Pigeon Talk

[WVduckchick]

Mostly because I just love having them in my life, but I have flown them for celebrations of life, weddings, new home blessings, cancer walks, birthdays, etc.

Today I had my phone camera ready for once...one of the youngsters flew to my shoulder, played with my hair & gave me a kiss.

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Fantastic pics! Thank you for sharing!!

 

[Liz Birdlover]

My giant runts strutting around.

The last pic it looks like a grizzled color, love grizzles

 

[User105877]

Those birds look just fine. let me offer you my thoughts.
The coop is quite small,, I know its a starter,, but it is still small. Housing for pigeons is usually referred to as LOFT. Some of the other ones in sellers pictures are larger, and more suitable. If you want to have coop to house quail,, I see it as fine,, as long as you don't overcrowd with too many in number. I do not have a guide to housing quail, so use your best judgement on number you desire to raise/keep
That coop,, can also be used as a starter pigeon loft,, and then Added on to. Would need a pigeon trap added if you intended to free fly your pigeons. I made a Sputnik style trap for my pigeons. A trap made with bob wires works well also.
I would choose to add a sizeable aviary at first,, then play it by what you learn as the pigeon population increased in numbers.
Second thing to remember,,, You will need to keep those pigeons from seller as PRISONERS. Let me explain,,, since you dont treat them BAD IN ANY WAY. . You just cant free fly them,,,,,,,, possibly forever. Homers will return to their original loft. (there are exceptions, and that gets into another completely different discussion)
With that being said,, all the newborn pigeons in your loft will return to your loft.. It is their home. Providing,, that they were homeset.
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WISHING YOU BEST WITH YOUR DECISION ,,,,and

I bought 4 adult racing homers once. Kept them penned for a year and raised several clutches from them. Turned them loose and one red check hen made it all the way back to Washington state. (I'm in southern IL!!) Blue bar male was gone for over three months before he finally returned home back at my place. Other two I'm assuming fed some hawk down along the road.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I bought 4 adult racing homers once. Kept them penned for a year and raised several clutches from them. Turned them loose and one red check hen made it all the way back to Washington state. (I'm in southern IL!!) Blue bar male was gone for over three months before he finally returned home back at my place. Other two I'm assuming fed some hawk down along the road.

Isn’t it weird how that works?

I have three retired ex-racers (two cocks about 9 years of age and one hen who’s 16 this year). One of the cocks and the hen were both former racers who placed well, the hen even won a few, I paired them up and I rehomed them successfully (even without raising any young, the hen is too old now to lay) and I had no hiccups in the rehoming process. However, the other cock split on me the first time I let him out and promptly returned to his former loft just a few miles away.

I got him back the following day and a few days afterwards he again slipped past me out the door, but the second time he stayed around. He stayed here for me for well over a year and one day went back to the old loft and paired up with a young hen on the race team basically overnight.

They’re both living (and free flying) here now.

 

[Qwerty3159]

The last pic it looks like a grizzled color, love grizzles

Most of my group are blue grizzles. I have a pretty decent spectrum going with them.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Most of my group are blue grizzles. I have a pretty decent spectrum going with them.

I haven't heard of a grizzly color in pigeons, what is that? Actually, I have to admit I haven't heard of a lot of pigeon color varieties at all.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I haven't heard of a grizzly color in pigeons, what is that? Actually, I have to admit I haven't heard of a lot of pigeon color varieties at all.

Many lovely varieties exist, different colors of plumage & even frizzled plumage which looks like a pigeon got a perm at a beauty salon
Their eye colors can vary, as well. The colors they can see is more wide ranged than our vision.

