Pigeon Talk

[Misfits Farm 92]

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

View attachment 2610568

I haven't heard back from the guy with the squeakers but I bought this pair at a swap meet yesterday.

 

[biophiliac]

I haven't heard back from the guy with the squeakers but I bought this pair at a swap meet yesterday.

Beautiful! They look young?

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Beautiful! They look young?

One has a 2020 leg band. The other doesn't have a leg band at all but I assume it's around the same age. I was dumb and forgot to ask how old they are.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

How do you guys price your pigeons? I'm gonna sell my homing trio but all of the prices on other craigslist posts seem crazy to me ($40ea or $75 a pair??? what!?) I got the cockbird for free and the two hens are his daughters, they all get along which is so weird. I've never had a 'trio' before but they make two nests and the ladies keep to their own and the boy Atlas takes turns on both! super weird haha

Atlas is I think over 7 years old now, what I'd call a 'retired racer'. The breeder I got him from says he placed 3rd in a race and then he kept him back as a breeder, the guy was a good breeder and racer but I forgot his name and never got Atlas's pedigree... But the hens are both young (1 & 2 years) and come from good lines. I've never flown them, because on one side of my neighborhood is a family of red tailed hawks, and on the other (2 blocks from my house) is a pair of bald eagles and both frequently fly the neighborhood...

Atlas is extremely good at being a dad, I'd keep him just to be a 'broody' of sorts if I could afford it. But him and his ladies are quite big and eat more than my portugese and my birminghams! Plus I feel like someone else could take them, let them hatch squab and race/fly those? All 3 are T-Checker blues, any idea, even ballpark, what I should price them?

 

[cavemanrich]

How do you guys price your pigeons? I'm gonna sell my homing trio but all of the prices on other craigslist posts seem crazy to me ($40ea or $75 a pair??? what!?) I got the cockbird for free and the two hens are his daughters, they all get along which is so weird. I've never had a 'trio' before but they make two nests and the ladies keep to their own and the boy Atlas takes turns on both! super weird haha

Atlas is I think over 7 years old now, what I'd call a 'retired racer'. The breeder I got him from says he placed 3rd in a race and then he kept him back as a breeder, the guy was a good breeder and racer but I forgot his name and never got Atlas's pedigree... But the hens are both young (1 & 2 years) and come from good lines. I've never flown them, because on one side of my neighborhood is a family of red tailed hawks, and on the other (2 blocks from my house) is a pair of bald eagles and both frequently fly the neighborhood...

Atlas is extremely good at being a dad, I'd keep him just to be a 'broody' of sorts if I could afford it. But him and his ladies are quite big and eat more than my portugese and my birminghams! Plus I feel like someone else could take them, let them hatch squab and race/fly those? All 3 are T-Checker blues, any idea, even ballpark, what I should price them?

$40 per bird is a going rate for pigeons being sold. They may be worth more if good bloodline genes. Just because you landed the cockbird for free, does not mean he was not worth cash. The breeder obviously must have enough breeding pairs, , and extras need to find new homes.
If they are homers with good homing skills, they are worth $100 each easily. If they are racers and won like in the top 10 of a 100 bird race, they are worth even more.
I kept homers, and only white ones. I wanted the pigeons to have homing skill, but speed was not important to me. Racers (the people, not pigeon) do get scientific with feeding their pigeons sophisticated menu diets. That is something I never wanted to get into.
I'm not you, and have different preferences with pigeons. If I had your pigeons, I would relocate the Birminghams, and Portugese, and only keep the homers. Different pigeon keepers have their preferred preferences. My preference is homers, and ferals. Others that post in these threads in pigeon forums have their own preferences. If you read enough posts here, you know who keeps what. I also support everyone's choice to keep the pigeons they desire/like.

I would also loft fly them. The Red tail hawks, can be out-flied by healthy homers. I also think the Bald eagles are not swift enough to catch healthy racing breed homers. This is only an assumption since Eagles are such huge birds. I also see Eagles eating fish so often, and never seen eagle capture pigeon. Eagles do also capture mammals like rabbits, and other rodents.
Some of the smaller breeds of hawks, like the Cooper Hawk, and Peregrine Falcons are faster flyers than their Larger cousins The Red Tail.

The retired racer cock is probably only useful as a prisoner for someones breeding loft. Same goes with the 2 sisters. If you have had the 2 sisters (since squabs) and never loft flown them, they may homeset to a new loft. The senior cock, most-likely would return to his previous loft. (not yours) if was loft flown in new loft.

I don't see 3 pigeons eating that much feed that it is a serious reason to downsize. Everyone's budgets are of course their own concerns, and you may be experiencing difficulties due to not having steady employment or other personal reasons. The Covid also put hardships on many people in the last year. I hope that things improve for you soon. for the better.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

$40 per bird is a going rate for pigeons being sold. They may be worth more if good bloodline genes. Just because you landed the cockbird for free, does not mean he was not worth cash. The breeder obviously must have enough breeding pairs, , and extras need to find new homes.
If they are homers with good homing skills, they are worth $100 each easily. If they are racers and won like in the top 10 of a 100 bird race, they are worth even more.
I kept homers, and only white ones. I wanted the pigeons to have homing skill, but speed was not important to me. Racers (the people, not pigeon) do get scientific with feeding their pigeons sophisticated menu diets. That is something I never wanted to get into.
I'm not you, and have different preferences with pigeons. If I had your pigeons, I would relocate the Birminghams, and Portugese, and only keep the homers. Different pigeon keepers have their preferred preferences. My preference is homers, and ferals. Others that post in these threads in pigeon forums have their own preferences. If you read enough posts here, you know who keeps what. I also support everyone's choice to keep the pigeons they desire/like.

