Pigeon Talk

[h2oratt]

Anybody ever used these to feed your birds? I'm going to be out of state for four or five days next month and while I'm having someone look in on the birds once or twice I'd like to make it as easy as possible for them by using a feeder like this.
One issue I've run into was that these are very shallow and its easy for them to flick all the feed out. I think I'll try to get a square piece of plastic or some kind of drink carton and cut a small circular hole into it and then tape that over the tray at the bottom so that they can't be as picky.

That exactly what my pigeon did. Flick it all out.

 

[h2oratt]

Anybody ever used these to feed your birds? I'm going to be out of state for four or five days next month and while I'm having someone look in on the birds once or twice I'd like to make it as easy as possible for them by using a feeder like this.
One issue I've run into was that these are very shallow and its easy for them to flick all the feed out. I think I'll try to get a square piece of plastic or some kind of drink carton and cut a small circular hole into it and then tape that over the tray at the bottom so that they can't be as picky.

I use the red base one with my chickens. It hold a lot of water. They also have the blue on for pigeon. I put them up on cement blocks

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

This is a horrible video because I recorded the screen with my phone from the security camera replay. Heard the birds raising all kinds of ruckus, didn’t see anything by the time I got outside, but I think the hawk saw the pigeons flying around, swooped in thinking he was going to get one, landed on the roof for a few seconds, and took off.

Wow! Im glad he didn't get anyone!

 

[CCUK]

I had a visitor today. A stray trapped with mine. It has a NEHU band on it which is north of England homing Union. I contacted the owner and it was list from a race last week. It had been in a 85 mile sprint. I fed it and took it a few miles away and let it go. Unsurprisingly it headed back towards my home direction! As of yet it hasn't returned to me!

Sweet little thing. It's a 2018 female. I hope it returns to its owner. He did seem keen to get it back as it has won a few and had a couple of close seconds.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I had a visitor today. A stray trapped with mine. It has a NEHU band on it which is north of England homing Union. I contacted the owner and it was list from a race last week. It had been in a 85 mile sprint. I fed it and took it a few miles away and let it go. Unsurprisingly it headed back towards my home direction! As of yet it hasn't returned to me!
View attachment 1764333
Sweet little thing. It's a 2018 female. I hope it returns to its owner. He did seem keen to get it back as it has won a few and had a couple of close seconds.

I hope she makes it home!

 

[Serin]

I would not return a lost racer because I am told they are usually euthanized. The racing pigeon business is cutthroat and really quite inhumane. Birds that don't bring in money - those which are slow or which get lost - are killed off. It may be different there, but in the USA the birds are often sold for cheap to shooting clubs or hunting dog trainers and die awful deaths.

 

[h2oratt]

I had a visitor today. A stray trapped with mine. It has a NEHU band on it which is north of England homing Union. I contacted the owner and it was list from a race last week. It had been in a 85 mile sprint. I fed it and took it a few miles away and let it go. Unsurprisingly it headed back towards my home direction! As of yet it hasn't returned to me!
View attachment 1764333
Sweet little thing. It's a 2018 female. I hope it returns to its owner. He did seem keen to get it back as it has won a few and had a couple of close seconds.

Why wouldn’t he drive down and get it?

 

[h2oratt]

I would not return a lost racer because I am told they are usually euthanized. The racing pigeon business is cutthroat and really quite inhumane. Birds that don't bring in money - those which are slow or which get lost - are killed off. It may be different there, but in the USA the birds are often sold for cheap to shooting clubs or hunting dog trainers and die awful deaths.

That is and.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I would not return a lost racer because I am told they are usually euthanized. The racing pigeon business is cutthroat and really quite inhumane. Birds that don't bring in money - those which are slow or which get lost - are killed off. It may be different there, but in the USA the birds are often sold for cheap to shooting clubs or hunting dog trainers and die awful deaths.

IMO if I was a racer and wanted to euthanize useless birds then I wouldn't bother even trying to get them back if they were lost.
I've returned several lost racers to their owners that were injured and every time the owner either drove several hours to pick the bird up or paid to send me a box with a prepaid label to send the bird back.

 

[CCUK]

Why wouldn’t he drive down and get it?

It's normal to try and get the bird to fly home first. I tried with boomer and he returned to me several times!