Videos

I think some folks rush training. When I trained my Homers, I let them fly around freely daily for about 3 weeks, noticing when they do start to flock up & fly as a team...that part is essential, if they're still flying haphazardly, like a bunch of "wrong ways" do not attempt training just yet. Once they flock up together & are in the air flying large circles for a few hours, & taking off exploring together & flying back together, they're building stamina & learning their area, sticking together, then begin taining & train every other day, or 3x a week, weather permitting. I never fly in rain, sleet, snow or 100 degree heat wave or very low cloud or fog weather or storms forecasted when they'd be flying back home. The weather app will become your best friend. A cloudy day is often a hawk day, at least here, hawks will be at my loft hanging out, so very cloudy days are dangerous, for my group anyway. The very 1st release is just to get accustomed to being in a release basket, crate them up & sit in the shade about 15 minutes & only it's an acre away from the loft, within sight of loft, on my own property, I do a few releases like that, so then they learn...oh this is kinda fun, like a game or challenge. It actually becomes easier to catch & crate them as soon as they see the basket, they know, hey we are going for a ride & flight. They even get to know my phrases, "want to go for a ride?" Or "want to go out?" Or "Come on in" & the "come on in" is important for when I want to call them in, they can be flying in the air & if I say come on in, they will land on the landing board & go right into the loft to safety. This has been valuable with approaching storms or when I just need them in. I get them used to these routines, repeating them. I release 2 acres away in all directions.

To me, my most valuable tidbit is this...If They beat me home, I change direction or distance. If I beat them home, I release from same point again. I only increased distance or change direction, when They Beat Me Home. They are learning, Not only where they are but also determining who among them will lead. In time, you'll notice, who are the few that lead, kinda cool how they work that out themselves. Then when they beat me home, I increase distance slowly, 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 2 miles, 4 miles, 6 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles, always switching direction or distance When they beat me back home, north, south west of my loft, (east if I could, but beyond 2 miles east is the bay, which I have flown them over but not anymore, too time consuming for me by boat lol). My training is every Other day, weather permitting, their day off they just fly around the yard or if they choose to go roaming, they may. In 23 years, I only lost 1 group of 6 birds one time. My training may be slower than some folks, but I don't like losing my birds. There are hawks, overhead high power wires to avoid, bodies of water to navigate over (bays & rivers & the ocean nearby) so I take my time letting them learn & do not rush them. Most times they stick together, but if they come home separately, sometimes days or weeks apart, it may be due to hawk attacks, or joining up with someone else's flock, I really don't know. A few came home with broken legs which I splinted & they healed wonderfully, an injured wing, sliced open crop, etc. They are amazing & do their best to make it home. I used to race, there are various distance races, my birds did good. The last race was released in Atlanta, GA, a 600 mile race, & a hurricane down in the Gulf changed direction & headed towards GA. The jackass released our birds in a hurricane. Many lost entire flocks. I only entered 4 birds, but got 3 back home. I never raced again, I was so ticked. Anyway, you don't have to race them, I don't anymore & I just love having them share my life.

Some interesting reading...

https://intoyard.com/pigeon-eye/

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/color

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Many lovely varieties exist, different colors of plumage & even frizzled plumage which looks like a pigeon got a perm at a beauty salon
Their eye colors can vary, as well. The colors they can see is more wide ranged than our vision.

Videos

Some interesting reading...

https://intoyard.com/pigeon-eye/

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/color

Thank you for the videos! I know what frizzled is, since chickens can have that as well! There are so many beautiful color varieties in birds, that is one reason I love them so much.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I have to ask, where do all of you get your pigeons from? I have searched pigeon hatcheries and similar places, but I haven't found any source that look good.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I haven't heard of a grizzly color in pigeons, what is that? Actually, I have to admit I haven't heard of a lot of pigeon color varieties at all.

Grizzle basically produces a salt and pepper pattern of depigmentation on the feathers. Even on my grizzles that appear to have dark flight or tail feathers, the pigment reduces closer to the feather shaft so they are not fully colored. The heterozygous form produces various amounts of depigmentation, while homozygous form of grizzle produces a mostly white bird. When you breed grizzle to grizzle the babies almost always get lighter and lighter.

This pair consists of a heterozygous grizzle hen, and homozygous grizzle cock.