Pigeon Talk

[Amer]

Pigeons bathe in water and it is very cute!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

If you just start reading this thread from the beginning,,, and scan whatever you think is information,,, you will gain much knowledge. I know there are over 12K postings,,, but when you have free time,,, just read what you can.
You may decide to keep pigeons after you gain enough knowledge. Of course if you don't have the facilities to house them, that is also understandable.

With over twelve thousand replies, I can see that I will be able to learn a lot about pigeons! I don't have room for any and I have too many chickens already, but I would like to expand my knowledge.

Welcome!
I first took an interest in fantail pigeons, the ones that their tails fan out like a turkey on display. I found some locally, met up with a fella at a poultry swap, but decided against the fantails when I saw he had Satinettes! So beautiful, I fell in love with them. Then I started this thread, to got help from others here because I knew very little about pigeons. Along the way, this thread became a wonderful gathering place for pigeon keepers with zero to many, many years of pigeon experience!

So maybe we can each tell one thing about basic pigeon keeping.

One of my favorite things is their breeding and parenting style/habits. Unlike ducks, chickens, other poultry fowl, pigeons usually only nest 2 eggs at a time. (Sometimes 1, sometimes 3+, but 2 is most common). The hen mainly sits on the eggs to incubate them, but the male will also sit on the eggs while the hen takes a daily break. The male also helps feed the babies! Both parents feed the squabs by regurgitating back into the squabs mouth, until the squabs are able to leave the nest and learn to eat on their own. This whole process is still fascinating to me!!

Anyone else want to add a fun pigeon fact?

I have heard of Fantail pigeons, but had to search them again to remember what they look like! They remind me of a Serama chicken, or my California Gray named Fan-Tail, who has a tail that fans out. Hence her name. I didn't know what a Satinette pigeon was, but I love how their wing lacing looks!

I have seen that pigeons make horrible nests where they lay down only a few sticks on the ground, and call that a nest. Is that common to see in domestic pigeons, or do they more commonly build proper nests? I know that most of their body fluff can cover their eggs.

 

[Amer]

With over twelve thousand replies, I can see that I will be able to learn a lot about pigeons! I don't have room for any and I have too many chickens already, but I would like to expand my knowledge.


I have heard of Fantail pigeons, but had to search them again to remember what they look like! They remind me of a Serama chicken, or my California Gray named Fan-Tail, who has a tail that fans out. Hence her name. I didn't know what a Satinette pigeon was, but I love how their wing lacing looks!

I have seen that pigeons make horrible nests where they lay down only a few sticks on the ground, and call that a nest. Is that common to see in domestic pigeons, or do they more commonly build proper nests? I know that most of their body fluff can cover their eggs.

Show me Fan Tail.
Domestic pigeons make bad nests because humans provide the nests, they simply add a few pieces of straw. My ground pigeons seem to think a few pieces of straw on the ground is much better than anything I could provide.
That is why feral pigeons build bad nests, because domestic pigeons got lazy and depend on us and don’t know how to build good nests anymore.

 

[Amer]

https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/MalayFan/BRKMalayFan.html

 

[WVduckchick]

My pigeons use sticks, feathers, and leaves mostly. I try to throw a few piles of leaves into their pen every few weeks. My yard gets totally covered with leaves in the fall, so I always have plenty to scoop up!

Banded another new squab this morning. 2 weeks old today.

 

[WVduckchick]

And since Seramas were mentioned, I had a group of girls just hatch a bunch together. 15 chicks so far, a few girls are still sitting. It’s a group effort! Lol

 

[calicocows]

adorable!!!!

 

[cavemanrich]

I have seen that pigeons make horrible nests where they lay down only a few sticks on the ground, and call that a nest. Is that common to see in domestic pigeons, or do they more commonly build proper nests? I know that most of their body fluff can cover their eggs.

Show me Fan Tail.
Domestic pigeons make bad nests because humans provide the nests, they simply add a few pieces of straw. My ground pigeons seem to think a few pieces of straw on the ground is much better than anything I could provide.
That is why feral pigeons build bad nests, because domestic pigeons got lazy and depend on us and don’t know how to build good nests anymore.

Amer,,,, I gave your post a .
Here is my view of why pigeons make poor style nests. BTW, I used to make nice nests in plastic bowls to contain nice hay. My pigeons used those . There are drawbacks to such,, as I will explain.
A flat nest with a few sticks, such as feral pigeons build,,,,, serves the purpose of keeping the eggs from rolling away. It is also good for the squabs incase they crawl out of nest. Mom or dad can drag back into place easily. In a nice raised nest, once junior falls out,,,, it is next to impossible to get junior back into that nest. Often the results are unfortunate.
Second point of a poor style nest, (our view as poor style) The babies poop into that nest for a long time. (growing, and developing) A nice nest would contain the gumdrops for a long time.. As I have seen mine doing. I did replenish my nesting bowls with fresh hay. Not daily, but often enough when the soiling got heavy. A feral pigeon has no one to do maintenance for them. They can scratch away dried gumdrops on a fairly level nest.

 

[Amer]

Amer,,,, I gave your post a .
Here is my view of why pigeons make poor style nests. BTW, I used to make nice nests in plastic bowls to contain nice hay. My pigeons used those . There are drawbacks to such,, as I will explain.
A flat nest with a few sticks, such as feral pigeons build,,,,, serves the purpose of keeping the eggs from rolling away. It is also good for the squabs incase they crawl out of nest. Mom or dad can drag back into place easily. In a nice raised nest, once junior falls out,,,, it is next to impossible to get junior back into that nest. Often the results are unfortunate.
Second point of a poor style nest, (our view as poor style) The babies poop into that nest for a long time. (growing, and developing) A nice nest would contain the gumdrops for a long time.. As I have seen mine doing. I did replenish my nesting bowls with fresh hay. Not daily, but often enough when the soiling got heavy. A feral pigeon has no one to do maintenance for them. They can scratch away dried gumdrops on a fairly level nest.

That makes sense.
I saw the squabs pooping into the nest bowl seemingly on purpose once they were big enough to crawl out of it.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Show me Fan Tail.
Domestic pigeons make bad nests because humans provide the nests, they simply add a few pieces of straw. My ground pigeons seem to think a few pieces of straw on the ground is much better than anything I could provide.
That is why feral pigeons build bad nests, because domestic pigeons got lazy and depend on us and don’t know how to build good nests anymore.

I don't think I have a picture of Fan-Tail on my computer, I will have to look on m phone for one. But thanks for the explanation not the nests!

My pigeons use sticks, feathers, and leaves mostly. I try to throw a few piles of leaves into their pen every few weeks. My yard gets totally covered with leaves in the fall, so I always have plenty to scoop up!

Banded another new squab this morning. 2 weeks old today.
View attachment 3540057View attachment 3540058

Squabs are so oddly cute! Which breed is that?

And since Seramas were mentioned, I had a group of girls just hatch a bunch together. 15 chicks so far, a few girls are still sitting. It’s a group effort! Lol
View attachment 3540065View attachment 3540066View attachment 3540067

Your Seramas are beautiful－they are one of my favorite breeds, but unfortunately I don't have any!