercial breeds of pigeons for meat production is an important branch of small stock breeding and is based on the flocks of breeds for fattening with good results in meat production if adequately housed and optimally fed. Thus, the aim of this research was to establish on the young birds of the commercial breeds King and Texan their body weight increase until the age of one month in adequate housing and different feeding. The research included 2 groups of 14 pairs each of the King and Texan breeds aged 2 years kept in a closed house, with controled microclimatic conditions.The house was provided with 0.80 x 0.80 x 0.80 m and the pigeons were kept free in the house. Both groups of parents were fed on a mixture of grain with 14% share of raw proteins up the 14th day of sitting. After that one group continued to be fed a mixture with 17% share of raw proteins and the other group was fed a mixture containing 21% of raw proteins. After hatching the feed was weighed daily and the pigeons could eat ad lib. The young pigeons were individually weighed daily until weaning at 29 days. The feeding was done in the morning and weighing of the young and the feed consumed in the evening. According to the results obtained both groups of young pigeons achieved adequate body weight for slaughter processing. The young fed a mixture with a higher share of proteins had better gain and the average final body weight of 555 g. The other group fed a mixture with a smaller share of protein had average final body weight of 517 g. The highest average increase in body weight was observed in the middle of the fattening period after which the weight began to decrease. The parent pairs of pigeons in both groups consumed more than 5 kg of feed for their own needs and for the feeding of the young during fattening. Based on the results obtained it seems that with the feeding described and optimal hausing conditions it is possible to achieve in less than a month the required body weight in the young of the breeds King and Texan for commercial use. The feed with a higher share of raw proteins in a diet of the parents resulted in better final body weight of the young by 6.9% than the group fed on the mixture with a smaller share of raw proteins. The described method of raising pigeons can be profitable if the cost of feed, as the biggest expense in fattening, and economic value of pigeon meat on the market are considered.

commercial pigeon breeds; housing; feeding; increase in body weight

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