Utility Pigeon daily ration

[squabnrabbit]

I have looked through that site a bunch of times. There is some good info but i am leary of buying utility birds from show people. They are responsible for destroying numerous utility breeds here in the US. The only one that is still prolific is the Kings and that is because thye dominated the us pigeon farmers. Buy a carneau or mondaine and you will be lucky to get a few squabs a year.

I just heard of a keeper in washington who breeds kings. I may end up driving to him and buying some. 10 or more hours away but still chewper than buying and shipping from Cali.

 

[sukay85]

You will want to give those utility birds free choice, let them clean up the pan of feed and then fill it again.

 

[CertifiedChaser]

http://www.roysfarm.com/pigeon-farming/

This site may have what you're looking for. It recommends 35-50 grams of feed daily. Another site I've read recommends that all their food should be eaten by sunset.

 

[squabnrabbit]

Nice that was a good link. I am going to assume that the higher 50 grams is closer to the norm for Utility breeds. So about 1.7 ounces.

I was just reading an article about the Indian Goya and the Indian Mondaine. I wonder if anyone is still raising the Mondaine version.
Might be an option if a breeder can be found.

 

[CertifiedChaser]

Nice that was a good link. I am going to assume that the higher 50 grams is closer to the norm for Utility breeds. So about 1.7 ounces.

I was just reading an article about the Indian Goya and the Indian Mondaine. I wonder if anyone is still raising the Mondaine version.
Might be an option if a breeder can be found.

As for feeding I would say it's a good starting point. You can always reduce and increase as necessary. I like trying to crunch the numbers and establish an idea of what I'd be spending on raising these animals and other things beforehand as well and pigeons' biggest expense to me seems to be the dang pigeons.

As far as Indian mondaines (as I've never heard of them so looked them up) I found a page that gave this quote:
The Indian Mondaine is a rare breed. In fact, Carl Schoelkopf (the author of below article) states that as of the year 2009, less than 40 of them are currently kept in the Western World.
So, while I won't say it's not possible it will be extremely hard and possibly expensive to obtain a breeding pair. Wish more people realized there are people out there who will help at their own expense to save these dying species but they insist on keeping them to themselves out of fear of poor handling. In a similar way the show pigeons diminished the utility lines and killed off public interest.

 

[squabnrabbit]

Thought that might be the case for the Indian Mondaines. If I can't find a supplier near me for Kings I will just go the homer route. There are thirty racing homer keepers I know of within about four hours of me. Most of them sell their young birds at $5-15. Much better than $75 per bird plus overnight shipping. So what if the squabs are smaller. They still taste great.

 

[CertifiedChaser]

Thought that might be the case for the Indian Mondaines.  If I can't find a supplier near me for Kings I will just go the homer route.  There are thirty racing homer keepers I know of within about four hours of me.  Most of them sell their young birds at $5-15.  Much better than $75 per bird plus overnight shipping.  So what if the squabs are smaller. They still taste great.

Homers seem to be quite common and sold cheaply. I just am a little weary about buying from people off of Craigslist or other sources due to the fact there isn't exactly a way to control the quality of the birds you will find. I generally trust people but just saying. And as for smaller squabs for cheaper I've contemplated morning doves as they are prolific breeders and quick to mature. Though they don't get nearly as big as I'd like but it's on the back burner.

 

[squabnrabbit]

From what I have heard dove squabs don't provide much meat in the range of 3 or 4 per person for a meal with the fixins. Certainly prolific though, but so are pigeons (outside the fancy/show scene). Homers would probably be much better. Some of them can approach the sizes of the Utility breeds. I think the Best option for homers is looking for Racing clubs in your region. I would bet there are at least a few keepers within a town or so away (or in your city if you are in a populous region). This means you could easily travel to the keeper and see how their birds are cared for.

 

[jak2002003]

Doves will be next to useless for their meat.. they are all bones and feathers... more meat on a quail.

Homers will also not have much meat on them and the squabs are not as big.

The best and easiest to get are utility king pigeons... they produce fast growing and meaty heavy squabs.. far bigger than the homers. They also have a faster reproduction cycle.. and will keep churning out eggs and squabs.

Raising homers or doves for meat is not economical and the time you have to put in to butcher and pluck the birds is not worth the reward in terms of meat. Its like eating bantam chickens compared to eating a big meat production chicken.

 

[squabnrabbit]

Doves will be next to useless for their meat.. they are all bones and feathers... more meat on a quail.

Homers will also not have much meat on them and the squabs are not as big.

The best and easiest to get are utility king pigeons... they produce fast growing and meaty heavy squabs.. far bigger than the homers. They also have a faster reproduction cycle.. and will keep churning out eggs and squabs.

Raising homers or doves for meat is not economical and the time you have to put in to butcher and pluck the birds is not worth the reward in terms of meat. Its like eating bantam chickens compared to eating a big meat production chicken.

Easy to get is relative to where you are located. Believe me that my location means sourcing Utility breeds is a matter of minimum $500 dropped for shipping birds that you have not seen from conditions you don't know. In purchasing animals i like to have the option of seeing the conditions of the breeders loft. I have spoken to numerous keepers in my region and not one knew of anyone raising utility pigeons within my state.
Most of the keepers around here raise homers, which are definitely not ideal for squab production but do have enough meat to eat just not near the Kings. Far better than the doves at least.
I am less concerned about squab size since I am the only person in the house, so I can just cull what I need and freeze any extras. This may change some day but for now I figure that a cheap start is better than getting big birds. Also homers will provide me a good introduction to pigeon keeping for less. If I find I want bigger squabs I can then invest the higher dollar amount and continue right along.