Pigeon friends for a disabled chicken?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I wouldn’t do it. Even though she’s disabled, a chicken can easily hurt or kill a pigeon, and they won’t really provide companionship for each other. I would consider adopting a bantam chicken to be her friend.

 

[Zenmonkey]

This thread is starting to age a bit. Did you come up with a solution?

I might consider coturnix Quail. The Jumbos in particular are relatively laid back and unlikely to be aggressive towards a larger hen.

Pigeons, other than the heavy utility birds, spend most of the day as high up as they can.

I still don't know that there would be much interaction between quail and chicken, but it should be pretty safe for both.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This thread is starting to age a bit. Did you come up with a solution?

I might consider coturnix Quail. The Jumbos in particular are relatively laid back and unlikely to be aggressive towards a larger hen.

Pigeons, other than the heavy utility birds, spend most of the day as high up as they can.

I still don't know that there would be much interaction between quail and chicken, but it should be pretty safe for both.

I would not mix Quail with Chicken(s).

Chickens can carry disease that Quail cannot recover from. Quail are Gamebirds and are generally not social with other species of birds. Their habits/behavior and habitation are also different from a chicken's. A chicken may also harm them.

I've kept Quail and would never put them with Chickens.

It's best for a Chicken to have another Chicken or two as companions, but they can thrive alone if they have stimulation/interaction daily with a human.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

I have a lovely deleware who is a sweet,gentle girl. She is about 20 months,lays regularly. She broke her leg,it was a clean break, so I opted to attempt to splint..while it did not heal perfectly..she got it slightly out of line..anyway I have a blind old hen who is active doesn't lay anymore or not often..so I have a breeding pair of seramas,they were great with the blind one and I added Aby in,who can't move super fast..it is perfect 12x12 run small coop that they can go in but not locked in at night ( can but dont)..the serama roo is small enough he doesn't really bother the other two girls but he does protect them...maybe a small bantam a d'uccle or mixed breed with her

 

[Petra_Farms]

I wouldn’t do it. Even though she’s disabled, a chicken can easily hurt or kill a pigeon, and they won’t really provide companionship for each other. I would consider adopting a bantam chicken to be her friend.

I’m a bit late here but totally seconding trying to get a bantam chicken for her! Silkies are super sweet (but a bit finicky in my rainy weather personally). I think they’d be an awesome addition, as well as Orpington and Cochin bantams. All of those breeds are super sweet and if you introduce them when their young I doubt they’ll pick on her

 

[Finchbreeder]

Slightly off topic.
But I have found in my avairies, that the Diamond Doves and King Quail frequently hang out together on the floor.

 

[LooneyTickAcres]

I have a partially blind d’uccle hen who happily lives in a small coop with pigeons. In fact, she’s developed a rather close relationship with a male, and the two regularly eat together, groom and roost. All of the pigeons are social with her, and they spend a great deal of time on the ground …. granted, they were born and raised in the smaller coop (their parents were rescued ferels).

Everyone’s situation is a bit different. I think if I had a larger handicapped chicken, I’d try a young bantam as a companion first.But, if I ever have another disabled bantam, I wouldn’t hesitate to have pigeons as companions.

 

[Gill-b]

I have a partially blind d’uccle hen who happily lives in a small coop with pigeons. In fact, she’s developed a rather close relationship with a male, and the two regularly eat together, groom and roost. All of the pigeons are social with her, and they spend a great deal of time on the ground …. granted, they were born and raised in the smaller coop (their parents were rescued ferels).

Everyone’s situation is a bit different. I think if I had a larger handicapped chicken, I’d try a young bantam as a companion first.But, if I ever have another disabled bantam, I wouldn’t hesitate to have pigeons as companions.

Lovely to read.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[sals_chicks]

I thought I would come back and provide an update to the whole situation, in case anyone is ever in a similar situation.

After MUCH research and discussion with some folks that have ample pigeon experience, we moved forward with adopting 4 young pet pigeons that had been surrendered when their owner passed away:

They were quarantined for 6 weeks away from my chickens (3x the time the rescue suggested to me) to be VERY sure that they were not dealing with any disease. If anyone is interested in adding pigeons to their flock, I think it is absolutely vital to read up and be prepared for the kinds of diseases that can be shared between birds. I feel VERY prepared to handle anything that comes my way, and have approched ALL of it cautiously.

After that 6 weeks, we started testing out some integration, and I have to say - it could not have gone more smoothly. When I say my chickens did not care even one tiny bit about these pigeons, I feel like I am not stressing enough. My chickens DID NOT CARE that these birds were there. I never saw ANY chasing, even when there were treats involved.

We added lots of high perches (like in the picture) in our chicken yard, and came up with some off-the-ground places to house their feed, so the chickens cant get to it.

After about a week of supervised interaction without any issue, I left the door to the chicken yard open, and they have been living fully integrated ever since without even so much as a side-eye from my hens. The pigeons surprisingly spend a LOT of time walking around on the ground, mingling with the chickens, they occasionally peck at their feed, but prefer their own seed, so that hasn't been an issue.

I don't know how to explain what I witnessed when I blended these birds. It almost feels like, my chickens knew these were pigeons, and they were not a threat in any way. I have no idea how, as none of my chickens have been exposed to pigeons before?? The pigeons also, do not seem phased/bothered/stressed/or even remotely worried about the chickens.

Although the pigeons have access daily to the chicken yard, they do have their own separate run/nesting area, and that area is the one they share with my disabled chicken. It took her a bit to get used to them flapping in and out, but she seems genuinely happy to have something to look at every day now, and like I said, they do spend a surprising amount of time on the ground, collecting sticks for their nests, etc.... She has a covered space to get under if they are bothering her with their flapping.

All in all, it has worked out BETTER than I could have imagined, and these birds are SO fun to observe and get to know. They are really like little puppies, and I love that everyone is getting along, and thriving together...

If anyone has questions, let me know... I am still learning, but trying to do the best I can for all of my birds!

 

[atomic]

Those are some beautiful birds! I’m so happy to hear they’ve been lovely additions. Question, I know nothing about pigeons, do you allow them to “free range” outside of the run? Do they fly away or they always come back?