pigeon newbie - need help!!

[sniper338]

We may be getting a house that already has a pigeon house built into the barn... Homing pigeons... How do they work? How do they get trained to come back into the coop at night and well whenever they want? Hatch them out, raise them in the coop for so long then open the doors? what to feed them? like a quail I would think.. any advice here? oh! big one.. Where in the heck do you find pigeons haha! gotta get eggs to hatch out somehow!

 

[Hokum Coco]

We may be getting a house that already has a pigeon house built into the barn... Homing pigeons... How do they get trained to come back into the coop at night and well whenever they want? They do that naturally by instinct. Hatch them out, Parents do all the work. raise them in the coop for so long then open the doors? Yes. Then start bring them down the road after they have flow and returened back after an hour or so on their own in one compass direction a mile or so at first gradually incrasing the distance gradually until they are about at 30 miles say. Then repeat the same process again until you have cover the 4 points of the compass. Run a search to see what method suits you best this is mine. what to feed them? I feed chicken pellets and a mix of corn and rabbit pellets in the winter plus I hand feed only shelled peanuts to keep them fairly tame there are as many feeding regiments as there are pigeon fanciers like a quail I would think Yes a lot of similarities.. any advice here? oh! big one.. Where in the heck do you find pigeons haha! gotta get eggs to hatch out somehow! You would be wise to change your search for young squeakers in my opinion. You would have better luck. You would have many obstacles to over come to be successful with eggs. The young need pigeon milk to thrive and without it squabs have a hard time surviving. Good luck in your quest.

I live in Canada and am subject to -40º weather.
Here is a quick peak at my set up.
Pigeons basically fall into 4 categories Show or Ornamental, Performance, Utility, and Homing.
I fly white homers. At least the parents of all my birds are snow white homers. My birds have a Belgium blood line.
I would suggest starting with "Young" homing pigeons that have "Never" been flown.
My point is not all pigeons will orientate to a loft when kept in captivity for 2 weeks.
This is what one bird accomplished after being kept prisoner for nearly a year. This pigeon was mated and had raised numerous clutches of eggs in that time. It was a happy reunion when he came home to his original mate:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=2...E1FfsgXOTDHtFd0x4VFqig&oq=Otta&mra=ls&t=m&z=7

I make my nest boxes the size of a feed bag. Line the nest box with a feed bag when it gets soiled fold it up and pop a new one in
EASY PEASY.

This is what I use for nest bowls approximately 10" in diameter available at the Dollar Store.
(It is wise to have 2 nest boxes for each breeding pair)


Nesting material can very from pine needles, twigs, grass, hay, and wood chips. My loft is a converted baby barn.



There are many types of trapping systems this is mine. Top is window hinged and doubles as roof, floor is hinged doubles as shutter for window in winter, Landing ramp doubles as door forming a small aviary to train pigeons to go through a bob wire trapping system.







.




Picture of Back Yard



My nest boxes are designed to accommodate a nylon mesh feed bag makes cleaning easier fold up the soiled and pop in the new

Easy Peasy







The blue bar is a feral that trapped in with my flock.
He could not keep up to the training regiment and failed to return.








My pigeon trap with inner bobs to hold birds inside loft.





I

I used this converted Styrofoam cooler as a nest box over winter months with excellent results.

 

[sniper338]

So I have to trap pigeons to get them going? This doesnt sound very easy... I thought I could get eggs somewhere and hatch them... keep them in a coop for a while until they were used to being fed everyday and such out of it, then let them go and fly around where they would come back to eat and nest... This pigeon thing may not be easy...

 

[Hokum Coco]

So I have to trap pigeons to get them going? No this is just my loft and my method. This doesnt sound very easy... I thought I could get eggs somewhere and hatch them.You would be wise to change your search for young squeakers in my opinion. You would have better luck. You would have many obstacles to over come to be successful with eggs. The young need pigeon milk to thrive and without it squabs have a hard time surviving.. keep them in a coop for a while until they were used to being fed everyday and such out of it, then let them go and fly around where they would come back to eat and nest Yes you can raise them exactly as you stated.This pigeon thing may not be easy. You and I have different demands on our birds I do a white dove release at weddings and this set up I described is what works for me..

Pigeons are born naked and blind not like quails or chickens. Are hummingbird size or if anything smaller and are hard to hand raise even for experienced fanciers.

 

[sniper338]

Haha, yeah.. I have no care what homeing pigeons I can get... I dont care what colors they are... I didnt know baby pigeons were difficult to raise... I figured they were just like other little birds... I raise quail right now... figured they would be about the same... interesting though!

I don't have any pigeons around to trap, so trapping them wont work for me..

 

[Hokum Coco]

Haha, yeah.. I have no care what homeing pigeons I can get... I dont care what colors they are... I didnt know baby pigeons were difficult to raise... I figured they were just like other little birds... I raise quail right now... figured they would be about the same... interesting though!

I don't have any pigeons around to trap, so trapping them wont work for me..

I have no pigeons to spare now. I lost most of my 40+ birds awhile back. Raccoons accounted for the bulk of my loss with just two attacks. I am down now to only 4 adult birds.. Pigeons are not native to North America so any pigeon you see has homing ability (some more than others). They were domesticated somewhere back in their ancestry. Run a search on Craigs list. Or google pigeon fanciers to see if there is any in your proximity you may be lucky and find someone near by.

 

[laughingdog]

You may enjoy flying rollers, flying tumblers, flying flights, any other of performance breeds. homers and racers need to be kept there since squeekers, or nested mated pairs flown seperate each at a time (known aa widow flying/retraining. Most other performance breeds are very easy and quick to resettle to your home (week, maybe month), just don't go tossing them from hundred miles away.

 

[sniper338]

I really dont know anything about them... I dont have a place to get any young birds either... I will just have to play the waiting game. something will come around with someone who has birds...

 

[Curtiejlee]

Check feed stores and pet stores. What Hokum Coco means by "trap" is the way your pigeons go in through a one way door.

Pigeons are SUPER easy to keep and breed! Look at older threads for more info on feeding. Breeding-wise, they pretty much do everything on their own. Just make sure you have plenty of nest boxes and perches. If you buy older homing pigeons, clip their wings and keep them locked up gor a couple of months. Once they have a couple batches of babies, they should be ok to free fly. Make sure to provide clean water. It is advisable to wear a respirator mask while cleaning your loft to prevent fanciers lung. Like I said, look at older threads for more information. I started keeping pigeons a couple years ago and its one of the funnest hobbies ever!

If you need me to elaborate or need to see any pictures of my loft or birds, just ask!

 

[loftkeeper]

not knowing where you live this would be my idea
1 get hold of the national pigeon assn.then look for the links to raceing clubs which could lead to finding a club close by lots of time you can get birds from local members for little or nothing and they can show you the way to raise pigeons and flying them its not hard just a little common sense and logic