Questions about Pigeons and their care

[FathertoFeathers]

I have a friend who has just found out he is in need of a double lung transplant and is looking to get rid of his birds. Yesterday he offered me two male pigeons a fantail and I believe the other is a homing but I’m not sure. I’d love to take them as he’s wanting them to go to a good home. Problem is I don’t know hardly anything about raising them. My biggest problem is where to house them. I’d love for them to have a place to be able to fly around and stretch their wings but I’m not sure I can build an aviary. If I keep them with my chickens will they fly away? Or will they take short flights and then come back? I feel bad keeping them in a cage where they can’t really fly but if they don’t mind confinement like that I can build them a cage. Any help and knowledge is greatly appreciated!

 

[nchls school]

Keep the pigeons in a cage/aviary/flight/coop. I'm assuming these are adult males. After a couple weeks the fantail could be allowed out. Fantails are not great fliers, so there's really no need for him to be free flying. The homer needs to be kept penned as he will fly for his original home first chance he gets. After several months you might try free flying the homer; he might stay. If he takes off you will likely find him at you friend's home.

Pigeons are pretty easy to care for and can be fed scratch, mashes, pellets-whatever. Give a variety. They like to bath so supply good clean water for that and drinking. Whatever you keep them in it's best if there's room for flight.

Should you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[FathertoFeathers]

Keep the pigeons in a cage/aviary/flight/coop. I'm assuming these are adult males. After a couple weeks the fantail could be allowed out. Fantails are not great fliers, so there's really no need for him to be free flying. The homer needs to be kept penned as he will fly for his original home first chance he gets. After several months you might try free flying the homer; he might stay. If he takes off you will likely find him at you friend's home.

Pigeons are pretty easy to care for and can be fed scratch, mashes, pellets-whatever. Give a variety. They like to bath so supply good clean water for that and drinking. Whatever you keep them in it's best if there's room for flight.

Should you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I talked to him earlier and he’s really wanting me to take a pair. He said he’d give me a large dog kennel to house them in along with bowls and whatnot. My question is how well do they bear confinement? Would they be happy spending their time in that kennel? Or would it be a better option to build a loft?

 

[nchls school]

I talked to him earlier and he’s really wanting me to take a pair. He said he’d give me a large dog kennel to house them in along with bowls and whatnot. My question is how well do they bear confinement? Would they be happy spending their time in that kennel? Or would it be a better option to build a loft?

Fantails bear confinement in a smaller area better than homers. A pair will likely do better than two males. A pair will nest and raise young. Dog cage? Depend on how large. I have a large dog cage that would be adequate to house fantails. Assuming your friend is knowledgeable about pigeons, it probably would be fine. Also, fantails after a few weeks could be given out of the cage time. As a first time pigeon owner, fantails are good choice to learn with. But a good rule with pigeon lofts, bigger is always better; no matter the breed.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I talked to him earlier and he’s really wanting me to take a pair. He said he’d give me a large dog kennel to house them in along with bowls and whatnot. My question is how well do they bear confinement? Would they be happy spending their time in that kennel? Or would it be a better option to build a loft?

Depends on how big the dog kennel is. I’m currently converting a large (11ft by 8ft I think) dog kennel into an aviary for my 8 pigeons.