Proper care for adopted pigeons?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you for sharing. Having the constant worry of spreading mareks, or worse watching your bird’s health decline because of it, has been extremely stressful. We are in a good management phase now not having lost a hen to MD nor MG in a year. (Knock on wood and !)

If I cannot keep them together then unfortunately it may not be a great time. I am confident I can provide them a hutch in the coop that the chickens could not access and also high shelving with their own food and water in the run if they chose to leave their hutch before the girls are let out to free range. But I cannot keep them separated outside in the fenced area. Off the top of my head, without exact measurements, we probably have 1300-1400 sq foot (95% netted) free ranging area for 10 hens. The girls have never paid much attention to squirrels nor small birds when they are free ranging. Squirrels and small birds have even entered the run without issue. The new-ish net has been preventing birds but not squirrels. We are fortunate to have a pretty laid back flock.

Your mentioning of blindness, severe leg or neurological issues is appreciated. I did not consider these birds to be a good option for us but then what disability was I expecting from non releasable pigeons? That’s embarrassing! Would getting newly weaned birds help make them more attached to us, their safe hutch and less likely to fly off? Or a bonded pair having a safe nesting area to stay by? The girls would become acclimated to their presence with the coop housing the hutch and nest boxes. This is how I’ve introduced new pullets in the past with great results.

Idk, maybe it’s just a bad idea in general. My son loves his chickens and has taken a huge liking to pigeons and doves now. I like the idea of having him learn responsibility, care and compassion for another life but would love to provide one that is not at risk of dying at any moment. Losing his chickens has really taken its toll. We’ve been talking about it since last summer and it’s come up again with the 2 doves visiting our feeder. I thought adding a nest box for them might work but they have not been visiting as often so I’m thinking they will not be interested in the box we’ve provided

Fly off? Are you planning to leave the netting as it is?

 

[bhawk-23]

Fly off? Are you planning to leave the netting as it is?

I was?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

If pigeons can get out of the netting, I wouldn’t put pigeons in there. It’s unlikely that they’ll try to escape, but if curiosity (or just getting spooked) could cause them to fly out, they won’t be able to figure out how to fly back in, even if they want to. That’s the reason why people keep their windows closed when their pet birds are out; even if they’re tame and don’t try to escape, it could still happen.

Another option is getting one very tame pigeon as an indoor pet. Though I wouldn’t do that unless you’re fully prepared to have an indoor bird.

 

[bhawk-23]

If pigeons can get out of the netting, I wouldn’t put pigeons in there. It’s unlikely that they’ll try to escape, but if curiosity (or just getting spooked) could cause them to fly out, they won’t be able to figure out how to fly back in, even if they want to. That’s the reason why people keep their windows closed when their pet birds are out; even if they’re tame and don’t try to escape, it could still happen.

Another option is getting one very tame pigeon as an indoor pet. Though I wouldn’t do that unless you’re fully prepared to have an indoor bird.

Ok, that answers that question.

Netting through the two huge white pines is extremely difficult, we’ve tried. The chicken yard is finally hawk deterrent while still allowing us relatively easy access to sit and enjoy their company. It’s taken a few years and lots of rearranging to get to a point I am content with. They have a certain amount of safety in exchange for access to free ranging all day every day. They are MD and MG positive happy hens laying 6-8 eggs daily already and I’m absolutely good with this. Two years ago I would never have imagined we would ever get to this point.

With our hockey schedule and hubs traveling 24-30 weeks a year, an indoor bird is just not feasible.

I will continue my search on how to make a dove friendly yard. I was considering a nest box on a pole in our native paw paw patch. Maybe adding some more native grasses for them to eat the seeds.

Thank you everyone for helping me work out the logistics. Unfortunately, we are just not suited for pigeons right now.

 

[avjudge]

If pigeons can get out of the netting, I wouldn’t put pigeons in there. It’s unlikely that they’ll try to escape, but if curiosity (or just getting spooked) could cause them to fly out, they won’t be able to figure out how to fly back in, even if they want to. . .

