Pigeon Talk

[TheCluckyClucker2]

I like the satinettes. They are pretty. I am a sucker for feathered feet though.

 

[WVduckchick]

I lost one of my oldest birds today, found him dead on the ground, no apparent wounds or injuries.
2018 Bluette
R.I.P. Skye.

 

[Pigeon28]

After moving to my new house and relocating the loft I have have had nothing but issues. After the last snow/windstorm I find that my covers for my front ventilation are not sufficient. What are people’s thoughts if I removed the lower ventilation completely and added a screen door instead of my full door for a cross ventilation from the window I have?

 

[avjudge]

. . . if I removed the liver ventilation completely . . .

louver??

Is the problem snow blowing in? if so, is the advantage of the door that it's on a different wall, so less exposed to the wind? because a screen door would in general be expected to provide less protection than a louvered opening, if that's what problematic ventilation has.

For the record, my pigeon aviary had snow all the way in from this current storm, which is unusual. We also got a long thin strip of snow blown way into the barn (like 10') through a small gap where my husband didn't close the two doors tight against each other after feeding breakfast. We don't normally see either of these here, where the wind normally comes only after the storm - and I didn't notice it being particularly windy during the storm, so maybe it was partly the small light flakes.

 

[Pigeon28]

louver??

Is the problem snow blowing in? if so, is the advantage of the door that it's on a different wall, so less exposed to the wind? because a screen door would in general be expected to provide less protection than a louvered opening, if that's what problematic ventilation has.

For the record, my pigeon aviary had snow all the way in from this current storm, which is unusual. We also got a long thin strip of snow blown way into the barn (like 10') through a small gap where my husband didn't close the two doors tight against each other after feeding breakfast. We don't normally see either of these here, where the wind normally comes only after the storm - and I didn't notice it being particularly windy during the storm, so maybe it was partly the small light flakes.

Was supposed to be lower. The screen door part would really only be for the summer but hoping it would fix some of the rain because it would be on the side of my garage and if I removed the lower part permanently it should stop the snow in winter also. I will probably have to play around with a few ideas as I definitely don’t want a wet loft but won’t want a stale one either

 

[Qwerty3159]

My personal opinion is that a stale loft is preferable to a wet loft regarding snow getting in, in the sense that it’s better for the loft to be stale for a short time than have dampness which will linger.
I have some sheets of plastic that I hook onto the wire mesh with small bungee cords and normally I pin them up at the top but roll them down when it snows or rains and put them back up immediately after. I have more ventilation by the roof and under the eaves that has been sufficient so far for me.

Also with this setup i made it easy to add and remove the solid panels to increase ventilation. Sometimes I’ll take off one side off on a cold dry day when I clean the loft out.

 

[alwaysthere4chickens]

I lost one of my oldest birds today, found him dead on the ground, no apparent wounds or injuries.
2018 Bluette
R.I.P. Skye.
View attachment 2963068

How old was he?

 

[sourland]

How old was he?

2018 bird would make him most likely going on 4 years old. Young for a pigeon.

 

[WVduckchick]

2018 bird would make him most likely going on 4 years old. Young for a pigeon.

He was one that I bought when I first started with pigeons, one of only a couple that weren’t date-banded. the seller was pretty sure he was a 2018 bird, but not positive. So it’s possible he was a bit older, but surely not much.

I’m sure I’ve asked, but what is a pigeons average life span?

 

[Serin]

Indoor birds should live 15+ years. Outdoor birds in the elements I imagine are exposed to more pathogens and the weather so it's going to be more variable.
Feral pigeons average 9 months.