I would also loft fly them. The Red tail hawks, can be out-flied by healthy homers. I also think the Bald eagles are not swift enough to catch healthy racing breed homers. This is only an assumption since Eagles are such huge birds. I also see Eagles eating fish so often, and never seen eagle capture pigeon. Eagles do also capture mammals like rabbits, and other rodents.
Some of the smaller breeds of hawks, like the Cooper Hawk, and Peregrine Falcons are faster flyers than their Larger cousins The Red Tail.

The retired racer cock is probably only useful as a prisoner for someones breeding loft. Same goes with the 2 sisters. If you have had the 2 sisters (since squabs) and never loft flown them, they may homeset to a new loft. The senior cock, most-likely would return to his previous loft. (not yours) if was loft flown in new loft.

I don't see 3 pigeons eating that much feed that it is a serious reason to downsize. Everyone's budgets are of course their own concerns, and you may be experiencing difficulties due to not having steady employment or other personal reasons. The Covid also put hardships on many people in the last year. I hope that things improve for you soon. for the better.

I am experiencing hardships, at 20 I'm now the sole provider for my household and the 15 odd pigeons or so I've got are eating just a bit too much, I'm going through over a bag a month and I need it to be a bag or less :'D

I decided on rehoming the Homers first mainly due to the fact that I don't fly them and that they may be more useful at someone elses loft, making them some nice homer babies! Which speaking of, I thought there was a roller nest on the floor, turns out its homer babies ahhh! I wanted to post these guys for sale TOMORROW but I guess I'm going to have to wait at least a few weeks... well at least maybe someone could get a nice little "starter flock" from me at the end of this haha!

The guy I'd gotten them from had said something about my cockbird placing 3rd... I don't know what he meant by it, or what kind of races he did, but the bird was gifted to me at an auction and I believe the final bid was over $100 for him and a hen (bid was donated to the group and the birds to myself, I am still so incredibly thankful I wish I had more time and money to put into these guys... I still honestly kind of want to keep them, minimum wage doesn't leave a whole lot of room when I'm also paying the mortgage though. He's been such a fabulous bird and even was a showmanship bird during fair in 2019! He tolerated many hours of pets and exhibition to the public xD

After the homers are gone... that'll be tough who to choose to sell next. I'll probably rehome some of my doves as I'm at a 1:3 ratio right now (and my one cockbird does not appreciate having more than one wife! but the ladies get along so I've got them together for now) and then maybe my crazy redhead pigeons and the opal boy I had born earlier this year... It's a bummer cause I love the opal colors but he's really darkening out and I just don't need him for anything. Him and his mom, the 4 red rollers (parents and 2 squab), 2 dove hens and the trio of homers all being rehomed should put me at a better feed bill... I'm hoping.

Going into my loft just makes me think of all of the genetic projects I wanted to do... and now working and such I just don't feel I have as much time to dedicate to it all. RIP plans to see what an Ice Almond would look like (birm x damascene) but maybe one day. Hopefully everyone's dreams come true one day <3

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

I finally have pigeons! I ended up with two pairs of white kings and one pair of silver kings, a single white Carneau, and a single homer that wouldn’t settle in the guy’s loft I got them from so he just gave him to me.

they’re getting used to their new accommodations and telling what they don’t like, so I’m making some adjustments to the loft... best laid plans of mice and men... and all that

View attachment 2604921View attachment 2604922View attachment 2604920

I'm guessing they can pack away some food haha

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I'm guessing they can pack away some food haha

Well, I’m new to all this so I don’t really know, lol

But I added a pair of gold archangels today so now I can compare

 

[backyard pigeons]

How do you guys price your pigeons?

Cave man gave you good advice, but I couldn't sell a homer for $40 here.

I sell mine for $10. I don't come close to breaking even, but that's okay. I like to get people started.

You will learn, pigeon people are known to be mighty proud of their birds. So for a buyer to go off someone's word of your birds being a great bloodline and their great race results is a bit risky. That is info passed from two people to the buyer. This is NOT to discredit your birds bloodline, they look like great birds. But I am just saying a racer will take the info given as a grain of salt. Your main market will be for fanciers looking for pets\a casual hobby. I hope this makes sense and doesn't sound rude. I am just saying without a pedigree or you racing your own birds, racing fanciest won't be interested in putting down much money. I hope you do get the price you want though!

I am experiencing hardships, at 20 I'm now the sole provider for my household and the 15 odd pigeons or so I've got are eating just a bit too much, I'm going through over a bag a month and I need it to be a bag or less :'D

I am so sorry to hear this man... I will be praying for you and your family.