Pigeon Talk

[SwampPrincessChick]

Grizzle basically produces a salt and pepper pattern of depigmentation on the feathers. Even on my grizzles that appear to have dark flight or tail feathers, the pigment reduces closer to the feather shaft so they are not fully colored. The heterozygous form produces various amounts of depigmentation, while homozygous form of grizzle produces a mostly white bird. When you breed grizzle to grizzle the babies almost always get lighter and lighter.

This pair consists of a heterozygous grizzle hen, and homozygous grizzle cock.

Those grizzled pigeons are beautiful! I have never understood genetics, but I am trying to get better at it.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I have to ask, where do all of you get your pigeons from? I have searched pigeon hatcheries and similar places, but I haven't found any source that look good.

When I went to my 1st club meeting, hadn't even joined yet, many were offering to help me get started with breeding pairs for free, so I got several. Also, one old timer racer passed on, and his pigeons went up for sale. I bought several & his loft, had it moved to my place. He bought his original stock out of Belgium. The clubs also have their own mini auctions. They have young bird & old bird sales, old bird is not really "old" per se, just an expression that it is a grown bird you could get younsters from. Their bands show the year they're hatched, so getting 1, 2 or 3 yr olds is fine. You can bid on pigeons, the young bird auction is for youngsters, not even flying yet or just started flying but not let out to fly free yet, so that once you bid & get them, you're supposed to put them in your loft to grow up & recognize as home, train them to fly for upcoming races. But the old bird sale is for getting a nice breeding pair or just some pigeons to add new bloodlines to your own. See what I mean about the pigeon clubs? They are very valuable resources! They often have fancy types, too, Most pigeon fanciers have a few breeds. You can get race results & buy offspring of race winners, they'll have proven Homing abilities. If you go to a regular animal auction, you don't really know what you're getting & if the birds are banded, there probably isn't time to research & get ahold of who they're banded by to ask questions. Some people do buy pigeons at these types auctions & get fancy types that are fine, some homers that are fine, you never know. I like to hold & handle a bird before I bring it home, check for good health.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I have to ask, where do all of you get your pigeons from? I have searched pigeon hatcheries and similar places, but I haven't found any source that look good.

I got most of mine by accident. My first pigeon was from a breeder and the rest are all birds who got lost whose owners weren’t looking for them. Or injured feral pigeons who can’t be released. I got this fancy guy for free from someone whose entire flock was killed by hawks:

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

When I went to my 1st club meeting, hadn't even joined yet, many were offering to help me get started with breeding pairs for free, so I got several. Also, one old timer racer passed on, and his pigeons went up for sale. I bought several & his loft, had it moved to my place. He bought his original stock out of Belgium. The clubs also have their own mini auctions. They have young bird & old bird sales, old bird is not really "old" per se, just an expression that it is a grown bird you could get younsters from. Their bands show the year they're hatched, so getting 1, 2 or 3 yr olds is fine. You can bid on pigeons, the young bird auction is for youngsters, not even flying yet or just started flying but not let out to fly free yet, so that once you bid & get them, you're supposed to put them in your loft to grow up & recognize as home, train them to fly for upcoming races. But the old bird sale is for getting a nice breeding pair or just some pigeons to add new bloodlines to your own. See what I mean about the pigeon clubs? They are very valuable resources! They often have fancy types, too, Most pigeon fanciers have a few breeds. You can get race results & buy offspring of race winners, they'll have better Homing abilities. If you go to a regular animal auction, you don't really know what you're getting & if the birds are banded, there probably isn't time to research & get ahold of who they're banded by to ask questions. Some people do buy pigeons at these types auctions & get fancy types that are fine, some homers that are fine, you never know. I like to hold & handle a bird before I bring it home, check for good health.

Thank you for all of your information, this thread is helping me a lot to learn about pigeons! I would love to get some next year, but I tell myself I need to do a ton of research before purchasing any new animal. Plus, I don't have enough to room to house pigeons anywhere. Speaking of Homing pigeons, how do you train them to do homing, and when?

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I got most of mine by accident. My first pigeon was from a breeder and the rest are all birds who got lost whose owners weren’t looking for them. Or injured feral pigeons who can’t be released. I got this fancy guy for free from someone whose entire flock was killed by hawks: View attachment 3585188

Your pigeon is very cute! While we're on the hawk topic, I also am hesitant about ever raising pigeons because we have many hawks and kites that live close by, and would attack the pigeons any chance they could. Fortunately they haven't ever gotten the chickens, but have tried. How do you keep your pigeons safe from hawks?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Your pigeon is very cute! While we're on the hawk topic, I also am hesitant about ever raising pigeons because we have many hawks and kites that live close by, and would attack the pigeons any chance they could. Fortunately they haven't ever gotten the chickens, but have tried. How do you keep your pigeons safe from hawks?

Mine live in a closed aviary. Hawks are dangerous for chickens, but they’re even more dangerous for pigeons, especially fancy breeds like the one pictured. (The fancier the pigeon, the less flying skills they have.)

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

These are two of the individuals among a feral flock that I feed occasionally.

Does the first pigeon having feathered feet mean that he/she has an Ice pigeon ancestor? And what color is the second pigeon pictured, grizzle or pied?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I am still learning!

 

[Qwerty3159]

Pied typically manifests itself as large white spots on the head, that one is a grizzle. In the second pic the lowest wing feather hanging down shows the white grizzle markings towards the base, while the majority of the feather is still dark.

Also, the feathered feet doesn’t mean the pigeon has an Ice ancestor, just because there are a lot of breeds with feathered feet, but definitely some sort of fancy pigeon genetics at play there.

I get all of my pigeons from Craigslist.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Mine live in a closed aviary. Hawks are dangerous for chickens, but they’re even more dangerous for pigeons, especially fancy breeds like the one pictured. (The fancier the pigeon, the less flying skills they have.)

For sure.

There are a lot of flying breeds like rollers, tipplers, homers, etc. In my personal belief I think the racing homer is the best flier of them all and therefore best able to escape hawks.

I have a lot of hawk pressure on my loft and I have a couple birds now that have been flying here for four years and escaped hundreds of unsuccessful hawk attacks. After a few months of age pigeons get pretty hawk savvy and are likely to live a long while unless they have a bad day. The hawks target the young inexperienced birds.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Pied typically manifests itself as large white spots on the head, that one is a grizzle. In the second pic the lowest wing feather hanging down shows the white grizzle markings towards the base, while the majority of the feather is still dark.

Also, the feathered feet doesn’t mean the pigeon has an Ice ancestor, just because there are a lot of breeds with feathered feet, but definitely some sort of fancy pigeon genetics at play there.

I get all of my pigeons from Craigslist.

Thank you, I find color varieties an interesting thing to study, even if I am not good at understanding genetics. Also, I had forgotten there were other breeds besides the Ice that had feathered feet!