Found a racing pigeon and the owner doesn't care

[CCUK]

I could be wrong but is that a BE above the 18 on the ring? If so it has come from Belgium.

 

[biophiliac]

I could be wrong but is that a BE above the 18 on the ring? If so it has come from Belgium.

If that is a Belgian bird it would be very exciting! The national sport of Belgium is pigeon racing. Hard to imagine the owner would not want an imported bird back.

@PalomaNova ... What country are you in?

 

[memphis]

Beautiful bird. Looks like the band says BE18.

 

[Hokum Coco]

it's a poor pigeon that's not worth keeping

It is not a perfect world. Fanciers have a variety of motives for keeping pigeons.

 

[Delaneygraces]

Any idea if it's a girl or a boy?View attachment 1456300

I believe you have yourself a hen there!
This will help you find her a nice boyfriend! The male is on the right, female on the left.

 

[PalomaNova]

A dog crate INDOORS, to confine the poop somewhat, coupled with some exercise time outside the crate,...

Yes indeed! I have now housed her in the dog crate. Unfortunatelly the crate only fits into garage (because we have a dog and a cat it cannot not go to the corridor of the house) and its pretty dark here. During the day i can keep the door open but honestly i am not happy with this temp situation.

A lot of options are out there, do some looking and thinking, before you lock yourself into anything.

I've seen the pant options and perhaps that would be an option. The only thing is that i am not sure if it's not too early to let her fly in a large space.

I'm seeing a bronze tone in the pic, is that his/her true color?

Yes, She has a very interesting bronze tone with a reflection of green!

I could be wrong but is that a BE above the 18 on the ring? If so it has come from Belgium.

We live in Belgium and indeed the pigeon is Belgian

 

[PalomaNova]

I finally managed to make a picture of her "wound". I don't know if this is serious and if anything needs to be about it? Any feedback would be greatly

appreciated

 

[aart]

We live in Belgium and indeed the pigeon is Belgian

Cool, Welcome to BYC!
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[CCUK]

I finally managed to make a picture of her "wound". I don't know if this is serious and if anything needs to be about it? Any feedback would be greatly View attachment 1457298 appreciated

If there is no cuts, bleeding or anything else other than feather loss I wouldn't worry too much. If she is 'sort of flying' but seems more unwilling to fly than can't fly then it should be OK. Try amd give her some electrolytes in the drinking water there should be an improvement. With you being in Belgium explains the BE on the ring!!

 

[jak2002003]

I personally would keep the pigeon in that dog crate outside, but I would cover the top, back and one side with some solid wood to provide shelter from the elements. If you think cats might come at get it, you could double wire the cage with a finer wire mesh.

Inside place a brick for it to perch on, or some other flat wooden plank for a perch.

Have water and food in there 2.

If won't mind the cold, so long as its not getting wet or rain in there.. and no strong breezes.

If you want to keep it as a pet they are better outside because they poop so much and also have a lot of feather dust which is harmful to human lungs. The pigeon pants are, in my mind, not a solution.. because 1. the pigeon will be uncomfortable wearing them, and 2, you have to change the pants MANY times a day and pigeons poop about every 5 - 10 minutes... so that is a lot of pants to change during the day …. every day for years on end lol.

I recommend you keep you pigeon as a pet as the crate for its house for a few weeks to see if a pigeon is for you. If you like it, then buy it a mate (does not matter what breed or sex) and put in a nest bowl for it.

Eventually you will be able to fly them at you place when they settle in. The new bird will be easier to fly free if its bought when young. Your adult one might need to have one of its wings tapes or feathers clipped for a few months before it gets oriented to your place.

I fear if it gets to go back to the other owner he will cull it.

Its sad some racing pigeon people don't give their birds any second chances. They don't realise that a good bird might just have had an accident or something happened unexpectedly when it was racing, that caused it to crash or run out of energy, and not because it was a poor homing bird or slow.

Should add... in the bottom of the cage have a wire mesh or grate floor, so the poop will just fall through. They it stays very clean and is easy to pull out the try and scrape the poops off into the bin.