Carneau

The Carneau is a domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) bred up in France as a table bird. It carries a full, rounded body on an upright frame, and the classic bird wears a solid red coat, although yellow, white and dun turn up as well. Most adults sit between 600 and 750 grams on the scales, putting the Carneau well into the larger table breeds without the sheer bulk of the giant meat pigeons.

Two things set this breed apart. The squabs grow fast and finish heavy, and the parents raise them with almost no fuss from the keeper. Carneaus are placid and even-tempered, easier to manage than the flightier utility strains, and they settle into a standard loft or a lifestyle block aviary without any bother.

New Zealand fanciers keep the Carneau as a table bird, for showing, and simply as calm stock to steady a mixed loft. Its hardiness, mild temperament and dependable parenting have kept it in demand since the late 1800s.

Who it suits

The Carneau suits keepers after a productive table bird that is no trouble to live with. New starters who feel a bit unsure handling pigeons get on well with its calm nature, and its steady parenting takes most of the graft out of raising squabs. It is a sound pick for anyone wanting a quiet loft bird that can also front up at a show.

The Carneau takes its name from the farming country of northern France and next-door Belgium, where it was bred up from local squab pigeons. Generations of selection for size, fast growth and hands-off parenting turned an ordinary farm bird into a fixed, recognisable breed.

By the late 1800s the Carneau was established as its own table breed, and French and Belgian farmers kept it in numbers for the meat trade, where a plump young squab was everyday fare.

From there the breed travelled to Britain and the United States in the decades either side of 1900, where it drew interest as both a commercial meat pigeon and a show bird, and fanciers' clubs wrote up standards that fixed its shape and colour. The red Carneau became the form most keepers recognise.

Carneaus reached New Zealand later, carried in mainly through Britain rather than direct from the Continent, and numbers here have always stayed small. Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) import health standards for live birds are strict, in keeping with the country's wider approach to biosecurity, so most New Zealand stock today traces back to established local bloodlines rather than fresh imports. Commercial squab production has fallen away in most countries, but hobby breeders and showers keep the Carneau going here for its history, its placid nature and its reliable table qualities.

The Carneau carries a broad, deep body fairly upright on the perch. The chest is full and rounded, the back broad, and the whole shape reads as robust rather than slim. The head is smooth and clean, without crest or muffs, and the legs and feet carry no feathering at all. Feathers lie close and neat, giving a solid, compact outline that gives away its start as a table breed.

Coat and colours

The classic Carneau, and the one most keepers picture, is a solid, even red from head to tail. Yellow, white and dun are also recognised in several standards. In the coloured forms the feathering wants to be uniform, with no flecking or patchiness, and the colour should run right down through the flights and tail. White birds should show clean plumage from top to toe. Judges look for good depth of colour and an even tone across the bird.

The Carneau ranks among the steadier domestic pigeons going around. It is calm and docile, and settles into handling and loft routine fast. Birds handled regularly from a young age turn properly tame and put up with being picked up and checked over, which comes in handy at health checks and on the show bench.

Around people the breed stays gentle and rarely spooks. Around other pigeons it is mostly peaceable and shares a loft with little squabbling, although a breeding pair will still stand up for its own nest box the way any pigeon does. The Carneau is no great flyer and has no homing instinct either; it is happy to stick close to the loft and lacks the restless streak of the racing strains. This calm, homebody nature is a big part of why keepers value the breed beyond the table.

The Carneau is hardy and asks little of its keeper, though it does best on a steady daily routine in a clean environment. With clean legs and a smooth coat, it is far less work to groom than a feather-footed or crested breed.

Grooming

• Put out a shallow bath two or three times a week so birds can keep their feathers in order.
• Check feet and toenails once a month, and trim overgrown nails with care.
• Watch for scale or scabbing on the legs, a sign mites may be about.
• Through the annual moult, back feather regrowth with good feed and keep stress to a minimum.

Exercise

• Give birds daily access to an open aviary or flight pen so they can move about.
• The breed is no great flyer, so a secure pen suits it better than letting birds fly free from the loft.
• Room to move and enough perches let birds stretch and flap, and help head off the weight problems table breeds run into.

