Pigeon Talk

[Wyorp Rock]

So...I unexpectedly became a pigeon keeper yesterday. I was out birding on my property and came across this guy/gal on the bank of a river near the road. I was able to catch it easily with a net and bring it back inside to recuperate. It's obviously someone's pet (banded) and I have contacted the appropriate association to try and find its owner but they have not responded yet.

It has perked up a lot since I caught it. It had to rest and dry off for a few hours before it was ready to eat, drink, and fly again. It still has very watery diarrhea though. I have been giving it raw brown rice as it's pretty much the only pigeon-appropriate food I have on hand, but if I have to keep it longer I'll buy something else. What feed should I get for a short term stay?

And can anyone tell me breed or sex?

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Pretty!

Oh my, you are in for some fun. I "found" one in FebruaryI really do like mine. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-talk.1276029/post-27483752

Goodness, I'm still learning and learning. Slowly. The info is "out there" just not like it is for chickens.

As for feed, what you posted looks o.k. I get the Pennington small bird blend, but then mix a little wild bird seed, sunflower and safflower seeds together. So far, this has worked well for me/her and poops look good! Oh and a tiny bit of chick grit to the side.

Oh and a bowl for water bathing! Mine was wallowing around in her water dish all the time. I tried different bowls and found this, she loves it, but still gets in her water bowl sometimes too.

Do look for lice or whatever kind of crawling bugs - mine had a few when I found her. They were sort of hard to see. I gently spread out her wing (was checking her for any injuries when I found her) and in the sunlight, you could see a few tiny crawling lice (louse?) along the feathers. I promptly gave her a thorough dusting.

Green poop, may be stress, hunger. I found my girl when it was cold. She had green poop the first couple of days, but once hydrated, warmed, dusted and eating, the poops starting looking normal. I don't think it would hurt to treat for Coccidiosis though if you feel you need to.

I'd also look inside the beak for any signs of canker, lesions. You can bet I looked this one over first thing and several times since. All is well thankfully cause I really like her.

For the Corid, hopefully Kathy will chime in, but in the meantime, I'd follow what Foy's says on their site. It may be that the dosing for Pigeons is the same for chickens/quail, but I have not researched that far yet!

What an adventure. Yes...I'm sure you are looking at cages. @WVduckchick keeps hers with the banties! Perhaps in the future, mine might join the chickens or she may get a couple of friends and a larger area...time will tell

 

[StinkyAcres]

Pretty!

Oh my, you are in for some fun. I "found" one in FebruaryI really do like mine. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-talk.1276029/post-27483752

Goodness, I'm still learning and learning. Slowly. The info is "out there" just not like it is for chickens.

As for feed, what you posted looks o.k. I get the Pennington small bird blend, but then mix a little wild bird seed, sunflower and safflower seeds together. So far, this has worked well for me/her and poops look good! Oh and a tiny bit of chick grit to the side.

Oh and a bowl for water bathing! Mine was wallowing around in her water dish all the time. I tried different bowls and found this, she loves it, but still gets in her water bowl sometimes too.

Do look for lice or whatever kind of crawling bugs - mine had a few when I found her. They were sort of hard to see. I gently spread out her wing (was checking her for any injuries when I found her) and in the sunlight, you could see a few tiny crawling lice (louse?) along the feathers. I promptly gave her a thorough dusting.

Green poop, may be stress, hunger. I found my girl when it was cold. She had green poop the first couple of days, but once hydrated, warmed, dusted and eating, the poops starting looking normal. I don't think it would hurt to treat for Coccidiosis though if you feel you need to.

I'd also look inside the beak for any signs of canker, lesions. You can bet I looked this one over first thing and several times since. All is well thankfully cause I really like her.

For the Corid, hopefully Kathy will chime in, but in the meantime, I'd follow what Foy's says on their site. It may be that the dosing for Pigeons is the same for chickens/quail, but I have not researched that far yet!

What an adventure. Yes...I'm sure you are looking at cages. @WVduckchick keeps hers with the banties! Perhaps in the future, mine might join the chickens or she may get a couple of friends and a larger area...time will tell

Thank you so much! And congrats on your new rescue pijjy! I'm guessing because yours is a homer the owner didn't want it back? The one I caught is a fancy so I'd think the owner does want it. We'll see! Hopefully I can find the owners soon. She (I'm calling it a she because that's what I feel it is) is getting very restless in the temporary setup and making a huge mess. Probably a bad idea to keep her in my bedroom, but I don't really have anywhere else to put her that isn't cold, dirty, or dangerous.

I will try to inspect her for bugs in the sun and look for canker. She's so wiggly I bet it'll be tough. She obviously hasn't been handled much; she doesn't like human contact.

 

[avjudge]

Thanks! Do I offer the peas and lentils raw and dried?

Dry & uncooked as they come out of the bag (from the dried peas and beans area in your supermarket).

She is loving the chicken feed. Thanks!!

If she’s loving chicken feed then that would boost the protein so you don’t need the peas! You want all-flock or similar, not layer feed, since long-term the extra calcium in layer feed would damage a pigeon’s kidneys. As far as I know, a pigeon could eat all-flock indefinitely. A 50-50 mix of 11% seed mix and 20% all-flock would be over 15% protein and as far as I know reasonably well balanced for long-term feeding. If you find a higher protein seed mix, you could cut back the chicken feed a bit. Or not

 

[Amer]

My pigeon who is perfectly healthy always breathes really fast when I show him he’s dramatic

 

[StinkyAcres]

Do look for lice or whatever kind of crawling bugs - mine had a few when I found her. They were sort of hard to see. I gently spread out her wing (was checking her for any injuries when I found her) and in the sunlight, you could see a few tiny crawling lice (louse?) along the feathers. I promptly gave her a thorough dusting.

Thanks for this! I checked and she does have lice. I assume I can use the permethrin dust I have?

 

[StinkyAcres]

We have likely found the owner of the pigeon and he is out of town at the moment. He called it a homing pigeon. I mean, I'm sure she can get back home from short distances, but do people do this with fancy pigeons? He said he recently started letting them out to fly.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

We have likely found the owner of the pigeon and he is out of town at the moment. He called it a homing pigeon. I mean, I'm sure she can get back home from short distances, but do people do this with fancy pigeons? He said he recently started letting them out to fly.

That’s odd, since she definitely isn’t a homing pigeon

 

[StinkyAcres]

That’s odd, since she definitely isn’t a homing pigeon

Could she be a mix of a homing and tumbler?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Could she be a mix of a homing and tumbler?

I don’t really see anything that suggests she’s mixed with homer. Homing pigeons are very muscular and large, with tight feathering and a large beak.

 

[StinkyAcres]

That’s odd, since she definitely isn’t a homing pigeon

Just talked to the owner and he admitted he didn't know a lot about pigeons. He was given this one for free and hasn't had it for very long. Anyway, she is going home tomorrow!