Pigeons and Chickens??

Pgreer82

Hatching
Apr 18, 2015
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I currently have 7 chickens in a fairly large pen and coop. (Pen 14x10x7, coop 8x4x4)

I'm getting into bird hunting and need pigeons to train my dog. Could I keep the pigeons in the pen w the chickens or does that cause some sort of problems? The pen is fully enclosed. I'm thinking no more than 5 at a time.

Thought?
 
I think adult pigeons might be OK with the chickens if they have plenty of places up high to get away if the chickens are chasing them. Chickens will eat baby pigeons though so if you are gonna be letting them breed then put them in a separate cage for that, until the babies are fully grown and can fly away from the chickens if they need too (a rabbit hutch would work for them to breed in).
 
I kept silkies and pigeons together for a nearly a year and had no incidents. But if you have large fowl, I'd be careful, esp with tiny baby pigeons.
If you put up high roosts then the pigeons will hang up there a lot, and that gives some separation between them and the chickens.
 
I'm only interested in adults. So based on what you are saying, it should be fine as long as I have a roost higher up in the pen for them to sit on. My other concern is health. Will wild pigeons transfer disease to my chickens via their poop?
 
I'm not sure about diseases.
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I'm only interested in adults. So based on what you are saying, it should be fine as long as I have a roost higher up in the pen for them to sit on. My other concern is health. Will wild pigeons transfer disease to my chickens via their poop?
In a perfect world you should be fine. That being said given an opportunity chickens will cannibalize a weaken adult bird or squab and eat their eggs.
 
I'd de-louse n worm your ferals gotten, before putting in with your chooks. Healthier for both n dogs too. Most hunters I knew just used homers, breeding their own after while, also letting them bring in ferals to use.
I knew a guy who used roll down rollers n when he shot in air, and they'd roll down n dogs would retrieve.

Youll find pigeons great entertainment in keeping training n raising. The eggs n meat are delicious also, akin to quail others say, and I think delicious all its own.
 
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That seems cruel to use live pigeons to train dogs..... that is banned here in the UK.. thankfully. Why can't you use dummies or dead birds?

The pigeons are actually living things.. not objects.
 
I raise pigeons. The dog training referred to is humane if done correctly, because the dog is not going to touch the pigeon. I know several dog owners who have a few homing pigeons of their own. A pigeon is put into a cage hidden on the ground under tall grass etc, and with a remote control door opener. The dog, a pointer type bird dog, is learning to smell out the bird and to go "on point" at it, that is, to freeze with the nose pointed at the bird telling the hunter where it is. On command, the dog is then to slowly move closer and "flush" the bird into the air for the hunter to shoot. In training with pigeons, the dog is told to "flush", and the trainer uses the remote control to open the cage. The homing pigeon flies into the air and back home to the trainer's loft where he has a nice supper waiting, and the dog is praised for correctly flushing the bird.

The inhumane hunters are the ones who go to a pigeon show or bird sale and buy whatever pigeon is cheap and use it this way. That pigeon is usually NOT a homer, and has no loft to fly home to, so after it is released it starves to death. In fairness, all of the guys I talked to at poultry auctions thought that all pigeons could could just find their way home. After I explained this to any number of hunters asking about buying my pigeons for training dogs, they have all stopped the practice and switched to using homers. A dog trainer really only needs a couple of birds, they don't usually take a bunch of dogs in the field at once, and it is a lot cheaper and easier for him to keep a couple in his garage or shed than to make repeated trips to bird sales and pay for many birds he can only use once. So there is no incentive for the hunter to continue once somebody explains this to him.
 

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