Pigeons molt for as long as 50-60 days. At the beginning of molting, be gentle. At the peak of molting, we can only feed corn, wheat and other simple light feeds, combined with a proper water cut for one day, so that the feathers of young pigeons will fall off quickly. When a large number of feathers fall off, we should feed more feed with high fat content such as sesame seeds and rapeseed, which can promote the growth of new feathers.
Molting is a stress factor, even healthy pigeons are easily infected with diseases during molting, so preventive measures should be taken. If squab can get enough trace elements and vitamins, it can effectively enhance squab's immunity and improve its disease resistance. Green feed, such as green vegetables, Chinese cabbage, water spinach, purslane and aloe, is rich in vitamins and trace elements, which can prevent diseases and provide water for young pigeons. As a health feed during molting, young pigeons love to eat it.
The life span of a feather is always much younger than the pigeon itself, because the pigeon has to change its feathers once a year. No matter how old a pigeon is, its feathers will never exceed its age. When pigeons molt, new feathers grow from hair follicles (or "hair follicles") and the old feathers are squeezed out one by one. In the life of a pigeon, molting is very important, and it must be taken better care of during this time. Figure 4-2 shows the molting process of a 3-month-old pigeon. The number to the right of each number indicates the number of days after pigeons hatch. As can be seen from Figure 4-2, only the wing was changed from 1 to 10.
Pigeons shed their skins for two periods. One is the young pigeon period, when the young pigeon comes out of its shell, it has soft yellow feathers. After about 10 days, the young pigeons began to shed their skins. This process takes 20 to 30 days. Pigeons are about to wean, their new feathers (also called "young feathers") are full, and their fetal feathers basically fall off. The feather roots of the main feather, aileron and tail feather have been keratinized, but only a few sparse yellow hairs are left on the top of its head, completing the transformation from squab to young pigeon. If the baby feather coat is supplied to the young pigeons for one month, then the baby feather coat can only be supplied to the young pigeons for 2-3 months, that is, the young pigeons begin to shed their skin for the second time on the 50th-60th day after hatching. Replace the main wing feather first, and take down a main wing feather in pairs on both sides every 15-20 days. Second, when the young pigeons grow to 5 ~ 6 months old, the main wing feathers switch to 7 ~ 8 pieces, and they start to become lazy and enter the adult pigeon period. People can judge the pigeon's age according to the number of feathers on its main wing. This molting is also the transition from young pigeons to adult pigeons, but there are differences in molting and estrus between early-maturing varieties and late-maturing varieties, usually about a month apart.
The molting mentioned here mainly refers to the molting of adult pigeons every year. There are rules for adult pigeons to molt. The renewal of big feathers starts from the smallest and closest to the inner side of the body, then falls off and is renewed from the inside out in an adjacent order. Before the sixth feather falls off, after the fifth feather falls off, Xiaoyu, who covers the body, neck and throat, begins to alternate between old and new, and a large number of old feathers fall off, indicating that the climax of molting is coming. Therefore, after the fifth feather falls off, it is not allowed to participate in the competition or fly more than 10 km.
When the sixth big feather falls off, all or part of the auxiliary feather or covering feather also begins to fall off, and the tail feather falls off with the eighth big feather. However, the shedding and renewal of body villi can often be seen all year round, especially on the first day after extremely tired flight, or when the temperature drops suddenly for several days in a row, the renewal of villi often reaches a peak state.
Pigeons molt regularly, but not all of them are regular, and their living environment is different. For example, birds growing in the wild often shed their hair symmetrically, that is, when the first big feather on the left falls off, the first feather on the right also falls off symmetrically. Pigeons in China are mostly raised naturally, so pigeons also have symmetry when changing their hair. This is because natural feeding methods are similar to wild birds in ecology. Most European countries adopt the method of raising few birds, so the molting of pigeons is different. It is common that the time difference between the left and right molting of widowed pigeons is several days. Even in a molting season, the new hair will fall off for the second time, and the slight difference of tail feather replacement time will happen from time to time. In the natural breeding mode, if pigeons are in poor health, the above-mentioned irregular molting phenomenon may also occur.
When homing pigeons molt a lot, they need sufficient nutrition to make up for excessive consumption and ensure the good growth of new feathers, and this sufficient nutrition is best given in September. Molting begins in July and comes to a climax in August. On the contrary, it is necessary to reduce nutrition and promote pigeons to shed their hair quickly. Slow hair removal is not a good phenomenon. There is an old saying in the pigeon world, which is "70, 80, 90, 10". In other words, pigeons begin to molt in July of the lunar calendar and finish molting in September. In October, pigeons put on beautiful "new clothes" and prepare for winter. If you pay a little attention, you will find that pigeons with good constitution shed their skin faster; On the contrary, it is relatively slow. Pigeons that can get good results in the next year's competition are often those that lose their hair quickly.
Pigeons infected with intestinal parasites and coccidia can also cause dry and dull feathers. Intestinal parasites are transmitted through feces. These parasites are so tiny that a crack in the floor can hold countless eggs, and cereal feed is often mixed with them and eaten by pigeons. Therefore, it is very important to clean the pigeon house. Always clean the pigeon droppings on the ground and don't feed pigeons on the ground. Theoretically speaking, pigeon molting should start later, and the sooner the better, the sooner the better. Pigeons who are sick or in poor health must slough off their skin, and their newly grown feathers are of poor quality, and their feathers feel dry and fluffy. Therefore, in molting season, the proportion of minerals and trace elements in feed should be increased, and fresh water should be fed in time, especially to keep the shed clean and ventilated.
Important role, especially two of them: one is prolactin, which is secreted by submandibular gland and is a hormone related to molting. On the one hand, this hormone can stimulate the secretion of pigeon milk, on the other hand, it can inhibit molting and gonadal activity. Due to the role of prolactin, brooding is separated from molting and reproduction to reduce the physical burden of parent pigeons. The other is the hormone secreted by the thyroid gland at the end of the throat to both sides of the trachea. This thyroid hormone contains thyroxine, which is an iodine-containing hormone and also affects molting. When there is enough iodine in food and drinking water, thyroxine can be synthesized by pigeons themselves, but when molting, adding 10 drops of iodine compound solution to a liter of water can promote molting. Vitamin B has the same effect.