Pigeon friends for a disabled chicken?

[Zenmonkey]

Pigeons are fantastic animals. I'm thrilled to hear of your success!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

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:

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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!

Thank you for the update and information!
I'm glad you were able to find some more Pigeons (Beautiful) and that everything is going well for you.

 

[GodLovesU]

I would consider adopting a bantam chicken to be her friend.

Seconding this.

 

[sals_chicks]

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?

They are homing animals - so like chickens, they will return to their home base. Now that they have established their home here, I do think I could free-fly them, and they will come back. I have seen lots of pigeon keepers that let their birds free-fly while they clean out the run, etc... And they do come back.

That being said, I am not yet brave enough to try that. My chicken yard is open-air, but completely covered with bird netting that they can't escape out of, so they get plenty of space to fly around, but are not open to predators, etc...

We'll see... I may try it in the future.

 

[sals_chicks]

Pigeons are fantastic animals. I'm thrilled to hear of your success!

I am really enjoying getting to know them. They kinda feel like little chickens in a lot of their behaviors.

I've been referring to them as the "city chickens". lol

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

They are homing animals - so like chickens, they will return to their home base. Now that they have established their home here, I do think I could free-fly them, and they will come back. I have seen lots of pigeon keepers that let their birds free-fly while they clean out the run, etc... And they do come back.

That being said, I am not yet brave enough to try that. My chicken yard is open-air, but completely covered with bird netting that they can't escape out of, so they get plenty of space to fly around, but are not open to predators, etc...

We'll see... I may try it in the future.

If they already have a large space to fly in, there really isn’t much of a reason to let them out, especially as it’s risky. My pigeons have lived in a closed aviary for years and never tried to escape, they are happy and I am happy that there’s no risk of them getting lost or caught by a hawk.

 

[sals_chicks]

If they already have a large space to fly in, there really isn’t much of a reason to let them out, especially as it’s risky. My pigeons have lived in a closed aviary for years and never tried to escape, they are happy and I am happy that there’s no risk of them getting lost or caught by a hawk.

This is definitely where my head is at currently. I wont say never, but I am not in any kind of rush to introduce more risk.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

This is definitely where my head is at currently. I wont say never, but I am not in any kind of rush to introduce more risk.

The first (and last) time I let my pigeons out (I had 2 at the time), 1 instantly flew away and I never saw her again. It’s just not worth the risk for pet birds when they can fly out of your sight in seconds.

 

[Zenmonkey]

The first (and last) time I let my pigeons out (I had 2 at the time), 1 instantly flew away and I never saw her again. It’s just not worth the risk for pet birds when they can fly out of your sight in seconds.

Free flying pigeons really does seem like a "flock" thing to do. Even training racing pigeons, a sport where it is common to have birds coming home one at a time, training is best done with 8-10 birds or more, if possible.

Eventually they can have a very strong homing instinct / skill / behavior. But initially? Birds first tossed as singles, doubles, and trios seemed to disappear much more commonly.

I think for most pets of show type and even rescued ferals, a flight cage of decent proportions is far better. I'm kind of talking out the side of my mouth here, as I've rarely raised pigeons in small numbers. It's typically either been large flocks, or none.