How messy are doves and pigeons?

[Hokum Coco]

Me too, I think they're amazing as well! For me, I choose barbary doves over diamond doves in spite of that they're hardier with a more docile nature. I've seen diamond doves and they're very small, fragile, and a bit timid.

Each to their own. All most any other breed of dove to me is just something to make me wish I had a good homing or racing pigeon. That being said I would not mind having a pair of champion white Indian fantails.

 

[purslanegarden]

I, on the contrary, see this trait as a drawback since their altricial development means they're helpless after birth. They're immobile and will need to be fed regularly every day with a highly specialized formula due to their inability to eat on their own, which I've never done before! Precocial birds are much easier for me because they're mobile and can already feed on their own without having to be fed after hatching.

Pigeons do take care of their babies, though, so that's one thing you won't have to worry about (compared to coturnix quails or maybe most quails in captivity). Not to mention, if they have been properly trained, they go in and out of their home easily. Part of their feeding is done outside, away from your finances . This includes any food material they may bring back to their babies.

 

[Quails1]

Pigeons do take care of their babies, though, so that's one thing you won't have to worry about (compared to coturnix quails or maybe most quails in captivity). Not to mention, if they have been properly trained, they go in and out of their home easily. Part of their feeding is done outside, away from your finances . This includes any food material they may bring back to their babies.

That's what I love about doves/pigeons; incubating then raising their chicks! Too bad quails don't do this, even though I'm used to raising them to pigeons and doves! I'm thinking of getting some to save myself from an expensive artificial incubator just for the sake of breeding and raising them as pets. And in spite of all of this, I suppose doves are better, even though I've never had them in my living.

 

[Suzi18]

I know this thread is kind of old but I am interested in learning more about possibly raising a pair of doves or pigeons. I have a small flock of chickens and am wondering if I would use a coop similar to what my chickens have or do they require some sort of special housing? Any information would be appreciated

 

[LamarshFish]

I know this thread is kind of old but I am interested in learning more about possibly raising a pair of doves or pigeons. I have a small flock of chickens and am wondering if I would use a coop similar to what my chickens have or do they require some sort of special housing? Any information would be appreciated

It's possible you could use the same coop. Pigeons have specific needs that differ from chickens, but those needs can be implemented by easy modifications to most chicken coops.

Pigeons' loft should be sheltered from the sun, not drafty but well ventilated, but it also needs an aviary separate from the covered loft where they can be exposed to sunlight daily.

Pigeons like perches, and while they will mill about on the ground, they mostly like perching up. They prefer flat surfaces, 1" minimum, but they will perch on other surfaces as well. My aviary has two 1/2" dowel rods in it, and they perch on that no problem. There should be one perch for each bird, otherwise they will take up space in nest boxes or on the floor. Pigeons that are forced to be on the floor may be subject to being attacked by the other pigeons.

Pigeon nest boxes should be stacked vertically, not on the ground like chicken nest boxes. Pigeons will only nest on the ground if they have to (all other nest boxes taken up). They like being elevated.

Pigeons don't like or need dust baths, but they like (and arguably need) regular water baths.

If you do not plan on flying your pigeons outside of their loft, they should have a large enough aviary to fly around in for exercise, so the aviary should be more of a "flight pen" than an aviary.

I think pigeons are much cleaner than chickens or ducks. Their poop looks more like healthy chicken poop, it is not watery bird poop, but is solid if the birds are healthy--ranging from soft serve to formed terds. I try to scrape out my loft daily, but believe it or not, I have noticed my pigeons will take it upon themselves to clean poop in their loft and will actually roll their poop out of their nest boxes and perches to clean it off. I haven't caught them doing it, but there are times I know the nest boxes and perches need to be scraped because I saw them covered in poop but didn't have time to clean it at the moment, and went back later to find everything clean! I think they do it with their feet by kicking it away.

They are not messy birds like chickens are. Chickens will make a terrible mess of any kind of dirt or even piles of food. Pigeons don't do that, they pick about their food. Occasionally instead of picking what food (seeds/grain) they want they will sometimes throw out the food they don't want and throw it to the floor, but it's not too bad at all.

 

[Suzi18]

If I were just interested in having a pair...how big of an area would I need? And hope this isn't a dumb question but do doves and pigeons have the same requirements?

 

[LamarshFish]

If I were just interested in having a pair...how big of an area would I need? And hope this isn't a dumb question but do doves and pigeons have the same requirements?

Granted you have a loft that covers all the bases (aviary for sunlight, elevated nest boxes and perches, etc), the general rule I think is about 2-3 square feet per bird.

I think those tall bird cages folks like to keep parrots in can suffice for a pair of pigeons if you were to keep it close to a window in your home.

Doves and pigeons have similar requirements as far as food goes; however they are totally different in nature. One example is that pigeons are social and gregarious, and prefer the company of other pigeons, the more the merrier, whereas I hear doves are very territorial and do not do well in groups.

 

[Suzi18]

So I wouldn't really need much space. I live in town and have a smallish yard. I have a nice size coop and run for my 9 chickens but would like to add a pair of pigeons and maybe build something small that would match my coop. (I'm a little OCD about stuff matching). I'm assuming the coop area could be quite small compared to the flight area.

 

[LamarshFish]

So I wouldn't really need much space. I live in town and have a smallish yard. I have a nice size coop and run for my 9 chickens but would like to add a pair of pigeons and maybe build something small that would match my coop. (I'm a little OCD about stuff matching). I'm assuming the coop area could be quite small compared to the flight area.

I'm not sure how your coop is set up, but many pigeon folks keep their pigeons with chickens no problem, so long as the pigeons are able to perch high up out of the chickens reach. There are several threads on here about keeping pigeons and chickens together, you should take a look.

If you can't or don't want to keep them together, I'd imagine you can certainly modify your coop for pigeons.

 

[Suzi18]

Thank you for your time