Pigeon won't loft fly, but then likes to take her time on tosses

[degunuts]

Hey there! When I let one of my birds out, all she really wants to do is sit on the ground and peck at the grass. Not much flying, just eating. When I toss her though, she takes quite a long time to get home, i.e. 3 hours for 10 miles. is she just having fun on tosses, and is there any way I can get her to fly around the house more? Thanks! Oh, and as for diet because I assume that will be important, I feed her des moines deluxe racing feed.

 

[backyard pigeons]

When I let one of my birds out, all she really wants to do is sit on the ground and peck at the grass. Not much flying, just eating

is she flying with other birds? What do the other birds do? This is a common hard-to-break habit. Mine always did this until I had tosses them two weeks without a break, reaching only 5 miles (yeah, I baby my birds ).

When I toss her though, she takes quite a long time to get home, i.e. 3 hours for 10 miles. is she just having fun on tosses, and is there any way I can get her to fly around the house more?

again, is this the only bird being tossed? single bird tosses are death to a pigeon. Is she very hungry on tosses? If not, she's got no motivation to come back quickly. Feeding less will also help birds get fit.

For longer loft flys, toss to keep them in shape (always fly in groups of 4+) and fly them hungry, but not to hungry where they will drop down at first sight of you with food. Have a food call, so they KNOW if you are feeding them, or cleaning loft, etc. Without a food call, all they see is you around the loft and think FOOD!!! Fly birds early in the day, so they have at least three hours of daylight.

Remember, keep birds healthy and in shape. Toss once a week (at least) clean loft regularly, loft fly regularly, feed as much as they can eat in eight to twelve minutes. I always feed my birds once a day all they can eat in eight minutes. I have been corrected for feeding two little food by fancies. Guess what, there fat birds last ten minutes in the air while mine go two hours! Haha.

 

[degunuts]

is she flying with other birds? What do the other birds do? This is a common hard-to-break habit. Mine always did this until I had tosses them two weeks without a break, reaching only 5 miles (yeah, I baby my birds ).
again, is this the only bird being tossed? single bird tosses are death to a pigeon. Is she very hungry on tosses? If not, she's got no motivation to come back quickly. Feeding less will also help birds get fit.

For longer loft flys, toss to keep them in shape (always fly in groups of 4+) and fly them hungry, but not to hungry where they will drop down at first sight of you with food. Have a food call, so they KNOW if you are feeding them, or cleaning loft, etc. Without a food call, all they see is you around the loft and think FOOD!!! Fly birds early in the day, so they have at least three hours of daylight.

Remember, keep birds healthy and in shape. Toss once a week (at least) clean loft regularly, loft fly regularly, feed as much as they can eat in eight to twelve minutes. I always feed my birds once a day all they can eat in eight minutes. I have been corrected for feeding two little food by fancies. Guess what, there fat birds last ten minutes in the air while mine go two hours! Haha.

hm, I'll try that feeding thing. I've always just called them for food at about 1 and filled them up with enough for the day, but I suppose thats a bit much in the end. Also, it is unfortunately the only bird being tossed, which might make sense since they're flock birds. I've got other young birds, however they're still being homed and I'm going to be building a new loft for them anyway. I could train one of them to be a flight buddy for the single bird, though. Would 2 birds be enough to get them moving?

 

[backyard pigeons]

hm, I'll try that feeding thing. I've always just called them for food at about 1 and filled them up with enough for the day, but I suppose thats a bit much in the end. Also, it is unfortunately the only bird being tossed, which might make sense since they're flock birds. I've got other young birds, however they're still being homed and I'm going to be building a new loft for them anyway. I could train one of them to be a flight buddy for the single bird, though. Would 2 birds be enough to get them moving?

Personally, I have never seen wild pigeons in a flock of two. They are flock animals by nature. How many birds do you have?

May I ask where you are located?

 

[degunuts]

Personally, I have never seen wild pigeons in a flock of two. They are flock animals by nature. How many birds do you have?

May I ask where you are located?

located in the st. Louis area, though in a rural suburb. I've got about 6-7 birds I can fly with her (about just as many birds that are homed somewhere else or are currently on eggs or feeding babies) if I train them to this loft, I'm just wondering if I should do that though or wait to finish building the new loft so they home there instead.

 

[backyard pigeons]

located in the st. Louis area, though in a rural suburb. I've got about 6-7 birds I can fly with her (about just as many birds that are homed somewhere else or are currently on eggs or feeding babies) if I train them to this loft, I'm just wondering if I should do that though or wait to finish building the new loft so they home there instead.

I would wait till the other one is done. resetting homers ten feet is harder than you would think.

 

[degunuts]

I would wait till the other one is done. resetting homers ten feet is harder than you would think.

fair enough. I've got a real young bird that is probably still impressionable, I'll let that one fly around with the MIA bird and see if that helps. Won't toss them together just because the young bird is young and I want it to home to the new loft, but worst case scenario I have a bird homed to the wrong loft.

 

[degunuts]

I will say though, I think the feeding is probably the big kicker here. A lone bird probably won't loft fly much, but a well fed bird has no real reason to fly at all, and they are quite well fed. I'll probably start easing up on their feed- cheaper for me, and better for their performance and relationship with me. Far easier to call a hungry bird than a bird that might just want a snack!

 

[degunuts]

Just as an update, the bird in question was tossed yesterday at noon and hasn’t come home yet, so she’s either being lazy and fat or is dead. Other than that, the feeding change worked great! All the birds came to me when they heard me coming and shaking their food, and they were much more energetic. A few of em even decided to take a bath! The birds on eggs and squabs weren’t off for too long either. Hopefully the wanderer will show up once she gets hungry and she can join their diet. Tossed her without letting her hang around the loft (no flying, still) and she had been given some treat corn the night before, as well as the food trough still having some food in it, so she had no real reason to rush home.

 

[degunuts]

Just as an update, the bird in question was tossed yesterday at noon and hasn’t come home yet, so she’s either being lazy and fat or is dead. Other than that, the feeding change worked great! All the birds came to me when they heard me coming and shaking their food, and they were much more energetic. A few of em even decided to take a bath! The birds on eggs and squabs weren’t off for too long either. Hopefully the wanderer will show up once she gets hungry and she can join their diet. Tossed her without letting her hang around the loft (no flying, still) and she had been given some treat corn the night before, as well as the food trough still having some food in it, so she had no real reason to rush home.

I will say, I wish there was a way to know if she got eaten or is just lost. I hope she comes back though! Only been two days, and I’ve had birds come back after three or four, but who knows...