I first thought this, too, but you could get around this problem by creating a trap (one way) door specifically for the pigeons and teaching them where it is. There are several types of these – I have a bob door.

I can let my pigeons out the front door of their aviary, but they will always go around to the back to try to get in because either I leave that door open for them or there is a trap door up high on the back for them. It’s actually kind of funny; if both trap and back human door are closed, but the front door is wide open, they’ll just hang out by the back desperate to get in come suppertime, rather than check out the front door! They are clearly trained to go in that way.

But if the pigeons can get out you would have to have pigeons right from the start who were not set to another location. (Is that the right word? Grrr, I feel like there’s a different word just trying to get out of my brain but I can’t grab it.) Youngsters who had never flown before would want to come back to this home, but an adult who had flown from a different loft may try to return there at least in their early months at the OP’s home.

All that said, having seen my chickens chase the pigeons when they are out in the yard together and get close, I like having my pigeons in their own quarters. It’s OK when they’re all out free in the yard , but in the close quarters of aviary (6’x16’) or covered run (8’x16’) I like them to be able to feel safe.

 

[bhawk-23]

I first thought this, too, but you could get around this problem by creating a trap (one way) door specifically for the pigeons and teaching them where it is. There are several types of these – I have a bob door.

I can let my pigeons out the front door of their aviary, but they will always go around to the back to try to get in because either I leave that door open for them or there is a trap door up high on the back for them. It’s actually kind of funny; if both trap and back human door are closed, but the front door is wide open, they’ll just hang out by the back desperate to get in come suppertime, rather than check out the front door! They are clearly trained to go in that way.

But if the pigeons can get out you would have to have pigeons right from the start who were not set to another location. (Is that the right word? Grrr, I feel like there’s a different word just trying to get out of my brain but I can’t grab it.) Youngsters who had never flown before would want to come back to this home, but an adult who had flown from a different loft may try to return there at least in their early months at the OP’s home.

All that said, having seen my chickens chase the pigeons when they are out in the yard together and get close, I like having my pigeons in their own quarters. It’s OK when they’re all out free in the yard , but in the close quarters of aviary (6’x16’) or covered run (8’x16’) I like them to be able to feel safe.

Thank you for sharing your set up and experience.

I need to research trap doors better because from what I have seen they are not predator proof on their own.
We definitely rely on the automatic coop door into the predator proofed run for late hockey nights and weekends.

Side note: hockey just happens to be evenings at roosting time and some overnights during the season. It sounds like we are never home but I am home all day during the week and we are homebodies on any weekend off, I swear!

 

[avjudge]

I need to research trap doors better because from what I have seen they are not predator proof on their own.

No, mine is not predator proof on its own, which is why I have a a wooden door that can close over mine — it drops down to make the outdoor landing spot. But I assumed since you already had the gaps in the netting, you could create a portal/trapdoor for the pigeons to re-enter that space without making it any less predator proof than it is now.

 

[bhawk-23]

Ok, I had already reserved myself to not getting pigeons but decided to keep researching trap doors out of intrigue for “predator proofed” ones and found this. It needs to be manually opened and closed/locked at night but would it work for the late evenings I wonder? We sometimes don’t get home until 10 pm. But the location would be difficult for any mammal to climb up and try to enter.

Thoughts?

 

[Qwerty3159]

My trap door is built into the man door into my loft. I have a board that swings down as a platform/landing board and then flips back up to cover the opening.

Building it into the door is actually a lot more complicated than building it into one of the walls, so that’s what I recommend. You could probably rig up an automatic chicken door to slide and close over the bob wires/ trap door

 

[WVduckchick]

I have a trap door that I can open to let my pigeons out into the net-covered duck pen sometimes. It was pretty simple to add. It folds upward and just has a simple eye hook on top to keep it closed.