Pigeon Buisness...

Im really wanting to get into the pigeon bussiness. What i mean by that is that i want to breed and sell a variety of pigeon breeds and make a halfway decent profit. Ive been raising and breeding pigeons for a hobby sense i was 10, right after they took down our local church and i rescued a pigeon who broke his wing when it collapsed. He was never able to fly but i kept him for about 4 years before he finally passed. After that i was really interested in pigeons so i invested in six pigeons. It cost me over 200$ because of the cost of shipping up to where i live (Maine) but it was well worth it. I then started to breed. After many failed attempts my pigeons finally started to produce babies. From starting out with those six, 3 males 3 females. I was up too 20 birds in no time at all. Do fast forward to today, im 17 and we have just recently moved to a new home about a mile away and my pigeon loft is much bigger now. I want to start a buisness with my pigeons. Ive sold a few here and there but want it on a much bigger scale now. Is there a market for pigeons out there? Can i actually make a profit? How hard is it to ship? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! -Dawson Daigle

You'll need to tailor your set up to the market demand in you area. What I mean is, what market is out there that will allow you to sell your birds the fastest and with the least amount of cost. You'll need to find a market for either Meat, Hobbyist, Racing, Homing, Weddings, etc. And find the breed or breeds that best fit these needs. For instance if you can find enough of a market for meat I'd recommend Utility Kings. If there is a market for birds to be released at weddings I'd recommend White Homers. In the Hobby market I'd recommend something like Rollers, Tumblers, Runts, Frills, Modenas, etc. Before you spend a lot of time and money you need to find a market for you product.

go the national pigeon assn site find the district you live in contact him don't know of many breeders from Maine but he may give you some insight one bit I will tell you raise what you like not what every else raises you will take better care of them and you have to see them 365 days a year

What breed did you start out with why? What are your setups and care practices.. feed nests cleaning housing etc? Some breeds require or do better when eggs n young fostered to tumbler class like roller breeds or to homer types like racers requiring additional setup and keeping of those birds as well.

Good luck with that idea. Most pigeon breeders make no profit.. simply doing it for the love of the hobby.

If you want to make money from fancy pigeons that is much harder than utility or racing pigeons. You are going to have to pay a lot of money to get good show quality stock... you won't be able to get good prices for young from non pedigree or back yard breeder stock, as they won't be high enough quality for showing.

I have a pigeon 'business'. I breed and sell some fancy pigeons.. but make a huge loss. Food, caging, medical care, time, bedding, etc far outweigh the money I get back selling a few pairs.

I make some money on my utility king pigeon squabs, which I sell to local restaurants and also to a local shop as frozen meat. Here, still, I sometimes make a loss.... to make any profit, or make a living I would need a huge pigeon farm with hundreds of pairs.... and the demand for them is just not there.