Raising Squab, old fashioned style?

[Chic-n-farmer]

Years ago I had pigeons nesting in the loft of my old chicken house. Occasionally a squeaker would get down to the floor and there would be nothing but the wings left when i found it.

I had to make a wire 'ceiling' to keep the chickens from getting the young pigeons.

 

[Teach97]

I think I should clarify...my chickens are in cages on one side and my pigeons are in a more open space on another side of a divider...yes the chickens will eat the babies plus too many of my stupid big pigeons like to nest on the ground! Lazy bums won't fly up to the nice nests I made!!!

 

[Klorinth]

I was definitely not thinking about letting them have access to each others space. Unless the pigeons want to fly into the outdoor ranging area. I couldn't control that of course, but I doubt that would be a problem.

I was thinking about the aviary being above or to the side of the coop. Two entrances. Two nesting spaces. Two feeding areas. Etc. I'm starting to formulate a couple if ideas for designs... I will post pics as soon as I get them started. I'll need help with dimensions, and accessories.


I'm thinking about this idea of catching some wild birds... I will need to check the bridge by me and see if they have been nesting there. There is also a farm just down the road that has been there for over 100 years now. They must have some hanging out.

I'm not sure that I can get many birds from the local breeders. So far I have only been able to find breeders of the fancy breeds. No utility breeds. I may be wrong here, i may just need to ask a couple of them. There are a couple of breeders of Rollers. Maybe it would be better for me to have wild ones to start with though. They would have all of the survival instincts that I would want fully intact. It seems that they would be less of an issue with our hawks. Which we do have, both small and very large. The big ones have the size of a young Bold Eagle. Not to mention the owls; horny, barn, burrowing, and the great Snowy Owls from the arctic. Those are a sight! Huge and silent. Even when they fly within 30' of your head!... Sorry. Got off on a tangent.


How about on to some breeding thoughts?... If I were to start out with wild strains then wanted to add a utility strain... How do you encourage the pairing of two birds? Is it simply picking which young ones you want, then confining them in an enclosed aviary?

My wife and I breed hunting/show dogs. So I understand the genetics of breeding, and even how to improve on a breeds genetics. I use computer programs to keep track of our breeds pedigrees, and even some recessive genes. What I don't know of course is the details of pigeon behaviour. Especially mating behaviours.

I really appreciate all of the help. Thank you all!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Is it simply picking which young ones you want, then confining them in an enclosed aviary?

Thats about the only way to do it as far as I can tell. Pigeons can be hard to sex but if you dont ahve too many together, you may be able to observe which ones are paired, and they could be moved together to a seperate area.​

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I'm thinking about this idea of catching some wild birds

I made a trap to catch wild ones, and set it in a corn field after it was harvested. I got 10 birds in less than a week.

If I were to redo it, I'd put doors on both ends:

 

[FrChuckW]

In the old days it used to be only the lords of the manor were allowed to keep pigeons. They built the DoveCotes for them, cylindrical shaped buildings mostly with the holes in the upper section leading to nestboxes which were accessed from the inside of the cote.

Later on, the common people began to keep pigeons for food & sport. This is where people started developing the larger meat breeds of pigeons for food, and the smaller, more compact ones for flying and racing. Eventually came the development of the fancier breeds for showing and pets.

If you set up your coop for the birds you will want to get young, unflown birds as your initial breeding stock. Once you get them home and settled in to your loft, you can start allowing them their freedom. If you get older breeder birds, especially Homers and in some cases Rollers and Tipplers, if you let them loose they will try and head back for their old loft. They will have to be kept captive and have a flight attached to the loft for them to fly and exercise in.

Most of your meat type pigeon breeds, such as Kings, Modenas, Runts, Giant Homers, are not good flyers and are pretty much like chickens. Needing low nests and runs for them, they will forage somewhat, but mostly are kept caged.

Homers, will provide a squab about the size of a cornish game hen, maybe a little bit bigger. You harvest them at about 30 days of age while they still have some pin feathers under their wings and before they really start to fly.

The only thing you have to worry about feral pigeons is that they may bring disease into your loft. Otherwise, you will find that your birds may bring back some of the feral ones with them, or you may lose some of your birds to the feral flock.

Pigeons like a higher nesting site than chickens, so your idea of building higher is a good one.

For more information, go to The National Pigeon Website.

Http://www.NPA.org

 

[Klorinth]

FrChuckW,

Thank you for the fabulous information. You have confirmed some of the background that I was guessing at. Info on different abilities of each type is also appreciated.

Thank you.

Bear Foot Farm,

Nice trap! I think I could rig that up. How did you do the door. What is it that you used there? That is fairly heavy gauge.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Nice trap! I think I could rig that up. How did you do the door. What is it that you used there? That is fairly heavy gauge.

Thanks!

http://www.gundogsonline.com/bird-supplies/pigeon-house-door.html

Theres the door. The body of the trap is 1/2' hardware cloth. although you could use most any type of wire. I bent it into shape so I only had to use "J" Clips on one edge, and then cut squares for the ends. It's 3 ft long, and about 16 inches square. It's also good for transporting birds. I used it when I bought my 20, and it made it easy to put them in without letting the others escape.

When moving it with birds inside, I run a bungee cord inside the door bars, and hook it across the end of the cage to prevent the bars from swinging in.. Its also designed so you can prop the bars in an opened position to let the birds out

I thought about trying to make the door myself, but couldnt find any material I thought would be light enough, and I had that door left over from building my coop and aviary. The bars are a heavy aluminum wire​

 

[Klorinth]

Thanks! That is definitely a nicer door than what I would be able to make. If it was for fish or crustaceans, easy. Birds are just a little too smart for those types.

I'll have to do some more thinking about this.

Thanks again.

 

[Teach97]

If you plan on just letting them range I would not put the utility breeds into my genetics. If you know some guys with rollers, get there rejects...they won't do the rolls and such and rollers argreat parents! Lots of folks use them to foster other breeds. They will cross easily with the wild ones and will probably bring some back home at some point. Another trick to use with the traps is to plant a few birds in it already...