New to Pigeons--need some help with questions!

[LamarshFish]

Hi all. I'm not too new to caring for birds (I have a pair of chukar partridges), but I am new to pigeons. I am picking up 6-8 racing homer squeakers in about a week (I think my loft size will be maxed out at 12-15 birds). They come from very good racing lines. I have my loft all built, just need to put the aviary on the side and build some perches on the inside (nest boxes are done).

I have a few questions though, and was hoping for some insight:

How long before I can let my pigeons out to fly? I hear 2-4 weeks, and was going to play it safe and wait 4. I plan on first starting to train them to use the bob one-way door, so they know how to get back in before I fly them.

How do you guys feed the grit--do you mix it into their food, or do you put it in a separate container? Also, I plan on feeding only the amount of food they can eat in a day so as to be able to fly them hungry and properly train them--but do I need to do the same with the grit, or can I just load up a feeder full of grit and only refill it when it gets low?

Do I need to give them crushed oyster now, or only when I start seeing them lay eggs?

Any other pointers you guys can think of that you'd like to pass along, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

 

[Hokum Coco]

How long before I can let my pigeons out to fly? I was going to play it safe and wait 4. I agree. I plan on first starting to train them to use the bob one-way door, so they know how to get back in before I fly them. Good start.

How do you guys feed the grit--do you mix it into their food, Some fanciers feed layer pellets which contain added calcium. or do you put it in a separate container? Some fanciers do this as well with good results. Also, I plan on feeding only the amount of food they can eat in a day so as to be able to fly them hungry and properly train them--but do I need to do the same with the grit, or can I just load up a feeder full of grit and only refill it when it gets low? That is what most fanciers do.

Do I need to give them crushed oyster now, No harm done if you do eggs will not begin to arrive until you ♀ birds get six months old +-

Any other pointers you guys can think of that you'd like to pass along, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!
In a perfect world you would have a bob trap in your loft with a landing platform that can double as a aviary or cage.

You could begin training immediately in this sort of set up to get them used to entering the coop through the bobs. After about 4 weeks of training and observing the landscapes around your loft you can do your first release.

The feed call will also give an additive incentive to enter the loft straight away if you have some that are lingering.

Check out this link it will give you some insight into what I am talking about.

 

[biophiliac]

subscribing to learn from this thread. I am hoping for a small flock of homers. The housing choice as I see it is either a kit-box style or a walk-in loft. I live in Wisconsin and am wondering how to choose. How are you housing yours? Can you show a pic?

 

[Hokum Coco]

I am hoping for a small flock of homers. The housing choice as I see it is either a kit-box style or a walk-in loft. First and foremost I suggest when building your structure go with the height you can reach over your head comfortably you will thank me in the long run (if it is practical) . How are you housing yours? Check out the video link in my signature you will get an idea as to what works for me. Can you show a pic? Yes I will if you deem it necessary after viewing the link.

 

[LamarshFish]

I bought a set of plans online made by "Scott," I think it's called the Scott 4'x4' universal pigeon house. The plans are not that great, have a few clear errors in them (e.g., they call for you to re-use a lot of scrap pieces, but the sizes of the scrap pieces once they become scrap are the wrong size to do what the plans want you to do with them, so you end up needing to buy more lumber); HOWEVER, I nonetheless found these plans to be GREAT as a simple guide for me to organize building the loft, as well as a rough materials list. I subbed some materials the plans call for, for what I thought to be much better materials, such as swapping the use of nails for high quality torx deck screws and using smart/cement board type siding rather than rough sawn. I honestly would have been pretty lost without the plans, and would have just heaped together a silly looking loft from scratch. Although the Scott plans had some problems, it ultimately allowed me to build what turned out to be an awesome loft. Here are some pictures of the loft. I have yet to build the aviary on one side, as well as put perches on the inside. Interior dimensions are roughly 4'x4' and about 66" in height, which I'm told can comfortably house a dozen pigeons, likely more.

 

[LamarshFish]

Thank you! Quick question about training them to use the bob / one-way door, if you have some insight there. Once they've stayed in for 4 weeks or so, I do plan on letting them out, but do I first need to train them to use the bob? My door, as you can see from the pics above, is mounted on the actual loft door, so there is no cage around the bob door, so when I go to train them to use it, won't there be a risk they will fly away if I am not holding them? Should I first coax them through the bob door by holding them to show them they can get in that way?

I only ask because the guy in that video you showed me appears to be using an enclosure to hold the pigeons outside, and they eventually figure out the bob door that way, and don't otherwise have anywhere else to go but in.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Once they've stayed in for 4 weeks or so, do I first need to train them to use the bob? Yes that would be wise and you can start immediately..My door, is mounted on the actual loft door, so there is no cage around the bob door, won't there be a risk they will fly away if I am not holding them? Exactly! Widening the landing ramp 3 fold or even larger is your best bet. Then building a an cage around your bob door will serve two fold.

1) In no time after repeated excursions in the cage they will master the bob door.
2) After 4 weeks of being in the cage they will get to know the surrounding area around the loft.

Should I first coax them through the bob door by holding them to show them they can get in that way?
I find the cage method with access to the bob door works for me the best. The birds discover, learn and retain, better than any other method I have tried. You do not want to give them too many hurdles to go over at one time. It ultimately translates into losses.

I only ask because the guy in that video you showed me appears to be using an enclosure to hold the pigeons outside, and they eventually figure out the bob door that way, and don't otherwise have anywhere else to go but in.That is the same method I use also.

Here is another method some fanciers employ (I never used it to be honest).
Check out the link:

 

[LamarshFish]

Awesome, thanks! I am going to build a cage to temporarily put around my bob door and landing platform (which is actually my predator door that covers my bob door). That said, this raises one more question I was hoping you could help with. We are talking about training my first homers, the ones I am getting next week as squeakers. In 6+ months they will likely reproduce. Do I have to do the same training for their offspring, or will their offspring just follow their parents and the flock when I let them fly, thereby making it such that I don't have to train the offspring or worry about the offspring flying away and not returning?

Thanks! I'm very excited to get these fellas!

 

[biophiliac]

Thank you both for your helpful response!!

Very exciting about your new squeakers. At that age can you be certain of their gender?

I probably will have some more questions about building my loft, don't know if I should start a new thread or continue to highjack this one LOL.

 

[Hokum Coco]

We are talking about training my first homers,. In 6+ months they will likely reproduce. Do I have to do the same training for their offspring, I always put my squeakers through the same regiment it is a good idea to train the youngsters together to build conditioning otherwise mature birds will fly out of the squeakers range and they will have a hard time returning resulting in losses. Once they begin returning on the own from about a mile I then introduce a mature bird into the flock. Always fly them hungry remove food for at least 12 hours when starting out.