Adult pigeon pecking baby pigon - why?

[Jeanette56]

Okay, I'll show my ignorance here - what is an "open loft"? and what would be the preferred type of loft that is not 'open'?

Pigeons can be a balancing act in an open loft. I have found also that if a pair lives for a while by themselves they can have trouble accepting new pairs as they claim the whole loft. I have scalping of all ages (pouters are not good for the open loft). I have even had an adult scalped.

 

[Faith SL]

Jeanette, an open loft is a pigeon loft meant for breeding pairs of pigeons where the separate nesting compartments for each pair are left open to allow each pair to freely fly around the loft with other pairs and re-enter their nesting compartment as they choose. Depending on the pigeons, some pairs can be problematic, aggressive or overly territorial and attack another pair or generally cause a ruckus. If not monitored, breeding pigeons in open lofts can also lead to some questions as to who the true parents truly are, as some pairs do not stay faithful to their mates. A loft which is not an open loft (closed loft) is basically a loft where these compartments are kept closed, locking in each individual pair with food and water dishes in each compartment.

 

[Faith SL]

I actually prefer having most of my pigeons breed and nest in open lofts so as to give them more space and free run of the loft, as they are much happier this way. I closely monitor my birds and know their personality and temperament. I will check on them often and watch them to make sure everyone is getting along, no pairs show any signs of cheating on their mates with another bird, and I will make sure that the pigeons can live in a peaceful environment with no stressful and troubling bully pigeons or other problems. The breeding lofts are also never overcrowded and each pair also has a large compartment to fully claim as their own territory and nest in. 95% of the time scalping occurs in breeding/nesting/fostering lofts with overly aggressive pigeons or in lofts which are too crowded or do not have a very good setup.

I have had two problems with scalping, but they were both from predator attacks (lucky pigeons, both of them survived and are living happily now) and not from other pigeons in my lofts. I will not stand overly aggressive birds and will re-home them if they are the main problem. There was another instance which almost became a scalping problem - a young Parlor Tumbler pigeon being cared for by Homing pigeon fosters fell out of their large nesting compartment onto the lower platform entrance of another nesting compartment while trying to explore. The parents of that compartment chased the young Tumbler around in the compartment for however many hours and pecked off most of the feathers on the top of his head, but no blood was drawn and no one was otherwise injured save for a terrified young Tumbler. That was my fault, and I should have removed the Tumbler from the fosters a couple of days sooner before he had the urge to explore too far out.

My point is, open lofts are not always a bad thing and if they are setup well, not crowded and the pairs of pigeons are monitored, your birds can usually be much happier in a harmonious open loft than a closed loft (besides some breeds of pigeons who do better in smaller spaces anyway).

 

[ThiefPouter06]

Yeah there are certain breeds where scalping can be common. But most should not scalp. Avoid thief Pouter breeds and show utility breeds. Plus I have found that having more than one breed per section can increase aggression and territory problems. In my ten years I have had 6 scalped young. Only 2 had to be put down and that was due to eye loss.

 

[Olga Dennis]

I'm have the same problem. I've got 6 eggs. I just found another dead chick on the floor. They are always killing the babies!

 

[jak2002003]

I sometimes had this problem.. An aggressive male pigeon would go into other pairs nest boxes and try to kill their squabs.

Now I keep each pair in their own cage when they are raising young... and let them all out again when they have finished.

Its much safer!

Then can raise their squabs in peace.. and I also have control over the parents of the young. I can put special food in the cages to help with the squabs growth.. and its good to keep a close eye of everything.

If you don't block off the nest box from the more aggressive birds then they will eventually find at opportunity to get in an injure the squabs.. or even kill them.

Maybe you can simply cover the front of the nest box with some chicken wire and put food and water in there.. keep the pigeon family in there until the squabs are feeding themselves. Then take off the wire. Good luck.

 

[Hokum Coco]

some parents abandon or stop feeding scalped babies. I have had some scalp their own when I cleaned the nest box before weaning. Unfortunately its apart of the hobby, some breeds are more territorial than others. GOOD POST TOTALLY AGREE !!!

This is something I learned the hard way ALSO. No matter how messy a pigeon nest gets just leave well enough alone. After all it is only 5 to 6 weeks and they are home free and able to fend for themselves.

 

[debbie jo]

I am new at this so please have patience with me , i have 7 white homing doves only wanted a couple but they keep breeding ,i take the eggs out now has advised , they are all adult but 1 dove is not allowed in the dove cote by the others could you please tell me why this is happening, the poor thing just sits outside all day and night,for about a month now, the dove cote has got six holes in it and is quite big enough for them, all 7 go for a walk around the garden all flying together everything seems fine its just not allowed in the cote any solutions most welcome .

 

[laughingdog]

Odd one out.. So to speak. Rest paired up and have territories, n this one no one to help keep territory/nest etc inside. Pigeons always do best kept in even numbers.

 

[tjmiddlemass]

I have a large open loft one of my females got injured 2 weeks ago we assumed it was a young male who has no female and fights a lot so I put him in an enclosed area, female recovered so I put her back her and her mate were happy and for 2 days everything was great. This morning we found her with a u shaped cut right round the back of her head we put her in hospital cage after cleaning it up she's alert and eating and drinking. Is there a particular way to treat her cut, its deep enough to have bleed but not a lot, the thing is its her mate who did it