Pigeon Talk

[WVduckchick]

My girls seem to be on a laying binge! I’m going to have to take some eggs away. I think I have over 50 pigeons now, and their pen was getting cramped. I have porcelain d’uccles next to them that hatched some chicks a while back, and some of the chicks ventured over with the pigeons. So I finally removed most of the netting between the 2 pens. Now both can go back and forth. They get along ok. The pigeons stay up higher if a chicken is bothering it. Lol

 

[Amer]

My girls seem to be on a laying binge! I’m going to have to take some eggs away. I think I have over 50 pigeons now, and their pen was getting cramped. I have porcelain d’uccles next to them that hatched some chicks a while back, and some of the chicks ventured over with the pigeons. So I finally removed most of the netting between the 2 pens. Now both can go back and forth. They get along ok. The pigeons stay up higher if a chicken is bothering it. Lol
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Your pigeons are so beautiful!

 

[WVduckchick]

Your pigeons are so beautiful!

Thank you! They sure are lovable.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

My flock just hanging out on this relatively nice winter day. This is the most hawk-free winter I’ve had since starting out with pigeons.

All those birds are beautiful!! I love the white with speckled neck!

My girls seem to be on a laying binge! I’m going to have to take some eggs away. I think I have over 50 pigeons now, and their pen was getting cramped. I have porcelain d’uccles next to them that hatched some chicks a while back, and some of the chicks ventured over with the pigeons. So I finally removed most of the netting between the 2 pens. Now both can go back and forth. They get along ok. The pigeons stay up higher if a chicken is bothering it. Lol
View attachment 3418819View attachment 3418820

I love your flock!! Oh my goodness are they all beautiful! I almost didn’t see that D’Uccle in the photo


Question to all..
Is it just my birds that are weird and have babies in the colder months as well?
They lay eggs and start hatching babies starting in January, the two haven’t stopped having babies since they started this year.. I swear they’ve had two sets of babies already and are working on another two squabs as I type this!

You’d think I’d be over run but I do believe the feral male that moved in has run off the other males even though I have the whole shed for them to be in. I only have one female hanging around as of late, none hanging around the horse barn anymore either..

 

[WVduckchick]

All those birds are beautiful!! I love the white with speckled neck!


I love your flock!! Oh my goodness are they all beautiful! I almost didn’t see that D’Uccle in the photo


Question to all..
Is it just my birds that are weird and have babies in the colder months as well?
They lay eggs and start hatching babies starting in January, the two haven’t stopped having babies since they started this year.. I swear they’ve had two sets of babies already and are working on another two squabs as I type this!

You’d think I’d be over run but I do believe the feral male that moved in has run off the other males even though I have the whole shed for them to be in. I only have one female hanging around as of late, none hanging around the horse barn anymore either..

Mine have hatched in cold months every year. I’ve removed 2 pairs of eggs already this year, trying to hold them off. I even had one girl sitting on d’uccle eggs! I need to check nest bowls that are above my head, I bet some have eggs. They do seem to lose one or both squabs if it’s too cold here.

I’ve said it’s a good thing they only hatch 2 at a time, because they can multiply so quickly!!

 

[cavemanrich]

All those birds are beautiful!! I love the white with speckled neck!


I love your flock!! Oh my goodness are they all beautiful! I almost didn’t see that D’Uccle in the photo


Question to all..
Is it just my birds that are weird and have babies in the colder months as well?
They lay eggs and start hatching babies starting in January, the two haven’t stopped having babies since they started this year.. I swear they’ve had two sets of babies already and are working on another two squabs as I type this!

You’d think I’d be over run but I do believe the feral male that moved in has run off the other males even though I have the whole shed for them to be in. I only have one female hanging around as of late, none hanging around the horse barn anymore either..

My pigeons used to lay in the cold weather. That is reason I had the plastic eggs to place into nest and remove the regular eggs.
So how many pigeons do you currently have,, with the new arrivals?? My male pigeons (adult) never chased away any of the offspring males. Some of those split on their own. One time, I had 2 young squabs. They were both males. They believed in the rainbow movement, and were always chummy, chummy to each other. This usually results when there are not enough females to pair up with. Works same in female gender. Hens will pair up with hen when no males available. One day, both males split, and never returned on a loft flight. Most of my pigeons on a loft flight would first fly to the roof top. Scan the horizon. Then fly laps around the grounds. Those 2 males, when they decided to split,,,,,,, flew directly out in same direction and quick. I guess searching greener pastures.
Do you have many aerial raptors present in your area currently??

They do seem to lose one or both squabs if it’s too cold here.

That is exactly my reason for not having winter (cold weather) hatching. Peeps with large lofts,,, that are weather protected, (walk-in type) can have winter hatching easier, and with more success.
Long long ago, before I had pigeons of my own,, a friend had a large loft. He heated his with a wood stove. The loft was the complete second floor of his garage. The stove was in bottom level of garage. He also raced his birds, and needed a continuous supply of fast birds. He did alright.

 

[WVduckchick]

My pigeons used to lay in the cold weather. That is reason I had the plastic eggs to place into nest and remove the regular eggs.
So how many pigeons do you currently have,, with the new arrivals?? My male pigeons (adult) never chased away any of the offspring males. Some of those split on their own. One time, I had 2 young squabs. They were both males. They believed in the rainbow movement, and were always chummy, chummy to each other. This usually results when there are not enough females to pair up with. Works same in female gender. Hens will pair up with hen when no males available. One day, both males split, and never returned on a loft flight. Most of my pigeons on a loft flight would first fly to the roof top. Scan the horizon. Then fly laps around the grounds. Those 2 males, when they decided to split,,,,,,, flew directly out in same direction and quick. I guess searching greener pastures.
Do you have many aerial raptors present in your area currently??

