I'm new to pigeons and I have a few questions.

[Kalyka]

Thank you, so, can I put them into another cage when I want them to raise squabs, and then keep them in the chicken coop the rest of the time?

 

[jak2002003]

Thank you, so, can I put them into another cage when I want them to raise squabs, and then keep them in the chicken coop the rest of the time?

Yep.. best keep the cage in the chicken coop.. so they don't get confused as to where home is!

 

[Kalyka]

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[laughingdog]

Had buddies that had their pigeons killed mainly by bantam roos, but bantam hens too, large ones kill aroud feed water n corners etc when catch, but some bantams chase and can wear down even then kill.
I've never had a banty roo even, actually kill a pigeon, but theyve attacked and injured.

 

[Kalyka]

Okay, thanks. Do you think that if I put the nests up high that our bantam hens would even bother? We don't have any bantam roos.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

Your probably not going to get much color out of that pair. But I have been surprised and had birds like that throw white or red baby's! With pigeons you never know. Pigeons do need grain, if you feed scratch you will notice they will leave the corn chops. But you can feed that to the chickens. I would separate the pen to two parts. It's no problem getting them to learn to go back into their pen at bite. But don t turn them loose till they are back on eggs or they will go back home! They will probably lay again soon. They net all year if fed good and allowed to. I've got some on their third or fourth batch this year already!

 

[jak2002003]

I have kept my pigeons with my bantams for 10 years.. never had a chicken or rooster attack or injure an adult pigeon. I have several breeds of pigeon.. even docile fantails.. and they are never hurt or bullied. I have several roosters and also many hens and chicks of various ages in the coop with my adult none breeding pigeons.

I once had a male pigeon injured a broody hen by pecking out her feathers on the back of her head and making her comb bleed while she was brooding her eggs... he wanted to take over the nest. That was the only incident of aggression I have had in all these years with my pigeons and chickens.

They do have a large run / coop.. they do free range most of the day.. and there are several water and feed containers around the coop so no one bird can dominate one.

Try and keep them together and see what happens... if there is any problem you can easily remove your pigeons to a cage or new coop.

Don't try to breed the pigeons in the main coop.. even with nest boxes very high and bantam will fly up there to investigate the nest to lay her own eggs.. and if she sees some tasty pigeon eggs or squabs in there she will eat them!

 

[Kalyka]

Right now I"m feeding them a mixture of corn and sunflower seeds, they always finish the seeds first.
Here is a picture of my chicken/rabbit/pigeon setup I did on paint.

 

[Kalyka]

Your adult pigeons might be able to avoid death as long as they never got cornered. Young squabs or squeakers are sure to fall prey in my opinion and be cannibalized alive by your hens as soon as they begin venturing out of their nest..

Pigeons do need grain, if you feed scratch you will notice they will leave the corn chops. But you can feed that to the chickens. I would separate the pen to two parts. It's no problem getting them to learn to go back into their pen at bite. But don t turn them loose till they are back on eggs or they will go back home! They will probably lay again soon. They net all year if fed good and allowed to. I've got some on their third or fourth batch this year already!

What if I did it like this? (and added cover on the top, nestboxes, and roosts)

Would this be enough room for, say, 20, 25 pigeons? What do you think the max number of birds is? The labeled pigeon part is about 5x7. I forgot to put doors on the first picture. Since this has two doors, I could let the chickens free-range, and keep the pigeons locked up, or I could put a little pigeon sized door in the wire separating them from the chickens, and then they could have access to both sides and outdoors. I've seen videos of those pigeon racers, they have doors with metal rod thingys that let them in, and keep them in, do you think I could use something like that in the door on the right hand side? I'm worried that when i do let them out, after they've gotten attached to the coop, that the chickens will bully the pigeons into not going back inside, and I won't be able to get them back, or some will come back, and some won't, so I won't be able to feed them or lock them up. Would they learn to use the doors with those rods, or would they just stand outside of the door and not come in? If I had this part sectioned off from the chickens, could I also breed them in here?

 

[Kalyka]

I saw them mating three days ago and I think two days ago as well, I can't really remember whether I saw them mate once or twice. And yesterday they were hopping around in the flower pot I gave them for a nest box. The mating lasted about five seconds, and then the male fell off.

Do you think it actually worked? In the link Hokum Coco posted, it lasted like, twenty seconds. If they decide they don't like the flower pot will they just lay it on the ground and abandon it?

They have a small hamster cage that they like to sleep in, and they're always either sitting in it, on top of it, or sitting on their roost. The hamster cage has hay in it, do you think they will nest in there? I'm worried that if they decide they don't like their surroundings enough to make a nest anywhere, that they will just lay the egg an forget about it. Does this happen often, it at all?