The Texan Pioneer utility pigeon- a tutorial

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I had a wonderful Tour de Coop with Joe! Thanks again for your time and the valuable information!

It helped to see the mellow Texan Pioneers alongside some flightier homing pigeons to really appreciate the Texans.

I'm in! I'm sold! I'm hoping for cooler weather soon so he can start shipping!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Got my three pairs of AWESOME Texan Pioneer pigeons from Joe yesterday!

This is Kenley Lass

and her mate Cher Ami (with Australorp chickens in background)

So far, so good! I really like these birds!!!

 

[DIYSeattle]

I had ran across an old article in Popular Mechanics about breeding pigeons for squab but never saw anyone doing it recently.

Are the pigeons suitable for city raising? Do the pigeons make much noise? Smell bad or make an unmanageable mess?

It seems that they are heavier than quail in teh same or less amount of time. I like dove meat as well as quail. Ive never had squab though. I would consider raising them but I am in the city and dont know if they are suitable for a city lot or a garage.

 

[srsmith69]

I have been to the house of the president of the Texan pioneer association in Oklahoma city. He had probably 100 breeding pigeons. No smell, and I would be surprised if his neighbors knew. He lives in the city, in a housing addition with neighboring houses probably within 12 feet. Pigeons are very quiet.

 

[DIYSeattle]

Sounds interesting. I was researching some things and ran across some WWI articles on helping on the home front and squab was one of them. THe popular mechanics article was from the WWII era I would guess, I dont remember the date.

It sounds to me like squab is expensive though to feed. I doubt I could find peas, and hog feed would have to do too. Grain is expensive nowdays comparatively. I have a lot of questions lol. Ive been researching methods to raise meat in an urban homestead. In an urban environment I would definately NOT want to free range pigeons lol. Sounds like they are happy in their coops.

Ar ethe coops easy to keep clean or do they need vacuuming regularly or anything to keep them free of feathers or whatnot? 12 feet is close comparatively and it sounds like theyd be good in an urban environment. Rabbits are what I am rasing at the moment but it doesnt hurt to diversify.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Well, from a newbie standpoint, I agree that these birds would be great in an urban setting. I know people keep racing pigeons in major cities, and the Texan Pioneers are more mellow than homing pigeons. Also, they don't show any desire to fly away, as I found out when one got away from me when I was taking them out of their shipping container.

Grain is indeed expensive, but these birds REALLY don't eat much, at least when they're not raising squabs. I know Joe mentioned this earlier, but I'm still surprised to see it first hand. I would estimate a pair of 2 lb pigeons eat about as much as a 14 oz coturnix quail. I bought a bag of mixed pigeon grains, which range from small millet to large peas. My birds have been leaving some of the millet at the bottom of the feed cup, but I just give it to my chickens with their scratch grains. With only six pigeons I'm not worried about the feed costs, but as the flock expands I'll give it more attention.

I also raise meat rabbits, and in fact I'm using rabbit cages for temporary pigeon housing until I can build a proper loft for them. Each pair is in a Bass Equipment 48" x 30" x 18" cage (10 sq ft) set on cinder blocks and covered with opened-up feed bags on the top and sides. (Partially visible in the photo above.) They face the southwest so they get a good dose of Arizona sunshine most days. I'm working on a common area made of chicken wire on a PVC pipe frame, but I want the birds to get used to their new home and hopefully pair up before I let them out of their cages. The pigeon droppings "almost" make it through the cage floor as cleanly as rabbit droppings, but I'm expecting to have to scrub pigeon cages more often than rabbit cages.

Side note: I wouldn't consider raising pigeons (or other poultry, for that matter) as a way to save money on food. Raising rabbits and poultry at home is more expensive than factory-farmed supermarket meat, but it's worth it to me. I'm a decent cook, and enjoy preparing restaurant-quality meals for my family and friends. Squab will be a welcome addition to the menu!

 

[DIYSeattle]

I also have rabbiots and chickens. I dont raise it to save money per se. There are health and conscious benefits to raisiing your own eggs and meat. I know how my rabbits and birds were treated, and what they were fed, exposed to, and what not. I could more easily and cheaply get the cheap chicken at the grocery store. I read something that said the modern chicken has a lot more fat in it than they did in the 50s and 60s. I have not further researcehd it as I dont like to buy commercially raised chickens anyway.

My wife is allergic to the rabbits as it turns out so I have to be careful about handling them or her eyes get all red and puffy and she starts sneezing terribly, she is allergic to cats also. Instead of growing a rabbitry larger Id rather diversify. That way if something happens I wont lose the whole thing as likely.

My chickens eat a good bit of table and vegetable scraps like carrot tops, fruit, veggie trimming etc. Can pigeons eat anything besides grain?

What is the smallest but most comfortable size cage or coop that the pigeons would do well in? I also have rabbit arks that are 2.5 x 3.5 ( about 2.5 feet tall in teh center) that I used to keep my smaller havanas in but have since gotten rid of. The champagnes she seems to be a bit less allergic to (sounds weird but it seems true that they dont bother her as badly).

 

[yardbird tx]

I have missed a few PM"s sorry. I will be getting in touch with everyone trying to contact me today. Thanks Joe.

 

[awesomefowl]

Wow. This thread is AMAZING!!!!!!!! So helpful! Does anybody keep TPP near NY? (tpp-texas pioneer pigeon)

 

[PatS]

Thanks for the information. There aren't many books available on pigeon raising, and it is something I've thought about.