Pigeons & Chickens - Yes? No? Maybe?

[CochinBrahmaLover]

So we have 3 pigeons, 3 quails and 11 chickies (soon to be 13). When the next 2 come (seremas, being shipped by a fellow BYCer

), we want them to run in the garden area. Its already mostly fenced off, so it don't matter much. Well, the quail will also be there, and hopefully the pigeons. For now the pigeons have been in a rabbit hutch (with a failed stick perch), with chickens eating anything they drop, or whatever. I THINK I've had them for about 5 days like this. Heres my Q. Can i house Seremas, Quails and pigeons together? It will have deer netting top, and be cut off with wood, and have a garden, and all the good fenced off fun to run around. So, before I go clipping pigeons wings (we have them currently free ranging in the garden section, 2 of their wings are clipped and the 3rd pigeon doenst have clipped wing so she has to be in a wire cage with grass and a perch while her friends sit on a dirt pile

), can I house them ? And if the chickens would get sick how long before symptons develop of a disease transmitted? They like to scratch in the pigeons old bedding (which is mostly poop

) and any food dropped, so if they got dieases, I'd imagine syptons would be showing.


Thanks in advance

 

[abluechipstock]

it has to be a big run, but remember chickens are very dominant and will kill any young pigeons that hit the floor and can't fly, i have a 12x10 dog kennel with a roof over it, i have cochins, red golden pheasants and pigeons in there, my cochins are mild mannered or i wouldn't trust having the pigeons in there. i feed purina flockraiser and they all eat it

 

[albert w]

I can't let my chickens and pigeons out at the same time. The chickens (4 production reds) are just too territorial. They even chase off the robins, tweety birds, squirrels and rabbits that show up in the yard. Maybe they would eventually learn to tolerate the pigeons but I'm not willing to risk it. Good luck!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

These are seremas tho... class A.. so like the same size as the pigeons... I was mostly worried about disease, but thanks anyways

I'm willing to risk it ONLY BECAUSE I'll be there when we introduce them, and until the pigeons can fly (i clipped the wings D: Bad mistake) they will have different ranging times

 

[Faith SL]

Hello CochinBrahmaLover, there is always a chance that pigeons can pick up disease/sickness from chickens if housed together (pigeons are more likely to contract something from chickens than chickens are from pigeons), but I have personally never had a problem with it. My first pigeons were housed in a chicken coop and I still keep some Birmingham Rollers in a newer chicken house/run area. Oddly enough the chicken coop is the place where as of yet not the slightest disease or sickness has affected any of my pigeons staying there, even with the dirtier environment and territorial heavy breed clucks which roam around.

It took a while for my chickens to get used to the pigeons and leave them alone when they landed on the ground, but I would still strongly caution keeping any young pigeons with chickens or letting pairs of pigeons raise young in a chicken coop. If any young pigeons land on the ground while testing out their wings and cannot get out of the way of the chickens, the chickens might try to kill the young pigeon. Keep an eye on your adult pigeons with clipped wings, as they cannot easily get away and could be in great danger if attacked by a territorial chicken.

When keeping Seramas, quail and pigeons together, I would recommend to definitely not allow any pigeons to raise young in the same area unless they have a large nesting compartment of their own which is kept closed. Being small, curious and having the ability to fly higher than many breeds of heavier chickens, bantams can usually fly up to areas which pigeons are trying to nest at and could end up attacking the parent birds or youngsters and causing chaos.

One tip for keeping pigeons and chickens together: Provide a separate water container/fount just for your pigeons. Try and place it in an area high off of the ground where it is easy for your pigeons to access but hard for your chickens and quail to access. This prevents your pigeon's water from getting dirty as much and will also help to prevent the spread of germs/sickness from the chickens through the water. You could also provide a separate feeder located high in the coop/house for your pigeons if you are feeding them a different feed and don't want the chickens or quail to eat up all of the pigeon food before eating their own food.

Best of luck with introducing your birds together - I hope all goes well!

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Hello CochinBrahmaLover, there is always a chance that pigeons can pick up disease/sickness from chickens if housed together (pigeons are more likely to contract something from chickens than chickens are from pigeons), but I have personally never had a problem with it. My first pigeons were housed in a chicken coop and I still keep some Birmingham Rollers in a newer chicken house/run area. Oddly enough the chicken coop is the place where as of yet not the slightest disease or sickness has affected any of my pigeons staying there, even with the dirtier environment and territorial heavy breed clucks which roam around.

It took a while for my chickens to get used to the pigeons and leave them alone when they landed on the ground, but I would still strongly caution keeping any young pigeons with chickens or letting pairs of pigeons raise young in a chicken coop. If any young pigeons land on the ground while testing out their wings and cannot get out of the way of the chickens, the chickens might try to kill the young pigeon. Keep an eye on your adult pigeons with clipped wings, as they cannot easily get away and could be in great danger if attacked by a territorial chicken.

When keeping Seramas, quail and pigeons together, I would recommend to definitely not allow any pigeons to raise young in the same area unless they have a large nesting compartment of their own which is kept closed. Being small, curious and having the ability to fly higher than many breeds of heavier chickens, bantams can usually fly up to areas which pigeons are trying to nest at and could end up attacking the parent birds or youngsters and causing chaos.

One tip for keeping pigeons and chickens together: Provide a separate water container/fount just for your pigeons. Try and place it in an area high off of the ground where it is easy for your pigeons to access but hard for your chickens and quail to access. This prevents your pigeon's water from getting dirty as much and will also help to prevent the spread of germs/sickness from the chickens through the water. You could also provide a separate feeder located high in the coop/house for your pigeons if you are feeding them a different feed and don't want the chickens or quail to eat up all of the pigeon food before eating their own food.

Best of luck with introducing your birds together - I hope all goes well!

Well, I've decided to sell the quail. Their all roosters and will just be a hassle to stay warm over winter, but unless I can find some hens (I would sell 2 of the roosters) their gonna go. They have a while to stay tho

Thanks for the tip, I was more worried for the chickies! The set up we have is 2 cages, (one chicken one pigeon), and until the pigeons can fly again the ranging time will be monitered. They will always have perches to fly on, and yes, they will ALL have seperate feeders and waterers

Thanks for the pointers

 

[De Wet]

hi

i once have chicken with pigeon s and the problem was the chickens pecking at the doves. I remember one of the pigeons have a little blood stain from
all the pecking when all the chicken pick it up everyone pecking it untill there was a big hole in the dove s flesh and the dove die later. So i will not advice to keep chicken with dove s, maybe in a very big backyard or enclosure. I well kept it with pheasants, got australian crested pigeons with reeves pheasants, fantails with yellow throat spurfowls, cape cinnamon doves with golden pheasants and even quail with daimond doves. I got emarald spotted wood doves young walking with chinese quail without any problems.