Mary Allen
In most pigeons, the male is almost indistinguishable from the female. In contrast, it is quite different from the identification-colored breeds. With them, the sexes can be recognized at first glance.
Anyone who breeds animals is well advised to know whether they are dealing with a male or a female. In mammals, for example, it is usually very easy to do this. In addition to a body that is usually bulkier, males have their primary sexual characteristics such as testicles and penis outside of their body. No problem, then, to distinguish the buck from the doe at a glance.
Many a pigeon fancier wishes it were that easy for his pigeons. Without intensively observing his animals, he will hardly ever be able to say which sex he is looking at, the cock and hen are so similar. Even the behavior is not always clear. Everyone probably has an anecdote in store about how the supposed cock with intense courtship behavior was ultimately a hen. Conversely, some young cocks do not present themselves despite being housed with the old hens and are then mated as hens. It has probably happened to every breeder that he has mated two animals of the same sex without knowing it and wondered why the “pair” did not work.
Males Have Larger Warts
Even if determining the sex of pigeons is difficult, it is not entirely impossible. There are definitely secondary sex characteristics that a breeder can use. It is commonly said that the beak warts are more strongly developed in the cocks than in the hens. This can also work for breeds with a lot of warts. In others, on the other hand, where the warts are supposed to be small, which is typical of the breed, this distinction is almost completely absent.
Another tip is to feel the laying legs. If these are tight, it should be a cockerel. If you can put a finger between them, it should be a hen. After all, an egg has to fit through. However, the word “should” is deliberately used, because unfortunately there are no rules without exceptions here either.
Last but not least, it is also believed that the males are stronger than the females when it comes to pigeons. One can only advise every breeder to pay attention to this. Especially when it comes to breeding hens. If they are too strong – one likes to speak of “man women” – breeding comes to a dead end. They lack maternal qualities and the eggs are usually too big.
Texan Breeders at an Advantage
So, all in all, these are sex determination factors that are not 100% certain. Certainty can only be found in very few pigeon breeds. With them, the cock has different plumage colors than the hen – this phenomenon is called color identification.
In our valid standard, three pigeon breeds are recognized, which are considered to be distinctive. Texans are the only ones who are always color-coded. In addition, there are the Thuringian single-colored pigeons and the Basraer dewlap pigeons, although these are also available in colors where both sexes are colored the same.
As the name suggests, the Texan originated in the United States of America and was bred there rather accidentally as a commercial pigeon. Especially in such large numbers of pigeons, it is of course a huge advantage if you can select pairs by color. In 1932, the responsible hereditary factor was identified for the first time. This ensures that the cocks are always lighter, almost white in identification color – mostly they only have a few colored splashes on the neck – while the hens are more or less colored. It is characteristic that bandages or hammering appear rather blurred in the hens.
The coloring of the Thuringian monocolor is based on another hereditary factor, which entails identification. It is interesting that this breed originated in Central Europe and that up until a few decades ago nothing really was known about it. Rarely has so much wrong been written about a breed as about the Thuringian Monochrome.