Providing heat for pigeons in winter?

Thanks; Lucky our ducks do not seem inclined to nest just now. We've had only one egg all wiinter. Both our pigeons are boys so we don't have to fret about babies. The boys have moved from the dovecote into the chicken coop with the bantams. Pretty smart.

see then you need four more birds to watch fly in a decent flock for amusement and safety for them. lol they can get addictive. i toss my extra eggs i can keep, to the dog. a breeding pair given two nests, can create more pigeons flying around pretty quick! maybe stick to all boys, until you get the bug like the rest of us! hahaha

We're already hooked. As soon as we saw them fly (roll) we knew they were in our flock to stay. We had a couple of girls but sadly they went to pigeon heaven so we'll start again when spring comes. Who ever would believe that pigeons would be so cool to have around.

coopscritters said:

We're already hooked. As soon as we saw them fly (roll) we knew they were in our flock to stay. We had a couple of girls but sadly they went to pigeon heaven so we'll start again when spring comes. Who ever would believe that pigeons would be so cool to have around.

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well most are just used to seeing and hearing bad things observed about feral and stray under nurished or cared for at all decent street pigeons. as well as lies that exterminators say (getting rid of an animal that has homing instinct to come back and make more money to be removed over and over again is profitable. the: real white doves for release/racers/homers, rollers, tumblers, flying flights, high fliers, tipplers, prints,high fliers, ect.. are so much differant to watch perform in air, or on ground (in case of parlor tumblers and rollers), than the poor ferals that are quite unremarkable in comparision. having something you can train to be let out to fly free that then will give you joy when the training pays off and they keep coming home to you, can be breathtaking. also good to show how cycle and wonder of how life works (even when a BOP or other pred takes) to kids, and used in schools and prisons ect to teach gentleness, respect and responsibility. not to even mention the fancy breeds to work on to make extreme living art.

My father has passed away and his entire racing stock has been auctioned. I insisted on taking the four remaining rollers and trying to care for them myself. My father brought a crate of birds to my school each year of my 18 year teaching career, to share with my students. Each year, I front-loaded them with school related info (instinct vs learned behaviors) and when the birds came, my dad would answer a ton of questions, we would write messages for 5-6 of the birds, then release them all to fly the 3-4 hour trip home. The kids were always stunned when my dad would call later in the afternoon (or sometimes that night) to answer or comment on the messages. My students always wrote thank you's and decorated them on a paper pigeon. He saved the majority of these.

My biggest fear is there current set up at my place being so different in size and shelter than my dad's. I also live in the mountains whereas they have been living in the flat flat country. Should I purchase a heating source for below freezing days/nights? I literally just brought them home late last night and am happy to take ANY tips of keeping them safe and healthy this winter. Thank you all!

No heat required and can be dangerous aside from possibly starting fire. Feed whole corn and layer with chicken or songbird grit. If they get too thin then can bring inside in boxes overnight. If pigeons don't acclimate to cold, they can die quick if power goes out.

A newer couple of good Birmingham rollers from new York, have just hatched days ago, two naked pink healthy young, from grouse footed bald headed badged checkered blue hen, and a black clean legged male.female was fluffing n spreading covering till yesterday when moved aside and now babies pop in and out from under her. All out in open wire rabbit cage, on open covered porch, board over top of cage, tarp on one side n board on other, tray under. Plastic dog bowls in back corners with bedding fourth to half filling. Feeding cheep layer crumbles and changing water twice daily. All other babies from show and performance families same,just dual performance show line hatch larger n thicker grow lot faster parents rarely cover except when eggs and real young when real cold, and larger eggs. If I had warning she would lay so sone I'd have made small cardboard box open on one end enough just to come and go, space for two adults to comply lay next to each other, with paper then bedding on bottom. keeping heat in better. Rock doves/pigeons are huskies of dove world, doing healthiest in dry cold climates provided basic needs met, breeding then instinctively when and because they have advantage then, feeding rich crop milk in winter. All my pigeon breeds ever had start and accelerate breeding when gets colder, through until it gets hot slowing or stopping then temp even. I've never had pigeons stop rearing from cold, but have from heat waves repeatedly, and when had heat applied inside (could just be anecdotal coincidence I'm told of over eleven years only.. some have had many more pigeons for two e as long or lot longer, knowing lot more. Ive only had personal experience with pigeons in cold dry of WI -100 (fed wild bird seed, scratch grains, dry dog food, cereal, bread, fruit, berries, nuts, with pea gravel and sand as grit), and hot humid +100 of TN (also added and fed with success: pigeon pellets, pigeon conditioning crumble/mash, hookbill n songbird food, chicken layer, greens bugs, etc I'm forgetting (with caged song bird n chicken grit), so curious about experiences others have had with things in this country and others in winter with provided area materials etc. I've sadly seen great pampered performance and show birds given to someone and birds lose one or both foot or legs in transit,then birds left in open wire cage in open no cover of trees even preventing sun rain snow wind or preds harassment, given metal tins with no drainage,and fed only old soaked bread mash,and they bred frequent getting guy lot of money for young. The birds would be let out to fly once day week month depending if guy around, and assume birds foraged while out for good food, as they were healthy when I saw the two times, guy saying they stayed strong that way (I tried buying them), and they just covered nests fanning out over them when full sun n rained. Exercise, fresh air, halfway decent feed, clean fresh water daily, and clean dry coop etc, does most of work keeping pigeons healthiest.
If ability to free fly they'll eat a lot of foods most won't notice (nuts seeds berries greens bugs stones soil). In winter snow mine eat and bath in.

SmittenChickens said:

My pijs live out in the insulated garage and so far seem to be doing just fine. But it can get brutally cold here... -50F windchills in Jan and Feb. There's no drafts in the garage and I offer them sunflower seed and peanuts as a high-fat supplement to help stay warm. They also have a nest box full of hay (that they never seem to use, LOL).

I'm wondering if I could offer some sort of heat source for them for the coldest parts of winter? Heat lamps are nice but they just seem so dangerous, especially in a garage full of lumber and hay. They make those electric heating pads for doghouses, or those microwaveable things that don't use electricity? Would a pigeon use any of these things?

Any and all input on how to keep my pijs warm and happy this winter would be great! If it matters, they are on the kind of young side.. they're about 5 months old now. Full feathered though.

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My pigeons did fine in the winters cold but as long as there's no drafts they should do fine but if you want hang a 60w bulb above them that will help!