Environment

Keep the Carneau in a dry, draught-free loft with good airflow. Give pairs their own nest boxes, provide plenty of perches, and shelter the loft from rain and wind. New Zealand's temperate but often damp climate makes this especially important: the breed copes with a wide range of weather as long as it stays dry, but damp, dirty bedding quickly leads to respiratory and foot trouble.

A Carneau does well on an ordinary pigeon grain mix of cereals and legumes, things like maize, wheat, sorghum, peas and beans. Being a meat breed, it puts on weight easily, so portions are better measured out than left to free feeding outside the breeding season. Once squabs are in the nest, parents feeding them need more protein and energy to keep growth on track.

Treats and extras

Keep insoluble grit and a mineral or pigeon grit mix on hand at all times, to aid digestion and supply the calcium that laying hens need most. A pinch of small seed, canary seed or safflower, works well as a taming treat. Top up clean, fresh water daily, and add vitamins or probiotics through the moult or after illness, only when needed.

The Carneau is a robust breed and carries no widespread inherited faults. Given a clean loft, decent feed and routine care, it commonly reaches 8 to 12 years old. Being one of the heavier table breeds, it can carry excess weight if overfed and under-exercised, and that is the main husbandry risk to watch for. Health problems it does face are the same ones common to all domestic pigeons, rather than anything particular to the breed.

New Zealand's isolation is a genuine health advantage here. Strict MPI biosecurity controls at the border have kept several serious overseas avian diseases out of the country, and any suspected notifiable disease, such as Newcastle disease or avian influenza, must be reported. Keepers who bring in new birds, even from another loft nearby, do well to quarantine them first and keep an eye on general biosecurity practice around the loft.

Prevention

• Keep the loft clean, dry and well ventilated.
• Quarantine new or returning birds before they mix with the rest of the flock, and check local biosecurity guidance if birds are coming from outside the immediate area.
• Worm birds and treat for external parasites on a regular schedule.
• Keep grit, minerals and clean water available at all times.
• Avoid overcrowding and overfeeding.

The Carneau takes to handling well thanks to its quiet nature. It is not bred for racing or homing, so training is really about settling the bird into the loft, getting it comfortable around people, and, for show birds, teaching them to stand calmly under judging. Birds handled early in life turn out the tamest. Patience and a steady routine count for more than any clever technique.

Basics

1. Handle young birds gently and often from weaning so they get used to contact.
2. Feed at the same times every day so birds learn to come when called.
3. Use a small seed treat to reward calm behaviour and to call birds in.
4. Practise lifting and holding in short sessions to get birds ready for health checks and shows.
5. Keep sessions short and quiet, and finish before the bird gets stressed.

House the Carneau in a standard pigeon loft that stays dry and draught-free while still getting good airflow through. Being a calm, ground-settled breed, it has no need for the height that flying breeds use, but it does want enough floor space and its own nest boxes so pairs can breed without falling out. An attached flight pen lets birds get fresh air and exercise safely, which matters on a suburban section as much as on a larger lifestyle block.

Setting up the loft

• A dry, raised floor with absorbent bedding, changed on a regular basis.
• One nest box per pair, fitted out with nest bowls and nesting material.
• Enough perches so every bird has one of its own.
• Clean water and feeders kept up off the floor to stop fouling.
• A grit and mineral source available at all times.
• Predator-proof wire over every opening, and a door that shuts securely.

Carneaus are dependable natural breeders, and that is one of the breed's real strengths. A hen usually lays two eggs to a clutch, and both parents share the incubating, the cock sitting by day and the hen through the night. Eggs hatch out in around 17 to 19 days. The parents incubate and feed so reliably that most keepers simply leave them to it, stepping in only if a pair fails. The figures below cover both the natural process and the settings to use if eggs go into an incubator.

Hatching steps

1. Give the pair a clean nest box with a bowl and nesting material.
2. Let both parents incubate the two eggs without disturbance, and candle around day 7 to check fertility.
3. Keep the loft quiet and settled all through incubation.
4. Expect hatching around days 17 to 19, and only help a squab from the shell if it is clearly stuck.
5. Leave the parents to feed crop milk over the first few days, and check both squabs are getting fed.
6. Feed the parents extra protein while they are raising the young.