First Time Pigeon Owner

[FlaneryFlock]

No

Sorta looks like a homer but beak not homerish.any band if so what are letters & #s?

No, there's no band. I was thinking about putting one on but I'd have to know what he is.

 

[FlaneryFlock]

Now I'm pretty sure he is a boy. I put a dove decoy near his cage and he spent all night puffed up and cooing at it. Maybe next show I'll get him a lady.

 

[laughingdog]

looks like a color roller to me, maybe just bred for show, color, and as eye candy, but may roll or carry roller gene, even if doesnt fly well, at least at first. i have a color roller pretty close colored and looking like him that makes some of the most beautiful colored flying roller babies. yes he sounds like a cock bird probly. depending on color of hen and when what genes express in each squeaker, you could get white, silver, red, or other solid or combination colors. one of mine's babies was solid whit except for a red heart on its back like a saddle, hatched on V-day, with its sibling that was white mostly also, but color changed to red when molted out at six months.
good luck, and they really do do better as couples or groups of half a dozen (six rollers can easily be kept in something size and shape of large dresser/cabinet to small closet. just make sure are twice as many perches as are birds and dont let nest or breed in small communal cage that size, and let them out once or twice a day to fly. a rabbit cage 40" x 40" x 40" would be perfect for breeding pair and two large dog bowl nests to raise young in. most who want to fly and watch their rollers roll, will first train by feeding no more than fourth cup of feed per pair (half that per bird at least i think), evening or night, or whenever you first, before hand, and while make some sound to associate them with feeding or treats ect, so then they learn you are feeder, and sounds calls them then in later when you want them to come home to loft/coop/cage ect. most whistle a certain sound or shake a container of feed or something. to settle them to your home for flying just have out in decent weather warmer maybe better at first in preferably all wire cage so can get used to sights, sounds, scents, substrate around them, for an hour at most at first, then increase while you are keeping an eye on to watch for predators and talking to and maybe giving small treat when hungry and making feed call. in a week, to month at most, you can start letting out for no more than hour at most before dark or time to feed, but maybe dont feed night before or make food call, so will come in when you call, but may louse about for first day or so on your roof or somewere nearby. if you think it may have homer in i might not fly it, only its babies outside.

 

[FlaneryFlock]

Wow, thanks so much. All that information is very helpful. This summer I was going to have a decent sized loft built. I don't want too many birds, maybe 6 like you said. I'm curious, what color hen would be used to make red babies?

What kind of pigeon is your avatar? I saw one like that in with the guy I got, I was close to buying him but I fell for the more natural looking pigeon. I do love it though.

 

[laughingdog]

she was a performing breed mix, high flier, and tippler i thought were parents, but she turned out to roll occassionally as well, they parents were abondoned birds at a burned out old loft, so unsure what they actually were, just going by observations from watching them.

 

[larrylofts]

your bird is a ash red bar to produce more ash reds you need a ash red hen / a cock can carry another color and not show it until you mate it if you are talking recessive red you need reds to start this like i said is ash red

 

[FlaneryFlock]

Picked up a beautiful Birmingham Roller hen today. Is it normal for my male to hover over the nest like this? I know she isn't quite ready because she's still adapting, but.. Is this normal?

 

[FlaneryFlock]

Well, he stopped hovering over the nest as soon as she started "kissing" him.

 

[RossH]

Yes it's normal if your horny.

 

[FlaneryFlock]

Yes it's normal if your horny.

Ah, I gotcha.