how long should i keep pigeons cooped up for before letting them out to fly

[fowlsessed]

I must say that MOST on this thread are leading maransfan16 in the wrong direction. You need to keep the rollors and barbs in breeding pens and let them raise young and fly the young. Only fancy breeds will re-home after a month or two. ALL flying or performance breeds will try to get home. Keep them up and fly the young birds and breed more when the hawks start hitting your flying birds. Then you dont have to worrie about having birds to breed and replace the ones lost or eat by hawks.

Thanks

Well, breeding them and flying the babies is always a good idea, just in case. But I think the other part of your post is misleading, and MOST here will disagree with it as well, based on experience.

 

[fowlsessed]

Rollers, Pouters, I've flown them with only two weeks in their new home.

 

[laughingdog]

i use whistles to tell my birds what i want them to do, after training them in the loft to do so, whether they listen or not, has admittedly been a problem lately, so i got a long bamboo pole to whistle then tap were i want them to go when training, then to chase around till they stop ignoring or evading me while making another sound, then original whistle and tap again and they fall in line with rest that then are just watching those get chased, while they calmly perch or snack or preen. soon just the one sound or certain sounds get them to do as you want. this and enforcement with a frisbee or boomerang free flying has stopped most of issue now as long as i keep up the exercise every so often. otherwise theyve just been hanging out and preening up somewhere or walk around hunting for rare stray snacks, and try to nest. im keeping my sexes seperate when in, and out, but not stopping problem, even hens on grates are laying still, and trying to make feather nests, actually incubating to point if left with eggs that eggs start developing before i toss them to the dog. when sexes were let out to fly together and visit, they would mate. pigeon pellets are not seeming to provide enough calcium, that layer pellets, conditioner pellets, and types and mixes of with calcium grit did (but the directions on pigeon pellets say no need to feed grit and it can be bad to feed with it).

 

[laughingdog]

barbs i know nothing about, but i know there is big differance between flying rollers and show rollers, and supposedly homers are used a lot to make bigger better looking show rollers, so what had happened to me and said by another on this thread maybe valid in some cases at least were homing has happened, as flying performing type rollers, are actually purposely bred to not have homing ability, as this would make some competition rolling impossible if the flying birds were released and just took straight off home instead of just flying around and performing like supposed to in immediate area of were competitions were held. i also know some performing roller breeders will breed homers into to try to stop roll downs ect and nerological defects from getting too bad, as well as to add size and vigor back into badly bred down lines.

most performer breeders and fanciers of flying rollers will tell you to wait a week to a month, unless expensive birds, then breed till you have at least half dozen young birds to fly from instead, or with those or from each, as they are pretty much the best BOP bait you can have.. lol
show rollers i havent bothered to look up really at all too much and dont like or recommend any except for american rollers, as theyre chubby and amusing to watch do those lazy rolling/tumbling little fart circle laps i loved to watch at a neighbor's, and oddly theyd always roll out or go to cover to evade BOPs (but eventually something else got them), and they were the tamest birds without him ever even working with or even caring for only occasionally and just leaving to free fly in and out of chicken coop then from under open porch on an old dresser.

 

[newfoundland]

I have several, maybe as many as 12 pigeons living in my barn. I don't know if they are racing pigeons, but the elderly chap who owned the property before us was a pigeon fancier. I wonder if these birds have been hatched here and that is why they stay? They seem smaller and sleeker than normal pigeons and at least 2 of them are completely white. Every year they raise young birds here and then they stay on as well. Last autumn a young squab was set upon by a sparrow hawk and had it's wing bitten off. It has lived in our conservatory ever since and even with only one wing flutters about and follows people around like a little dog. It is so easy to handle and it makes me think that somewhere in it's genes there is a deliberately bred tame bird. What do others think?

 

[spikennipper]

It sounds like a domesticated pigeon, if you post pics we can see what type it is

 

[fowlsessed]

I have several, maybe as many as 12 pigeons living in my barn. I don't know if they are racing pigeons, but the elderly chap who owned the property before us was a pigeon fancier. I wonder if these birds have been hatched here and that is why they stay? They seem smaller and sleeker than normal pigeons and at least 2 of them are completely white. Every year they raise young birds here and then they stay on as well. Last autumn a young squab was set upon by a sparrow hawk and had it's wing bitten off. It has lived in our conservatory ever since and even with only one wing flutters about and follows people around like a little dog. It is so easy to handle and it makes me think that somewhere in it's genes there is a deliberately bred tame bird. What do others think?

Well, domestic parents or ancestors certainly don't mean a tame bird, and vice versa, a wild, flighty bird doesn't indicate that the bird and its ancestors are non-domesticated. They sound just like they could be homing pigeons to me, probably are, but then could just be crosses of any flying, wild type breeds. Really little way to know for sure unless you talk with the guy. You could post pics, but prob wont do much good. If they are from good bloodline, you could take a few and toss them about five or so miles away and if they make it back then they are most likely homer/homer crosses. 5 miles may not be enough, I know other breeds can home from that distance, 10 or so would prob be good. But keep in mind that just cause they don't make it back doesn't right away cross out the possibility of homer ancestry, some lines have degraded to very poor quality by not being flown, and then just predators could have picked them off.
Either way, all pigeons naturally have the instinct to at least stay home, that's why yours don't leave.

 

[jak2002003]

If the birds are young - still not breeding age, I only keep them cages for 3 weeks - with access to an outdoor flight so they can see their surroundings, then I let them out with the rest of the birds.

If they are older - i will wait till they have a nest and and brooding the eggs.

I don't wait till they have chicks in case they fly off and I have to hand rear the chicks.

So far I have not lost any to flying away. I have mostly fancy breeds, but also rescued feral birds and some homers (which I got when they were young).

 

[newfoundland]

That's interesting information fowlsessed. Unfortunately we cannot ask the previous owner as he has since died. My next question is does anyone think it might be possible to home the one winged pigeon in an aviary outside? It has been so cold here that he has stayed indoors up till now, but it would be nice for him to be outside if possible. How vulnerable to predators would he be if we built him an aviary? Would it be cruel if he could see the other pigeons and yet not join them because of his inability to fly? Would he be better off indoors? I would appreciate other people's ideas.

 

[fowlsessed]

He would certainly be vulnerable to predators if let out, but with the aviary he should be protected. Or you could watch him and teach them a call to return to the pen when sounded. It's okay for him to be kept inside as long as he has access to sunlight to sun bath, and a water bath pan is nice, too. But only let them bath on wire so the pen doesn't get wet and introduce disease.