Savas, T.Konyali, C.Tolu, C.Das, G.Yurtman, I. Y.2025-01-272025-01-2720080003-90981612-9199https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12428/25373The results of previous studies indicated that selection for aesthetic breeding goals in the short beak pigeon breed Half-Baska resulted in disadvantages in feed intake. In addition, a high variation in feed intake time in the short beak breed as compared to the normal beak breed was reported. This led to the hypothesis that feed intake behaviour is not only affected by the length of the beak but also by head morphology as well as beak width and beak height. Moreover, the beak plays an important role in feeding of nestlings in pigeons. Therefore, the rearing performance of pigeon breeds with a short and a normal beak was compared. The breed Half-Baska (HB), originating from northwest Turkey, was used as a model bird for short beak pigeons. English Flyingtippler (EF) was used for the comparison. During rearing several clutches of HB and EF breeding pairs (with similar days of hatch) were randomly exchanged. Thus four groups were formed: I. HB birds feeding HB squabs (CB-CB), 2. HB birds feeding EF squabs (HB-EF), 3. EF birds feeding HB squabs (EF-HB), and 4. EF birds feeding EF squabs (EF-EF). The short beak Half Baska birds had a 37% shorter beak than the English Flyingtippler breed. In HB birds, the correlation coefficients between feed intake speed and head height (r = 0.36; P = 0.031) as well as head depth (r = 0.33; P = 0.050) were significant However, no relations were observed between feed intake speed and head width as well as beak traits (P > 0.050). The rearing groups had a significant effect on body weight and daily live weight gain of the nestlings (P < 0.001). Nestlings of HB-HB group had a substantial disadvantage in growth. Moreover, a high mortality rate was found (32%) for the same group (HB-HB), but the difference from EF-EF group was not significant (19%). The relationships between feed intake behavior and head form explain the observed high variation in feed intake speed in HB birds. The retarded growth of HB-HB squabs revealed that the species-specific reproductive pattern was disturbed in the short beak pigeon.deinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccesspigeonColumba livia domesticaselectiongrowthspecie-specific behaviournestling mortalityArticle7229096Q4WOS:0002567250000072-s2.0-43149104399N/A