Wild Pigeon?

[Tasmin Kalida]

Hey everybody, I am a new member here!
I have some pigeon questions! So this wild pigeon has been at my aunt's house for about 3 weeks. It just hangs around, I haven't been able to pick it up yet but it seems pretty friendly. it's white and grey, do you think it is wild and just showed up for food or do you think it is somebody's old pet? also are there any good ways to tell homers from normal old city pigeons? Thanks!

 

[Tasmin Kalida]

Another question!
what is a good pigeon feed?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Can you post a picture? Does the pigeon have a leg band?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Another question!
what is a good pigeon feed?

Pigeons eat primarily seeds, so any pigeon seed mix that has a good variety of seeds works.

 

[Callender Girl]

I don't know how to tell the difference, but something similar happened to my family when I was a kid. A very ordinary gray pigeon, like the countless others that flew around, decided to stay with us. It hung around for weeks, uninjured and completely able to fly. He was very friendly and not at all afraid of us.

We finally offered it a large rabbit cage where he (she? no idea which) spent the nights to protect him from predators since the silly thing wouldn't fly away. Pidgy (yeah, not creative) lived the rest of his natural days with us, trading freedom for safety and food. I don't remember if we fed him what we fed the chickens or if we gave him the same feed as the parakeets and mynah bird that lived in the house. Since he could come and go as he pleased, I suspect he found his own food during the day.

 

[Tasmin Kalida]

Thank you for responding! I will try to get a picture posted today, It does not have a leg band. we have never seen any pigeons around our neighborhood, so I thought maybe it used to belong to someone
About the pigeon food... I looked some stuff up and some people said they can't eat whole corn. would they need cracked corn or could they eat whole corn fine? Could I use chicken scratch grains instead of pigeon feed? Thank you so much!

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you for responding! I will try to get a picture posted today, It does not have a leg band. we have never seen any pigeons around our neighborhood, so I thought maybe it used to belong to someone
About the pigeon food... I looked some stuff up and some people said they can't eat whole corn. would they need cracked corn or could they eat whole corn fine? Could I use chicken scratch grains instead of pigeon feed? Thank you so much!

Chicken scratch grains would work temporarily, but they’re not a good long-term diet. I would just get a pigeon seed mix instead of trying to create your own, I order mine online.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I don't know how to tell the difference, but something similar happened to my family when I was a kid. A very ordinary gray pigeon, like the countless others that flew around, decided to stay with us. It hung around for weeks, uninjured and completely able to fly. He was very friendly and not at all afraid of us.

We finally offered it a large rabbit cage where he (she? no idea which) spent the nights to protect him from predators since the silly thing wouldn't fly away. Pidgy (yeah, not creative) lived the rest of his natural days with us, trading freedom for safety and food. I don't remember if we fed him what we fed the chickens or if we gave him the same feed as the parakeets and mynah bird that lived in the house. Since he could come and go as he pleased, I suspect he found his own food during the day.

He may have been an imprinted pigeon, meaning someone probably found him as a baby, hand-raised him around people, and then released him. Unfortunately, imprinted pigeons don’t associate with their own kind, so are often in danger in the wild.

 

[Tasmin Kalida]

Unfortunately, imprinted pigeons don’t associate with their own kind, so are often in danger in the wild.

If I were to make a house for it and feed it. I could get another pigeon to be a mate with it right?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

If I were to make a house for it and feed it. I could get another pigeon to be a mate with it right?

Yes. Though, if this is a domestic pigeon, it is not going to be safe outside without a flock, so would have to be contained in an appropriately sized enclosure if you intend to keep it permanently.