New pigeons

[Skye727]

I just had my whole Serama flock taken out by a hawk. Thought it was a raccoon until I caught it in the act. Wanted to kill it! Any way....couldn't find more Seramas close so I decided to get a couple pigeons. Oh they are so cute! Got a fantail and I think a Trumpeter. Kabutter and Amarretto. I have them in a small chicken coop with a small covered yard and a couple perches. Is this good enough or do they have to be able to fly? I can't let them fly with that hawk around. It was in the tree stalking my chickens today who are no longer free ranging. The ones left are big girls and probably too big for it, but i"m not taking any chances! Can the pigeons eat chicken food? I have non layer feed since I have a few young chickens.

 

[rmeltonknox]

Pigeons eat quality grain. Hawks go away when you shoot them with a 12 guage shotgun.

 

[jak2002003]

Yeah. I wanted to kill it but they are federally protected. I wanted to stuff a chicken with rat poison but it could be traced back to me.

It cruel to do that.. the hawk my have a nest and young and the young would slowly starve to death.

Also the hawks are native animals that have a part to play in the environment and many are rare or endangered with extinction.

I know how it feels to loose birds to predators... its frustrating and heartbreaking.... but the predators are only doing what they need to do to survive.

I like all animals.. and love seeing eagles and hawks flying about..... just as much as seeing my white homing pigeons flying high in the air.

You can have hawks in your area and also keep pigeons fine. I learned a few tricks.

1. Train your birds to come back to the loft on your call.

2. Only let the birds out when you are there to supervise them... let them fly and exercise and then call them back... Never let them just hang about on rooftops and do as they please... that's asking for trouble.

3. Breed you birds.. so you have lots... and when some are lost to hawks you will still have plenty left!

4. Vary the times you let your birds out so the hawks don't learn a set time when there dinner is going to show up. If you let the pigeons out at the same time each day the hawks will know to show up at that time.

5. Have a few days when you don't let the birds out... vary these days also. That will mean the hawks have to move on to other areas to find food and will spend less time at you property if they don't as a dependable food supply.

Hope this helps.

 

[poorfarm]

I keep a lot of pigeons, and in general I don't let them fly free (no open loft). The comments about only flying your birds while you are supervising and then calling them in, varying times and days, all work. Never just leave your loft open all the time or you will become the local hawk fast food takeout place.

This next does not help much with pigeons, who are up flying and on top of coop roofs, but it will help a lot to protect birds on the ground like bantams. I put eye screws up on the tree trunks around my coops, and on my fence posts and buildings, then string cords, and suspend pieces of light black plastic netting used to protect cherries and other fruit from small birds. I'm not covering the entire area at all, just scattered around over my chicken pasture especially over the bantam area. The cords and nets interfere with the hawks getting a straight run at the poultry, the poultry have more warning and more time to run for cover. There are multiple entrances to my coops and runs that are all open when the poultry are out, so they have lots of places to run for shelter.

I have Cooper's Hawks (bird hunting specialists!) and I have not yet lost a bantam, although more than once I've seen a frustrated hawk sitting on the ground in my pasture while all the chickens have run into the coop or another shelter. In wide open areas of pasture I have also parked things like wheelbarrows, and propped long fallen branches and the occasional surplus 1 by 3 board on them, with big spaces in between. This gives the chickens more places to dash for shelter, and although the hawks could fit in there, they aren't going to walk or hop after their prey. Once they've missed the dive, they go back up in a tree to look for another chance.

The netting is black and not real visible. I have used white cords so the hawks can see and be deterred by the visual barrier. If your area or neighbors are such that you don't want the "unsightliness", you can use crisscrossing monofilament fish line, which is pretty hard to see. If a hawk hits it, he bounces off, strike deflected. You do have to keep an eye on this so you don't get broken pieces on the ground where your poultry might eat it--very bad thing. Best Wishes!

P.S. Not good to even talk about killing/shooting/harassing protected species on the internet, there are people who look for statements like that to report, and even if was just talk you might find a local game warden or federal employee knocking at your door.

 

[cavemanrich]

Your pigeons can eat chicken feed but will not really like it that much. Pigeon feed is a mixture of seeds, rather than processed grain product. You can just get some wild bird seeds from any store like Walmart and give it to them. At the feed store you will see that there are a few different mixes available. The basic mix would most likely be good enough for your birds. Some of the more specialized mixes are for racing homers, or breeding and feeding pairs. In the wild, pigeons do not eat anywhere near as good as your most basic mix.
I keep pigeons, but last autumn,a raccoon ate all of mine in the loft.

.. Only have chickens now.. Will restart my pigeon flock this coming spring. I keep homing pigeons but do not race them.
WISHING YOU BEST

The hawk will keep revisiting your run since it remembers it is where food is at.. It is a SAD reality, and only thing you can do is predator proof your coop and run. Maybe it will give up and change its fly route. They are Federally Protected by the way.

 

[laughingdog]

My neighbors shoot n shoot fireworks at hawks and no one knows.. Lol they toss bodies in river they say in case tracking devices in. I'm not advocating, but then again as many as neighbors say they kill, I can't imagine they are scarce at all. They keep game cocks or more often just wild bird feeders. I have mostly only rollers now and bantam americana chickens and scovy ducks, and never have hawk trouble even though see n hear them constantly, but my Muscovy ducks hate hawks and attack them snakes rats cats etc so only prob are song birds that are responsible for making pigeons and chickens sick. Look for layer, scratch grains, wheat, mostly Milo, peas safflower seeds etc in feeds great. Cheapest Walmart and Pennington brands work best for young free flying pigeons, while scratch and layer fifty fifty works best for extremely feathered breeds n breeding.

 

[Skye727]

Yeah. I wanted to kill it but they are federally protected. I wanted to stuff a chicken with rat poison but it could be traced back to me.

 

[laughingdog]

Hey meltonknox! I'm in bybee.

 

[laughingdog]

Hawks breed better even than pigeons, and are beautiful, but some others have real problems with them taking their animals.. a lot of their animals. So many people kill bops that go by their places that bops are not endangered or there wouldn't be nearly as many bop complaints, and laws need to be changed to legally deal HUMANELY with these pesty press as other press that are even endangered are dealt with. Too bad pigeon people are not more over organized or this silly bop loving law could be changed. For record I love bops especially, and was an apprentice falcaner, but I've seen bids of hawks staying hanging around harassing free n caged pigeons. People should be able to use non lethal methods like sand bag/beanbag and paintball guns at least.