Pigeon Talk

[Qwerty3159]

Yes. He’s kinda feisty, so when I get him a hen should I get an older one so he can’t boss her around? Or am I overthinking this?

There's a chance he may boss her around anyway but this can be fixed if its truly a male female pair. The age of the hen doesn't matter but I wouldn't get one that's not old enough to breed yet. Two males, however, generally will bicker.

When I first put my pair together the male attacked her quite relentlessly but this was remedied by locking them together in whats known as a bonding cage. I used a dog crate with a wire divider. It forces the male to get used to her without being able to attack her and eventually he'll realize that the female is no threat to him and a possible mate. I only had to do this for a couple days before he immediately started courting her and playing nice.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

You might be overthinking
Get whatever hen you like as long as she is pretty
You learned that determining sex of a pigeon gets tricky. If you get an adult hen and place in with your males, there will be a noticeable natural attraction. If you should by chance score another male, there will be almost instant dueling.

The exact age isn't going to make much of a difference, but if you want a rough estimate your pigeon was about 2 months ( 3 tops) old in the first picture. It was a very late hatch as can be seen by his molted feathers. Even in the other picture you posted (I'm assuming it's the same bird) it's still clearly visible that he hasn't molted out all of his juvenile primary flight feathers. Just as the old timers used to say, I am still of the belief that a pigeon shouldn't be bred until it has gone through a complete molt. In the end it's your choice when and if you get a mate for him, but I wouldn't breed him until next year after he has completed a full molt this year. Nice looking bird though... good luck with him

There's a chance he may boss her around anyway but this can be fixed if its truly a male female pair. The age of the hen doesn't matter but I wouldn't get one that's not old enough to breed yet. Two males, however, generally will bicker.

When I first put my pair together the male attacked her quite relentlessly but this was remedied by locking them together in whats known as a bonding cage. I used a dog crate with a wire divider. It forces the male to get used to her without being able to attack her and eventually he'll realize that the female is no threat to him and a possible mate. I only had to do this for a couple days before he immediately started courting her and playing nice.

Thank you all so much for your advice!
Yes, it’s the same bird in each picture. The picture in the second post is most recent.

 

[Lamontelle4]

Well, I finally broke down and got some pigeons! Yeah!

I've been breeding chickens and ducks for a few years now (also previously had turkey and quail) and I have 3 budgies indoors, but I decided I wanted some pigeons. So I found a fella close to me that had some fantails, which were the first pigeon to ever catch my eye and make me say "I want some of those!". Turned out that he also had a pair of Satinettes, and once I looked those up, I was hooked! So I met up with him last weekend. I got the pair of Satinettes, and he also had some parlor rollers. After looking at the fantails, I decided I liked the parlor rollers better, so I came home with the pair of Satinettes and a pair of parlor rollers.

Being not so new to the chicken world, but brand new to the pigeon world, I'd like to invite you to share your experiences with me. Major differences in raising pigeons as opposed to chickens, etc, etc. Especially pigeon specific stuff that non-pigeon people probably never thought of, etc. I've been reading many of the pigeon related threads here, but hate to hijack them with a bunch of my questions, so here we go..... tell me, tell me.

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I'm also twisting the arm (*wink, wink*) of @Fields Mountain Farm and @shawluvsbirds to get some pigeons too, so we decided we could hopefully learn this stuff together.

they sure are beautiful! if it’s warm outside put a water basin in their coop and they’ll use it to take baths.

 

[CCUK]

I have a conundrum. I'm ordering leg bands because I'm cautiously optimistic I will actually need them this year. The SOP for my tumblers says they take size 7. However I had also asked the breeder what size and he said 9. I don't want bands that are too small and end up having to be cut off. But I don't want bands that are too large either.

I have 8 on the archangels. They seem a little big on the hens but fit nice on the male. I think the tumblers will be about the same size.

 

[Pyxis]

I have 8 on the archangels. They seem a little big on the hens but fit nice on the male. I think the tumblers will be about the same size.

Archangels on the NPA site here are listed as size 7, so that helps me think probably size 7 for these bands. Thanks! Plus 7 would seem to be what my adults are wearing.

 

[CCUK]

Well, the seller did tell me that Neet Neet was a female. Now that he’s older he’s shown himself to be an obvious male. Also, when I bought him he didn’t coo, just growled. He also didn’t show any male behaviors until a month or two ago.

That’s too bad. Rollers seem pretty cool. But seeing as he’s my first pigeon I don’t have anything to compare to.

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Some of my females growl but mostly, only when on eggs. Just by looking at yours I'd say male. Have you felt between the pelvic bone? It's not all that easy if you don't have a known hen and a male to compare against but the female will have a larger gap between the pelvic bones the males will be fairly close.

 

[CCUK]

 

[Qwerty3159]

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Looking good! How many homers do you have now?


Anyone else have any really noisy birds? This guy is constantly doing those long, drawn-out one note coos. He coos when someone pulls in the driveway at night, and he'll coo when a cat or something is sniffing around the aviary. He coos when he sees me come outside to feed them, and today he was cooing because it was hailing. Who needs a watchdog when you have a watchpigeon

 

[biophiliac]

Yes. He’s kinda feisty, so when I get him a hen should I get an older one so he can’t boss her around? Or am I overthinking this?

I agree, it doesn't really matter. I would pair him with an experienced hen, if I had a choice.

Looking good! How many homers do you have now?


Anyone else have any really noisy birds? This guy is constantly doing those long, drawn-out one note coos. He coos when someone pulls in the driveway at night, and he'll coo when a cat or something is sniffing around the aviary. He coos when he sees me come outside to feed them, and today he was cooing because it was hailing. Who needs a watchdog when you have a watchpigeon

Yep, I have some noisy ones too. Nice video!

 

[backyard pigeons]

Hello. I was wondering about my roller, Neet Neet. The breeder told me that he was 5 months old when I bought him. However, I think he was a lot younger now that I've seen pictures of 5 month old pigeons. I was wondering if anyone on here could tell me what age he was when I got him?
Pictures from the day I bought him, January 4th
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A more recent picture:
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gorgeous birds!

I would say he was 3 months old. Either way, he's a pretty bird!

I have a conundrum. I'm ordering leg bands because I'm cautiously optimistic I will actually need them this year. The SOP for my tumblers says they take size 7. However I had also asked the breeder what size and he said 9. I don't want bands that are too small and end up having to be cut off. But I don't want bands that are too large either.

I would say check the NPA site, but I see you've gotten things worked out.

View attachment 2101015

so pretty! How are you liking your coop?

Anyone else have any really noisy birds? This guy is constantly doing those long, drawn-out one note coos. He coos when someone pulls in the driveway at night, and he'll coo when a cat or something is sniffing around the aviary. He coos when he sees me come outside to feed them, and today he was cooing because it was hailing. Who needs a watchdog when you have a watchpigeon

Oh yes! It's mating time. If I go out with a light, and shine it in the loft, all the males start calling like that for the hens to come to their nest. They think it's morning.