Every experienced breeder has been through them. The difference is that whoever reads about them gets past them in a month instead of a year.

1. Buying on emotion at the first visit

You saw a nice bird at the market and bought it — without knowing its branch, age or health. The rule: never buy the same day. Photograph, ask, compare, and come back. Read the price factors before your first purchase.

2. No quarantine

The new bird goes into the loft the same day — and two weeks later the whole loft is scratching or has diarrhoea. At least two weeks in a separate cage, with a droppings test and vaccination, before it touches your birds. The mistake that kills the most whole lofts.

3. Crowding

"The loft can hold them" is not a standard. Every pair needs its space and its nest box, and crowding = fights, broken eggs and coccidiosis. Start with 3–4 pairs and grow when you have mastered it.

4. One mix all year round

Pigeons need energy in winter, lightness in summer and protein in the moult — feeding by season. A single ready-made mix is easier, but it gives average birds.

5. Feed left out all day

Rats, obesity, and birds that eat the maize and leave the rest. Two feeds at fixed times and the dish is removed.

6. Vaccinating "when we find time"

Newcastle does not wait. The vaccination calendar on the Egyptian year — and vaccinate a month before the season, not after the first case.

7. A pair of two cocks (or two hens)

A lost breeding month and puzzlement that "the pigeons don't lay." The difference between cock and hen by behaviour, not by the string.

8. A closed loft "against the cold"

Damp and ammonia are far more dangerous than cold. Bottom-to-top ventilation all year, and protection from wind only. See the rooftop loft.

9. A medicine for every symptom

Diarrhoea ⇒ antibiotic, with no test. The result: resistance, a tired gut, and a real disease hidden. A droppings test before any medicine — cheap and it saves money.

10. No records

After a year you don't remember who fathered whom, who was vaccinated, or who laid when. The record in the app (birds · pairs · vaccinations · health status) takes a minute and saves a year. And a registered bird sells for more — the pedigree certificate.

11. Breeding in the first month

The birds have not yet settled in the new place. Give them 4–6 weeks to adjust and finish quarantine and vaccination, then make the pairs. The first squabs from stressed birds come out weak.

12. Relying on one opinion

Every breeder has "their way" and talks about it as if it were law. Listen widely, try on a small scale, and record the result. The Ghuzar community has verified breeders from every governorate — and the video hub and the glossary decode the terms you will hear.

If you take one thing

Quarantine + records. Both are free, and they prevent half the mistakes above before they happen.

And start from before your first pair if you are still at the thinking stage.