Lots of pigeons, now what??

[thewarriorchild]

I have pigeons now, I think I have no idea what I got myself into. I have a couple of questions:
They have a seperate part of the coop, is that ok?

Why do pigeon doors need to let them in but not back out? Doesnt seem wise if the predator was in there. Which isnt likely anyway

They said I could feed them mashed chicken food?

Some of them are older, will they stay? Should I clip thier wings and how? I have done this before as I worked in a pet store. (they all came back tonight)

Where do I get bands? will it identify the birds as mine somehow?
Can I band them now?

I will try and post pictures somewhere...I got like 13 of them...someone mentioned starting with 4. I think I am in trouble.....

Thanks!!

 

[RioLindoAz]

First of all, I was the one who said to start with four.

They have a seperate part of the coop, is that ok?

That is great! It wouldn't matter even if you kept them with the chickens permanently.
The main problem with keeping chickens and pigeons together is that pigeons make a mess of everything.

Why do pigeon doors need to let them in but not back out? Doesnt seem wise if the predator was in there. Which isnt likely anyway.

You mean trap doors? Trap doors are mainly for racing pigeons. When a trainer is teaching his/her pigeons to be able to reconize thier home from a distance, he shoes the the pigeons out of thier loft and they take off. Then the Trainer activates the trap door so that when the pigeons come back, they can go inside the loft but not back out. If you are raising pigeons for hoppy, you don't really need a trap door.

They said I could feed them mashed chicken food?

Not really, a healthy pigeon's diet can bevery complicated check out this videon to get an idea about what a pigeon's diet should be.

Some of them are older, will they stay? Should I clip thier wings and how? I have done this before as I worked in a pet store.

You're not supposed to clip a pigeon's wings. If you are keeping your pigeons in a sucure place, you shouldn't have problems with pigeons escaping.

Where do I get bands? will it identify the birds as mine somehow?
Can I band them now?

You can get bands at a tractor supply store. You can band them at the age of 2 weeks and on​

 

[thewarriorchild]

Ummm ok the most disturbing advice in that whole thing is Tractor Supply has bands...You do know they have chicks till I believe the 10th... Ya know I will come back with more than bands... LOL!!
Thanks!

Four umm yea...anyone want some pigeons?
http://piratehunt.spaces.live.com/
I will post pictures of them here as soon as I can. It says they are updating spaces so they are down.

I am not sure it is a trap door. It looks like pins hanging down from what I can see. Is that it?


So far anyone who has gotten out has come back. They are in a part of my coop that is seperated and has a door, usually used to introduce new birds to everyone or to seperate someone who needs a break. The door to that area does not reach the ceiling so they have gotten out that way. It also has a small window in there and when it is warmer I will open it and maybe use that as a way for them to leave.

How do you band them when they are older?

 

[thewarriorchild]

Ok I still do not have bands I have not gotten up there yet but we lost a pigeon the other day, down to 12 then, ok I counted last night, we have 13 again!!! Hmmm.... I have to write down our bands but some are not banded. I wonder where we got a extra from, we do not really live in a pigeon populated area that I have ever seen. Verrry interesting....

 

[thewarriorchild]

I have to post pics if each pigeon for ID, I watched that video on the food, our birds fly around during the day and return at night, they should be finding some of thier own food right? I will add some new things to the diet this week. I really like these birds I just wish we had raised them and they were friendlier. I ended up watching a LOT of videos.

Deb