Fancy pigeons in winter?

[SniperGoose]

Hi all! I'm considering adopting a pair of fancy pigeons from a rescue, and honestly I'd like to keep them outdoors in the coop year round like I do with my others. I live in central Pennsylvania and winters can vary greatly! My coop is 4'Wx8'Lx7'H. In the winters I use 6mil greenhouse film to cover the coop. There are absolutely no drafts once I put the film up for the winter. I don't use any heating in the coop. This past year, it stayed relatively warm in there due to the film on the coop. The rescue has told me that fancy pigeons don't fare well in colder weather, and that I should keep them indoors in the winter. Is there any truth to this? Or can they actually be kept outdoors year round?

 

[sourland]

I suppose it would depend upon the breed and size, but I have kept many varieties of fancy birds outside without any problems. Dry, draft free, well ventilated, adequate feed and water, and they should be fine. W. Central NJ right up against the Delaware R. - my winters are similar to yours.

 

[SniperGoose]

I suppose it would depend upon the breed and size, but I have kept many varieties of fancy birds outside without any problems. Dry, draft free, well ventilated, adequate feed and water, and they should be fine. W. Central NJ right up against the Delaware R. - my winters are similar to yours.

I'm not sure of the breed, as they didn't say, but here's a photo of them if that helps!

 

[Qwerty3159]

I'm not sure of the breed, as they didn't say, but here's a photo of them if that helps!

Looks like a fantail mix of some sort but lots of interesting traits there. I love the crazy crest on the red one.
But they also look pretty large and well feathered, I think they would handle your winters just fine.

 

[SniperGoose]

Looks like a fantail mix of some sort but lots of interesting traits there. I love the crazy crest on the red one.
But they also look pretty large and well feathered, I think they would handle your winters just fine.

The rescue did say they are large birds, so I think so too. I do use this in my coop as well, and so far so good:
https://www.amazon.com/Magicfly-Chi...23027719&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-4#customerReviews

Thank you for your input!

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Fancy or not, pigeons do great in the cold... don't worry about it