Maybe a good long drink after each feeding? I'm not sure about this. My roller cocks were all good feeders. I would put all fully fledged squabs on the loft floor, and when I would feed there would be a 'feeding frenzy' with cockbirds feeding any and all squabs. No problem with scalping...
In my experience hens have stopped feeding the squabs early on (generally only during the 'pigeon milk' stage) and the cocks have pumped until fledging. I always figured it was so her body could recover before laying the next round of eggs.
I'd really be tempted to place him and his mate in an aviary until he is 100%. You know the old adage: "Only fly birds you can afford to lose." With my rollers I liked to wait until birds were 2 years old before moving them into the breeding loft. One day I was watching a standout bird in a...
Did it enter your loft? I once forgot and a GHO owl entered and killed two birds. My fault - I released the owl. The next night at dusk it was back, pacing on the aviary roof trying to get it.
Pigeons do love to fly. That's why when I could no longer justify flying them I gave them away. I was watching a family of crows yesterday as they were swooping and whirling around chasing one another and vocalizing. To me no question that they were doing it for genuine fun.
Cooper's hawks put me out of business. I lost a few to red tailed hawks - generally young birds that were 'tree sitting'. I did lose a few to peregrine falcons during the fall migration.
Has anyone noticed 'hawking' behavior in their flocks? My Birmingham rollers - especially young birds...
Welcome to BYC, and good luck with your pigeons. Are they 100 % indoor birds? Outdoors and free flown, fantails are extremely vulnerable to predation from hawks.