Tell me about keeping pigeons please!

[Print Tippler]

I misread, 4x2 is just fine. I though you said 2x1

 

[Tippler]

4x2' is good for 2 birds, actually 4 as most people follow a 2square feet per bird rule.

If you don't plan on breeding then it doesn't matter the breeds. If you want say 2 different breeds then just mate them up outside of that cage and put them together after.

Get young birds if you want them to be tame hold them daily, they will take a little time to warm up to you but it will happen.
The breeds you pick look good. I really like the west of England's

I wouldn't even put a nest box in it since it is already a smallish cage. Just a ledge up high and a bowl.

 

[Alicia G]

Ok so a 4 foot wide, by 2 feet deep, by 5-6 feet tall is ok? Well that's a relief because I was trying to figure out how I would get an even bigger cage in my house!

So if I got say a frillback male and a Satinette female, they will be fine together? And if they do mate, as long as they don't hatch said eggs they would fine?

 

[Print Tippler]

yes, but like i said, most people don't have tame birds. So keep that in mind or get young birds 1 month old or hand feed. Then they will be really lovely and not afraid of you at all. Right now i handle my birds from 5 days old everyday by picking them and walking around with them. Its does a lot to tame them. Hopefully they will still fly good for me.

 

[Tippler]

Yeah a 4x2 is plenty big for two. If you don't want babies you need to order some wood(or plastic) eggs and replace. We toss them to our dogs.

 

[Night_Wolf_Lofts]

Also, another thing to consider. Research the breeds before you get them. There was some great advice on feeding about Blondinettes and Modern Satinettes. You may want to consider which breed could be best.

Everyone has different experiences, but we used to raise frillbacks (there isn't many breeds we haven't had over the years) and they were quite aggressive. They are generally a larger sized bird and didn't tame very well. My wife originally wanted them and since we were planning on showing...that was great. But we found that they didn't do well in a community loft setting and even with us...they were more aggressive than I like. We had best luck with them by themselves in a larger aviary style loft where the pairs had plenty of room. In a smaller area...if a bird does take a notion to become overly aggressive, there isn't much room for the victim to get away and this could lead to very bad injury or death. I have seen it happen many times over when using individual breeding pens.

If you are going to go with Frillbacks, I would recommend a pair of them. I would also consider cost..although you may find them at a good price, if you can get some that are pet quality, but they can be quite expensive. When we started, we bought 4 pair of top notch birds at $350.00 a pair. Most folks just don't wanna spend this if they aren't going into it for show. They do make beautiful aviary birds though.

And you can find them a lot cheaper than that.

I would recommend one of the "owls" or the Satinettes..they are a great beginner breed and tame down quite easily. We have Old German Owls again after several years without them and when we go back to a breed....they have hit a soft spot.

They are nice dainty little birds and are beautiful.

Although as previously stated...pigeons are addictive and they all become beautiful after a time.

I started out with a pair of barn pigeons that I traded the neighbor boy for quite a few years back and at one time, we had over 700 pigeons here. So, yes, they do become quite addictive. LOL

If you need help locating a breed, please let me know, I'll help you to the best I can. Frillbacks can be tricky to locate, but they pop up from time to time. It is hard to find them though, that they aren't already spoken for. I believe that is why the ones you see pop up on online auctions and such go high.

Justin
Aquatic Wilds
Night Wolf Lofts

 

[hookedonpigeons]

Danny Joe Humphry of color pigeons raises frill backs.He is in Kinston N.C . Here is his website:www.colorpigeons.com

Thanks,
Logan

 

[franciscreek]

we hand fed a couple frillbacks this year, they turned out to be great birds. One of the 4-H kids is using one of them for her showmanship bird. It turns a lot of heads when she sets her down on the table. I think everyone expects her to fly away! We have six pairs that are kept with our portuguese tumblers. I havent seen any agression toward the tumblers, they are less than half the size of the frillbacks. We keep a couple pair of frillbacks and three or four pair of tumblers in each loft. There seem to be a lot of frillbacks around right now. I have seen them priced from $50.00 a pair up to $500.00 for a pair of top show quality reds. Let us know what color you are looking for and im sure we can help you find some in your price range.

 

[Alicia G]

Quote:
So frillbacks are aggressive? But I thought that they were just higher energy(well thats what Iv'e read at least) What about their ability to fly? Can they even fly? I thought maybe the frills would make it more difficult for them to fly

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I have two tame, indoor pigeons. One is a rigneck dove, the other is a classic Oriental frill. The frill we had shipped as a squeaker and partially hand-fed. He loves to shower with us, and will weave in between your feet splashing in any puddles. XD We hope to let them breed next year, and will have some sterile (ringneck and pigeon mating produce sterile young) pets to hand feed from day 3, while still having the benefit of having the parents do the real hard work (ie. crop milk, warmth). I suspect those will be even tamer. But, there are some very naturally tame pigeon breed more commonly seen in the pet arena.

-Pygmy pouters are often seen as one of the tamest breeds and actually eager for human company
-Mookees are not unkown as pets for children
-Classic Oriental frill are terrible at flying, and are fairly docile to boot...we've never had to clip the wings on ours, because he is at no risk of flying off. XD
-Lahores - large pigeons with a docile nature...beautifully marked with dark, soft looking eyes

PS. My indoor caging has artificial tree branches in it. Pigeons won't chew on them like parrots, so they are safe for pidges. They are always a *lot* happier with coverage in their cage. Our ringneck did not start nesting and laying until we put foilage in there for her.

Danny Joe Humphry of color pigeons raises frill backs.He is in Kinston N.C . Here is his website:www.colorpigeons.com

Thanks,
Logan

My classic frill came from Danny Joe. Excellent hobby breeder.​