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I have a small flock of currently 14 homing dove in a nice roomy coop. I fly them every day. Good seed plus they forage chicken crumble, especially when they have young ones. They are obsessed with car undercarriages. After they've flown, they go under the cars and start picking things off...

I'm having an odd problem. I have one white racer who has raised a number of clutches. She is the last, very tough, bird left of a series of pigeons who were either hit by hawks or did not return. I have 4 other younger birds, now breeding age. The older bird has been on her nest and...

Or perhaps I am just the worst trainer in the world. I am befuddled by my young birds, who seem completely uninterested in flying. I have had a small flock of homing doves for three years. I have had steady breeding success, but also steady attrition from mostly hawks. However, all of...

Any suggestions for a good system for keeping water clean in the loft? I currently have a cat water station (jug that replenishes a bowl). For the winter I have a heated dog bowl. My chicken waterer has not worked because it fills with shavings and droppings. All work fine, but they are a...

I feel cursed. I started with four white homers 3 years ago. It had seemed as if every time I got to 5 birds, I'd lose a few and be back to two or three. So the new babies were just keeping up with my losses. Here's an example. I had a breeding pair, two month old squeakers, and three...

My only hint for you more experienced flyers: If you have an iphone and a flashlight app, it works great for candling pigeon eggs. My case has a little opening for the flash. It is perfect for sitting an egg on. Turn on the flashlight app, flip the phone, sit egg on it. Viola! The ease...

I had no idea keeping pigeons was so complicated. My chickens are easy. I have a young bird, hatched in August. She is flying well and has done some close homing. She flies loose several times a week. This week she has taken to returning to the coop a bit late and sitting on the roof all...

Hi - I noticed just this week that one of my white homers has no down on her her chest. Her plumage looks completely normal, but she is essentially bald down her sternum - I can push away the outer feathers and see skin and the sternum bone. She is mother to a squeaker who hatched August...

Hi All - We finally have a breeding pair of white homers and yesterday hatched our first young'un. (The fertile second egg died prior to day 8.) The parents have been very attentive and the squeaker looks healthy. First, I foolishly did not order bands and everyone seems to be sold out...

I have five hens who we got last April 1. They are laying well, and this is a good number for us. Because laying declines over time, I was planning on getting five new chicks in late March. When the new hens start laying (July/August), we will be eating the older hens. This will also allow...

Question for more experienced users . . . My three racing pigeon pigeons all seem healthy, of good weight and good, consistent flyers. I took them out for a flight today and opened the crate. As always, they moved to the open door and got ready to fly. One then began regurgitating a small...

I had originally bought four unsexed birds with the hope of breeding a small flock. However, all of my 3 remaining birds are female (one was lost during a flight). I was going to buy a sexed male. However, if I do start getting babies, how do I keep the next generation from interbreeding? I...

I have three homing doves that have been together since hatching (last January). They all flock together when flying. All are females. Two tend to snuggle together, the third is the odd 'duck'. The loner and one of the pair have always fought, but they are becoming more aggressive with one...

It was quite cold last week and we started to worry about the hens for winter. I blocked the the bottom of the henhouse door off and added another 6" of shavings to make a total of 12" or so. The girls LOVE it. It is hot today - over 80 - but they are in there, happily nestled in almost up...

I have my five hens (and 3 doves) in a 4' x 4' chick'n'barn that opens onto an 8' x 8' run (7' high) enclosed on all sides (including underground). The back quarter of the run is covered, it backs onto a high, dense hedge (minimal wind), and there is a rabbit hutch that also opens into the run...

I flew my three white homers the other day and another banded bird followed them home. The new bird has an August 2011 band, and is quite a bit smaller and lighter in the chest than mine, so I believe him to be quite young. The band is from a club 250 miles east, so I think he was blown off...

Hi - I have 3 white racing pigeons - two females and a male, with one female and male bonded (although he is not a faithful or helpful mate). All were born in January. The bonded female has now laid 3 clutches of two eggs each, but none have hatched, although she sat there religiously for...

I have three young, unrelated white racing pigeons (hatched mid-January) - two females and a male. Two have a stronger mating bond, although the male is definitely going after the other female (both aggression and also mating). Right now the paired female is sitting on FOUR eggs. I knew she...

Hi - My 3 homing doves and 5 young hens share a big flight with a 4' X 4' henhouse and a hutch opening onto it. The doves always slept on a covered 'cliff', the hutch, or in a hanging box. The hens sleep in the henhouse. There are lots of roosts in the flight. Until last week. It's been...

I have 5 adolescent chickies that are 7 weeks old (buff orpington, 2 dominiques, 2 wyandottes). I had 8, but three were lost to a raccoon who managed to pry open the door to the hen house. The external entrance and all the egg doors are now completely secure, although I'm sure the raccoon has...