Archangel pigeons?

[shelleyd2008]

I saw a pair of these at auction tonight, and I must say I am in LOVE!!

They were gorgeous. I believe they were copper white-wings, they looked like these: http://www.slobberknockerlofts.com/Color%20Chart/bronze08.JPG

Does anyone have these beautiful pigeons? Can you tell me anything about them? Do they fly well? Should they be 'free range' or caged? This pair were priced at $20, is that a fair price?

 

[sourland]

$20 is a fair price. Free lofting pigeons is not a good idea any more. There are just too many hawks.My pigeons are whistle trained to return to the loft and are only flown when I am present. Even under these circumstances, I lose a high percentage of my young birds to Cooper's hawks. When I flew Birmingham rollers, I would lose as many as 80% of my young birds each year. This is the first that I have raised any young rollers in 3 years, and the hawks have not been too bad. I lost one to a Cooper's today and may have to go on lockdown. Archangels are very attractive and you could get them just for "pretty." I don't know how well they fly or what their personalities are like. Birmingham rollers (at least the family I have) are very mellow and non flighty birds.

 

[ThiefPouter06]

Very nice looking birds Shelly. Archangels are alittle on the wild side in the loft. They tend to need to have fairly private breeding boxes to prevent them from flying off the eggs and babies. I have free flown "color pigeons" (this is the type of pigeon they are) they do quite well. But hawks are bad in our area in the spring and winter. However be aware that people selling just one pair could be getting rid of dud birds (infertile). Unless they are selling other birds too. I only like to buy single pair from those I trust.
Matt

 

[shelleyd2008]

They had only 1 pair of the archangels, but they also had some other breeds (I think mostly homers). I'll probably never see them again, so I don't think there's any risk of getting them unfortunately

Maybe someday

They are very beautiful birds, almost as pretty as those capuchines you gave us

 

[Henk69]

I got myself a few of these gorgeous pigeons:

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/Henk69/vinkduiven/

pictures through the mesh, sorry. One of them already escaped almost.

 

[Tippler]

$20 is a fair price for them. I use to have some AA's and did loft fly them. AA's are not a flying breed and at most would do 2 circles around the house and land. I think my Tipplers would get them going. They spent much of their time walking around the yard picking at rocks and harassing the wild birds for seed.
If you decide to loft fly them I would make sure you get fledged babies first from them as those white wings waddling around the yard will be a Hawk magnet. Make sure the babies are weaned first as birds will fly away leaving their babies, or be prepared to hand feed (Which you should be anyways).

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I'll throw this out there:
http://colorpigeons.com/gallery/

Danny Joe is a very nice man who has birds I just fell in love with. I don't even really like saxon double cresteds, but I like his saxon double cresteds! He is a hobby breeder, and is very willing to help share his knowledge with others, and has even started a show about color pigeons. I purchased a young Classic Frill squeaker from him (I have work experience at an aviary/hand-feeding/etc, which I think helped in obtaining a younger bird than it sounds like he would normally be willing to send), and the squeaker arrived healthy and bright eyed and has grown into an amazingly beautiful bird who is tame. He will happily bathe in the shower with people too. XD Just what my husband and I were looking for in a pigeon.
I contacted the breeder to let him know the squeaker had arrived safely, and he contacted me after that as well to ensure everything was going smoothly with his care.

He has archangels, but many other breeds as well. It seems to me that he is still working on his archangel stock, but he would be able to tell you more about that. His shipping prices were very reasonable (actually, the cheapest I had found), and I've never had such a smooth or fast shipment of *anything* come through, let alone a live bird. You can read comments from other buyers on his site, and I am not the only one who had a bird shipped across country with excellent results. I found his pricing for the birds themselves to be very reasonable as well. My husband and I are both interested in purchasing from him again in the future.

 

[Countrypunk92]

I saw some yesterday at a sale. Gorgous! I want some!

 

[Print Tippler]

Very nice looking, i had some but sold them off. I miss them a bit.