will they come back?

[sydney13]

i know of a live poultry market were they sell chicken squab and other birds. ive bought a chicken from them so that she could escape slaughter and live in my coop and ive always wanted to do the same for the poor pigeons locked in little cages. so if they have never been flown before or left their cage do you think if i put them in my coop after they adjust will come home?

 

[95yj]

just out of interest, are you vegetarian or grow your own meat? and also it depends on the pigeon, young pigeons (not entirely sure on the age, but i think its around 4-6 months) can be trained, i believe thats the optimal age for release, older pigeons generally prove difficult to retrain, plus you have to retrain them not to hang around outside the coop so they don't get picked off by predators, release can be difficult, especially w/ a small number of birds.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

The pigeons they sell for food are almost always King pigeons, in which yes, you can let them out after a couple weeks. That gives them time to get used to the place and on a feeding schedule.

 

[Pigeonrh]

Meat breeds like they are most likely raising won't make it home. I'd be willing to bet all my birds on it lol. They are much to big and don't have the homing instinct like the flying breeds do. If you were to get some let them in the fly pen or cage on the coop for a week or so and let them see the surroundings, only feed them when they come in the coop and you should have no problem gettin them to stick around.

 

[sydney13]

these pigeons look like homers so im guessing they are most likely the giant homers ? Are giant homers good flyers and do they have a good homing instinct?

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

No, giant homers are a show breed. Kings often look very similar to homers, just bigger. They'll fly around the yard a bit but you can't release them and expect them to come back from a distance.

 

[sydney13]

i thought kings were big and white and these pigeons are the regular homer colors. so if you release a king, (or what ever meat breed they are) will they just stay in your backyard and not really go into the neighbors yard? do you fly up to the trees or do they just stay on the ground and fly around low

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I bought 20 Kings almost 2 years ago.

I kept them confined for over three months, and the first time I let them fly, half never came back.

Luckily those that DID come back started nesting, and now I have around 50 that come and go as they please.

They rarely go more than 300 yards from the barn

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

I have a feeling a hawk had something to do with you losing so many of those kings.

But yes Kings do come in other colors besides white

They could also be mixes, with runts, homers, or just about anything else. They'll fly around the house and loft, up in some trees, peck around on the ground, etc. They probably won't visit the neighbors, but I guess that depends on how close their house is

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I have a feeling a hawk had something to do with you losing so many of those kings.

When I first turned them all out, they flew a few circles around the barn, and then half of them headed East and flew out of sight.

It was only about an hour before dark, and the rest of the birds never flew more than a couple of hundred yards from the coop.

I have lost some to hawks, but I figure they have to eat too



Some of mine are red and white, and a few are black and white.