That is exactly my reason for not having winter (cold weather) hatching. Peeps with large lofts,,, that are weather protected, (walk-in type) can have winter hatching easier, and with more success.
Long long ago, before I had pigeons of my own,, a friend had a large loft. He heated his with a wood stove. The loft was the complete second floor of his garage. The stove was in bottom level of garage. He also raced his birds, and needed a continuous supply of fast birds. He did alright.

I have wooden eggs, that’s a good option I had forgotten about, thanks!
I haven’t looked at my count recently but I have around 50. I haven’t even been able to keep up with numbers of males and females. Though when I look at them, I believe I have more females than males, though fairly balanced. I’ll have to pay attention to more of the pairs to see if they look like same gender pairs. That’s an interesting thing to consider.

My pens are covered overhead with metal roof, but sides are just chicken wire. I add a tarp to the end where the wind comes in the worst in winter, to partially shield them, and the pigeons have some secluded boxes and such. I actually noticed an open shelf unit that a neighbor was throwing out one trash day. It had a couple broken panels, but I figured perfect for the birds! I barely got it in the back hatch of my car!

I’ve had my share of aerial raptors. My ducks free range during the day, so they seem to attract the predator birds. I currently have a young one (either red-tail or coopers) that has been tormenting them. He seems to want the pigeons and doesn’t attack the ducks, but I think he’s still too young. (He will likely attack new ducklings though, I have a duck that just started hatching her brood yesterday!) I’m trying to run him off before he grows up. So my Satinettes are never allowed to free fly. I think if I ever free flew any pigeons, they would be picked off, one by one.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Speaking of raptors I had one get taken on Sunday by a Cooper’s hawk. I walked behind the shed and loft and scared off the equally surprised hawk, pigeon was long gone by that point unfortunately. Seems like the hawk managed to surprise one of them on the ground behind the shed, and since he stayed back there during his meal the other pigeons eventually came back and went into the loft having no idea he was there.
Good news is my regimen of feeding the local crows and blue jays has paid off because I’ve watched a large group of both species chase the hawk off, who has been returning every day since the successful attack. It always sucks when this happens but I try to remind myself that the hawk usually only wins about 1/50 times, which helps optimism a bit.

 

[sourland]

It always sucks when this happens but I try to remind myself that the hawk usually only wins about 1/50 times, which helps optimism a bit.

Sadly, in my experience they become stealthier and more successful with practice. I even experienced one female Cooper's who would attack from beneath the flock as they were coming in to the landing platform. She would fly along a couple feet above the ground, flip over, and grab a bird from beneath.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

My pigeons used to lay in the cold weather. That is reason I had the plastic eggs to place into nest and remove the regular eggs.
So how many pigeons do you currently have,, with the new arrivals?? My male pigeons (adult) never chased away any of the offspring males. Some of those split on their own. One time, I had 2 young squabs. They were both males. They believed in the rainbow movement, and were always chummy, chummy to each other. This usually results when there are not enough females to pair up with. Works same in female gender. Hens will pair up with hen when no males available. One day, both males split, and never returned on a loft flight. Most of my pigeons on a loft flight would first fly to the roof top. Scan the horizon. Then fly laps around the grounds. Those 2 males, when they decided to split,,,,,,, flew directly out in same direction and quick. I guess searching greener pastures.
Do you have many aerial raptors present in your area currently??

That is exactly my reason for not having winter (cold weather) hatching. Peeps with large lofts,,, that are weather protected, (walk-in type) can have winter hatching easier, and with more success.
Long long ago, before I had pigeons of my own,, a friend had a large loft. He heated his with a wood stove. The loft was the complete second floor of his garage. The stove was in bottom level of garage. He also raced his birds, and needed a continuous supply of fast birds. He did alright.

I still somehow only have 3 pigeons EDIT: soon to be 5 as the original female is tending to two squabs.

I guess most have split from the coop, as there’s really no raptors present in the area. I’ve been here going on 5 years now and have only had two sightings and they were at least a mile from my house when sighted.

I know one of the original females is gone, their first offspring Fish is also gone, and any other offspring (from the feral male and my original female that’s still around) have also me gone. All but one that the feral male is now making advances on which makes me think it’s a female.

I know nothing is getting into the coop and there’s no sign around the property of an attack happening. I’m just flabbergasted that they’ve all disappeared because there’s been at least 6-8 offspring since last summer with only one from the last hatch sticking around.

That being said we have had a few pretty nasty wind/snow storms right around the time of a few offspring learning to fly and when they go out for their first flight the first few were gone for a whole week before coming back. So maybe they just got lost and couldn’t find a way back.. I do believe there’s a flock a few concessions from my house. So maybe they got lost but found another flock to live with. There’s a few feral flocks at the cow/turkey/chicken farms as well, so I think it’s best to believe they have flown the coop (albeit maybe unwittingly) and found a new family.

Maybe having chickens this year more will stick around but we have a lot of Starlings around so there’s probably not a lot besides what I give them for foraging around my property. Not to mention the red squirrel that’s decided to move in this past year that’s going to be a pain to deal with for opening the coop during the day