General pigeon questions

[Hokum Coco]

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[mangove]

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[COLOR=FF0000]I would not even think about releasing them until they have raised at least 3 batches of young in your loft. At least that is the way it is with my Belgian bred homers.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=FF0000]I bought a adult cock bird from a buddy about 100 miles away this bird was never flown outside the loft in the previous owners possession. I raised 3 batches with him and when I released him at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon he was back to his original home by supper time. The female bonded to my loft no problem (she was a younger bird).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=FF0000]If your new birds never mated and raised young in the other fancier's loft your odds are better. Even then with the original loft being so close I would use the 3 batch rule.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=FF0000]That is what works best for me and I have the most success with odds are about 90% in my favour when I follow this rule.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=FF0000]What did your fancier advise you when you bought the birds?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=FF0000]He if anyone should know his loft of birds best.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=FF0000]Go with his advise pigeon people are straight shooters.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=FF0000]All homers are not created equal.[/COLOR]

He said to wait for the next breeding season and just try with one and then just call him if it doesn't try to get right back into my loft. Also, how long do you think I should wait before putting them in the aviary? The breeder, said to wait "a little while". The aviary is large, I actually had the dimensions a bit off in my first post. (It is 36ftx16, and is 12 feet tall. And I'm afraid they won't figure out that it is their new home and will just spend the whole time trying to fly out....

 

[mangove]

 

[loftkeeper]

these is what I would do go to npausa.com national pigeon club site look in there for loft ideas then find the au site that is the site for racing homers there lots info there then find where you can get list of clubs and there you can find breeders close to you your loft and pens look good only trouble I see is catching a bird in that big of area and the pond thinking about it I would put about 3 or 4 inches of water in it if you want to use it other wise drain and leave dry pigeons are not swimers there are lots of sites and pics that you can see in the above sites enjoy your pigeons I have since I was 12

 

[Hokum Coco]

I would house them in a smaller pen and let them get used to going from the smaller pen back into the loft for say a week or so before letting them have the adventure of the whole aviary.

 

[jak2002003]

Wow.. that aviary is very impressive.... are you sure you don't want to keep a few eagles in there rather than tiny pigeon?

 

[mangove]

Wow.. that aviary is very impressive.... are you sure you don't want to keep a few eagles in there rather than tiny pigeon? 

Thanks! I wish I could keep Eagles in there! There is a bald eagle at the audoban up the road, and there eagle enclosure is smaller than my aviary. I showed it to them once and they asked if Liberty, the eagle, could stay there for a while, jokingly of course, I told them I didn't think liberty and the ducks in there would get along....

According to the math, following 2ft per bird we could have like 2500 birds in there, but I don't think that is going to happen. My dad is an engineer and he is the one that designed it, I told him two things, make it big and make it be able to withstand at least two feet of snow. And wallah, this is what you get. It's really nice that it adds a nice element to the yard, my main worry with the birds is that it wouldn't make a big hideous muddy area in my yard, so I'm happy how this turned out. Though it still gets muddy in the spring, but doesn't everything?

 

[jak2002003]

Have you thought about planting some trees and bushes in there? It would be like one of those walk through aviaries they have in zoos.

Seriously, I am really jealous of that aviary. I would plant it up.. put a tall waterfall into the pond and put in rosella parakeets, Mandarin ducks, Golden Pheasants, and some other exotic colourful looking birds. Your pigeon are going to be really happy!

 

[mangove]

Have you thought about planting some trees and bushes in there?  It would be like one of those walk through aviaries they have in zoos.

Seriously, I am really jealous of that aviary.  I would plant it up.. put a tall waterfall into the pond and put in rosella parakeets, Mandarin ducks, Golden Pheasants, and some other exotic colourful looking birds.  Your pigeon are going to be really happy! 

Well, there was a waterfall, but the ducks clogged that up. With most of the ducks being gone maybe I'll try it again. There is not one wood duck, and I'm trying for mandarins. Gold pheasants is a goal, just need to find some around here. There is a Japanese maple in the back and there were many trees and bushes in there, but I got some rescue bunnies, and tried putting them in the aviary, and they tore the place to pieces and pretty much killed everything except the birch you can see in there. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'm going to make a run to the landscaping store and get some more plants. I have a membership to the national aviary and make trips there often, and the goal is to match those aviarys, except I can't get sloths and stuff like they have. What are rosella parakeets? Will they get along with the pigeons? Do they do well in the cold? I don't know if you can tell in the photo but it's also nice because the top of aviary is not a soft mesh, but it is 2x4 welded wire spanned across the greenhouse frame so it's rigid and strong, and it super predator proof. And we did have metal buried a foot in the ground around the edges, but an inventive raccoon dug under the metal and into the aviary, so now there is a 2 foot wall of concrete around the border. The only thing that I reasonably getting in would be a mink, and all I can do is pray to god one of those doesn't get around here, because they are small enough that they could fit right through the wire....

 

[mangove]

I looked up those parakeets, and they are beautiful! And WAYYY out of my price range, at least the one I looked at was $2700.... But I really would like a pair of red goldens, or at least just a male. I would also like some mandarins, but don't want to have to deal with shipping a pair right now.