What to Do When Youngsters Underperform

The breeding season does not always go according to plan. Infertile eggs, dead-in-shell, weak youngsters or youngsters that underperform later — each problem has a specific cause and a specific solution. The wrong diagnosis leads to the wrong solution and wasted time.

Problem 1: Infertile Eggs (All Clear at Candling)

Diagnose with a candler at day 7–8. Clear eggs = infertile.

• Cause 1 — The cock: vitamin E deficiency (most common), stress, illness, advanced age (over 8–10 years), feathers around the cloaca too long (preventing mating)
• Cause 2 — Incompatibility: the two do not accept each other naturally → low mating rates
• Fix: vitamin E + Se supplement for 3 weeks, trim cloacal feathers if necessary, try a different partner

Problem 2: Dead-in-Shell

Embryos formed but died before hatching. Check with the candler at day 14–16.

• Early mortality (days 5–8): extreme temperatures in the loft, excessive egg handling, bacterial egg infection
• Late mortality (days 14–17): vitamin E or B12 deficiency in the hen, trichomoniasis or other diseases in the parents
• Fix: vitamin E + B complex for hens, trichomoniasis testing, stable nest temperature

Problem 3: Youngsters Dying in the First 5–7 Days

This is often the saddest diagnosis: youngsters hatch normally but die quickly.

• Transmitted trichomoniasis: the most common cause. Trichomonas from the parents' crop is transmitted through pigeon milk → youngsters with a yellow plaque in the throat, rapidly losing condition
• Temperature too low: draught, temperatures below 15°C in the first days
• Partial abandonment: check that both parents are feeding
• Fix: test and treat for trichomoniasis BEFORE the season, thermal protection of the nests

Problem 4: Weak Youngsters at Races

If all youngsters from a season perform poorly, the problem is systemic, not individual.

• Parent nutrition during the breeding season was suboptimal (insufficient protein, lack of calcium, lack of vitamin E)
• A subclinical disease in the loft (mycoplasma, chlamydia) affected all youngsters
• Young bird training was insufficient
• Fix: veterinary testing of the loft, review of the breeder nutrition protocol, young bird training planning

Concrete Action Steps

• Do not change pairs before ruling out medical causes — address the disease, not the genetics
• Candle systematically at every round — concrete data, not guesswork
• If the problem persists for 2–3 consecutive rounds → mandatory veterinary analysis
• Keep statistics: fertilisation rate per pair, embryonic mortality, nest mortality — trends show you where the problem lies

Breeding problems are solved when the diagnosis is correct. Invest first in diagnosis (candling, veterinary testing) and only then apply the right solution.