questions about pigeons

[sydney13]

i was planning on getting a pair of pigeons to live with my chickens but i have a lot of questions first. I would have them share the chicken run with my hens but they would have a separate loft that they sleep in to prevent diseases.
could they live in a large bird house, like the type for owls or is this two small (they would have a 10ft by 10ft pen area to fly in during the day)
is it ok to get 2 females so i dont have to worry about them hatching eggs or is it best to get a male and female.
is it best to buy adults, eggs or chicks if i bought the eggs to hatch and then 2 males hatched would they fight?
id let them fly out of the pen only as i was outside to prevent hawks so when they fly do they go around the neighborhood or just stay in the yard and do they go up to the tree tops or just stay near ground level? When you are ready to put them back in the pen how do u catch them?
and can chickens eat pigeon grit (i know chicken grit isn't good for pigeons)
and my last question is what breed of pigeon is the most docile and likes to be handled
thanx

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

- As long as they have somewhere to roost and get out of the weather, they should be fine. Something about the size of an outdoor rabbit hutch works great for a pair of pigeons.
- Same sex pairs are okay. Whether you get two females, or two males, chances are they will eventually mate up and pretend to be a normal pair. Then of course the hens would build a nest and sit on 4 infertile eggs. Getting a normal pair will be fine. All you'd have to do is replace their two eggs with a small chicken egg, and they will hatch chickens for you (I do this all the time, even standard sized eggs and quail eggs). Otherwise, you can hardboil some eggs for them to incubate.
- Depending on what breed of pigeon you get, they may fly more or less, higher, or lower. Fancy breeds will only go here and there, mostly staying on the roof. Flying breeds like homers and rollers will fly in flocks, well above the trees. Either way, keep them in their cage for about a month before letting them out. Then when you do, they'll know that's their home, and they will go back inside on their own when it's time to roost.
- Chickens can eat pigeon grit and pigeons can eat chicken grit. The only difference is the size of the rocks. Chicken grit tends to be a bit larger, and a lot of the smaller pigeons won't touch it. Chickens however, don't seem to care much about pigeon grit being smaller, they'll eat it anyway.
- Any pigeon breeds can be tamed and friendly. The flying breeds are usually more active, so they CAN be harder to tame. Fancy birds like Fantails, who can't fly very well, make great pets. But, they are easily targeted by hawks. So if they are outside where predators can get to them, it's best for you to be out there keeping an eye on the birds just in case. If you want a breed that you can watch fly around, homers or rollers are a good choice. If you decide on homers though, be sure to get some young ones so they learn your home as theirs. Older birds will go back to their previous home.


- Speaking of which, on the age part. If you want docile birds, then the younger, the better. So about 1-2 months old is the best time to start with that. Getting eggs to hatch isn't a good idea because they hatch out completely dependent on the parents from day one. They'd need to be handfed formula about every 2 hours to start with. Takes up a lot of time!