okay Smartie Pigeon people what colors? Weird bird

[Bossroo]

In cage bird vernacular, that color pattern with white is called pied.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
In cage bird? none of my pigeons are in a cage if that's what you were thinking you saw they're just under some pens walking around

Also the one with the color pattern and white that's neat and easy to remember Pied

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I use chicken scratch grain and then buy a few bags of dry lentils from walmart. You can also add safflower. What is very important is grit. I never scrimp on grit. Red pigeon health grit is the best. It has vitamins, trace minerals and calcium that they need. It usually costs about 18 dollars a bag and it lasts forever. If you cant get it at least get them some chicken grit. Without it their eggs shells will be thin and fragile.

I thought that grit aided in crop digestion and oystershell aids in calcium? I have oystershell for calcium for eggs as for grit they've got free range and there several little pebbles and minerals right on the ground for them to choose from

I will have to get them some dry lentils and safflower thanks!

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
In cage bird? none of my pigeons are in a cage if that's what you were thinking you saw they're just under some pens walking around

Also the one with the color pattern and white that's neat and easy to remember Pied

Cage bird... as in parakeet, cockateel, zebra finch, canary, etc. .Birds with an iregular white patterns are known as pied.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I had a roller hen that had odd eyes, also. One was black and the other was pearl. Weird.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
In cage bird? none of my pigeons are in a cage if that's what you were thinking you saw they're just under some pens walking around

Also the one with the color pattern and white that's neat and easy to remember Pied

Cage bird... as in parakeet, cockateel, zebra finch, canary, etc. .Birds with an iregular white patterns are known as pied.

oooh okay i get you now yeah, i had some pied zebra finches

 

[loftkeeper10]

the bird with the white wing is a mismarked bird to much white nothing else i would not feed the game birrd feed it is very high protien try to get pigeon pellets or try laying pellets for chickens around 16 % red health grit is very good but feeding pellets they do not need much for grit is for grinding hard grain and seeds try to find a breeder of pigeons in your area ask at the feed stores maybe try npausa.com pigeon club will list many state and national sites

 

[ThiefPouter06]

Quote:
I use chicken scratch grain and then buy a few bags of dry lentils from walmart. You can also add safflower. What is very important is grit. I never scrimp on grit. Red pigeon health grit is the best. It has vitamins, trace minerals and calcium that they need. It usually costs about 18 dollars a bag and it lasts forever. If you cant get it at least get them some chicken grit. Without it their eggs shells will be thin and fragile.

I thought that grit aided in crop digestion and oystershell aids in calcium? I have oystershell for calcium for eggs as for grit they've got free range and there several little pebbles and minerals right on the ground for them to choose from

I will have to get them some dry lentils and safflower thanks!

In chickens yes, but for pigeons grit is what is used. I dont actually think they use grit for grinding food. When I first kept pigeons I couldnt find grit. The adult pigeons didnt seem to suffer physically at all but they laid thin eggs and those that did hatch were weak boned young who couldnt stand up or walk.

 

[ThiefPouter06]

Quote:
Pigeon terms change between breed and counrty of origin. Pied is the official general term yes. In capuchines the pattern of white head, flights, tail and vent is called Monk mark. In rollers its called baldhead. The actual bird in question would be called a mismarked monk.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Okay I'm here to clear some things up because, well, I can't stand not to

Pigeons do use grit to help digest their food. They CAN digest food without it (as they do have three digesting 'stops', like all birds. The crop, which does the very minimal of breaking down, the gizzard, which grinds it all, and the proventriculus - aka - "stomach" with acids), but it stresses the system more and reduces the quality of the birds physically and mentally. Whether you notice or not. If you let your birds out to fly, often times they will let you know if they need girt, because they will land on the ground and eat small rocks they find.
Grit serves the same purpose for pigeons as it does chickens! Why? Because both eat whole seeds. They aren't grosbeaks or parrots, who hull them first.
The granite is soley for digestion aid, oyster shell is for calcium and digestion (although not quite as strong for that), and the charcoal found in most grit for pigeons helps keep the system free of toxins.
The reason your birds were fine eating but made unhealthy babies, was because the calcium is the biggest part of grit. Or the most important part, in my opinion. Nowhere else in their diet are they going to get a good level of calcium unless provided as supplements.


What you have is a brown bar splash. It's as simple as that. There are many separate genes that can give birds white feathers. But that is too complicated. Just know that your hen is a brown bar piebald, which can also be called splash or simply pied.

The cock bird you have is an ash-red bar, with the sooty gene. You could also call it a 'strawberry'.

All babies you get from the pairing will be red bars. All sons will carry brown, and therefore have brown flecking in the tail.

If the dad is homo. for sooty, then all the children will look like him.
If he is split for it, then half the kids will be like him.

As far as the pied markings, it is iffy. Chances are you will get birds with white on the wings, but many things can happen depending on just which whitening genes the birds carry.

Having two different colored eyes is not uncommon in fancy birds. It seems more common in pied birds. Split eyes also appear to be associated with piebald. A split eye is a regular colored eye, with dark spots or 'shadows', sometimes splitting the eye into half color half almost black.

Tobacco stalks are good to keep mites out of the nest. But if they are already on the birds, you need to dip the birds in Permethrin, which you can get at TSC. Dilute it like you would for chickens, and add a little bit of dish soap. That will make the solution soak into the feathers completely and really kill those bugs.
Hold the bird in the water, wings spread, for a few moments, then quickly dunk the whole bird straight down and back up. Otherwise, the birds will run for the head....soooo that way you kill'em all

DE can help prevent the bugs too. We use tobacco stalks for nesting material. We provide a little bit of the stalks first, so the base is made of it, then we switch to long pine straw so the nests get filled and stronger. Tobacco stalks alone make pretty crappy, unstable nests.

Monarc,
If you are feeding your pigeons pellets, they do not need grit. They may not even need oyster shell, except during breeding just in case. Some pellets even advise you not to give them anything extra, grit or supplement wise, because it could make the diet unbalanced and give the birds messy droppings (fine health wise really, it's just a result of them filtering out unused vitamins/minerals). I would give them a little bit anyways, just to make them happy. My birds give me a fit when their grit is gone! But then again, I don't feed 100% pellets.
You don't need to get wild bird seed, scratch grain, or anything like that. But you might WANT to, simply because pigeons do like grain and seed more than pellets unless they were brought up not knowing any different

Cracked corn is looked down upon in the pigeon world, since 1. it would potentially puncture/scrape the crop and/or insides, and 2. cracked corn is more favorable for bacteria and fungi to grow, because of its lack of solid 'barrier' shell.
I don't have a problem with cracked corn, other than it's not the best quality feed for pigeons. I used to feed mine scratch feed made up of only a few grains, without grit, and my birds were fine for a couple years while I looked for something better. The more variety they have in their seed, the happier they are

We feed ours Brown's pigeon mix. They have different mixtures for all seasons of the year. I'll find the site after I'm done with this uber-long post.

Until I find something else to 'rant' about, I'll end this post with yes what you are feeding is fine. 22% protein is fine for birds breeding (which it sounds like you want yours to lay!) who get exercise. You said they get some free time, right? They will be fine, if fed twice a day. But if you're planning on having an all you can eat buffet, you may want to consider something in the range of 12-18%.