- Mar 26, 2010
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Hello all! New member here. I currently own 5 homing pigeons which live in a converted chicken coop that was on the property when we moved in. It is 8x8x7 with right now just a wooden floor, and 6 nest boxes up on the wall near the roof for the pigeons. There are also quite a few flat perches on each wall for the pigeons. It has solid walls all around, except the front 1/2 has chicken wire for windows approx 4 feet up and the top part of the door has chicken wire.
My husband keeps pushing to get like 2-3 chickens to have for eggs and I know they are very good at keeping bugs & what not down seeing as I have horses.
My pigeons are very easy to keep and care for. The coop gets totally scrubbed and cleaned every other week, they dont require any bedding on the floor, I can fill up the feeder every other day, fill the water every day, and they are able to come and go as they please (out the trap door to fly and come back).
If we were to add in chickens, first, would they be able to share the space with the pigeons? Other than getting down on the floor to eat, they stay up in their nest boxes or perches unless flying.
Secondly, my pigeons do not get up in the rafters of my barn and I would prefer to have chickens that would not go up there either and poop all over my hay/feed/tack items. What are good chickens that fit into that profile?
We do not have possums, raccons, coyotes, bob cats, etc. The only predator I know we have are bald eagles, hawks, and snakes (I know we have one 4' indigo snake, unfortunately moccassins, corn snakes, etc). The way our property is set up, there are over 4 acres of just flat land without trees around us and the larger predators do not make the trek across to our property. Heck, last week was the first time in 4 years I have ever seen a squirrel in my field.
I would prefer to let the chickens go out during the day to scratch and peck around and eat bugs, etc. Ideally, at night, put them up inside the coop.
Our pigeons eat a mixture of food that includes cracked corn, milo, millet, dried fruits, black oil sun flower seeds, safflower, etc. One the chickens are able to come off of chick starter, can they eat the same food? Also, the pigeons do have a bowl of oyster shell grit.
Here are a few pics of the coop with the pigeons. Any advice would be appreciated. The woman we got the pigeons from kept like 5 chickens in with like at least 25 pigeons but her coop was much larger.
BTW I am just south of Jacksonville, FL in St Augustine. It does get quite hot, lots of rain, and actually this winter was pretty crazy with about 2 weeks with it getting down into the teens at night. Mostly it is the humidity that makes it so hot.
My husband keeps pushing to get like 2-3 chickens to have for eggs and I know they are very good at keeping bugs & what not down seeing as I have horses.
My pigeons are very easy to keep and care for. The coop gets totally scrubbed and cleaned every other week, they dont require any bedding on the floor, I can fill up the feeder every other day, fill the water every day, and they are able to come and go as they please (out the trap door to fly and come back).
If we were to add in chickens, first, would they be able to share the space with the pigeons? Other than getting down on the floor to eat, they stay up in their nest boxes or perches unless flying.
Secondly, my pigeons do not get up in the rafters of my barn and I would prefer to have chickens that would not go up there either and poop all over my hay/feed/tack items. What are good chickens that fit into that profile?
We do not have possums, raccons, coyotes, bob cats, etc. The only predator I know we have are bald eagles, hawks, and snakes (I know we have one 4' indigo snake, unfortunately moccassins, corn snakes, etc). The way our property is set up, there are over 4 acres of just flat land without trees around us and the larger predators do not make the trek across to our property. Heck, last week was the first time in 4 years I have ever seen a squirrel in my field.
I would prefer to let the chickens go out during the day to scratch and peck around and eat bugs, etc. Ideally, at night, put them up inside the coop.
Our pigeons eat a mixture of food that includes cracked corn, milo, millet, dried fruits, black oil sun flower seeds, safflower, etc. One the chickens are able to come off of chick starter, can they eat the same food? Also, the pigeons do have a bowl of oyster shell grit.
Here are a few pics of the coop with the pigeons. Any advice would be appreciated. The woman we got the pigeons from kept like 5 chickens in with like at least 25 pigeons but her coop was much larger.
BTW I am just south of Jacksonville, FL in St Augustine. It does get quite hot, lots of rain, and actually this winter was pretty crazy with about 2 weeks with it getting down into the teens at night. Mostly it is the humidity that makes it so hot.
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