Gun Dog Forum

I have been leaving my loft open 24-7 the last month or so. The birds fly off in the morning and return at night. I have no idea where they go, but they tend to be gone all day. I leave my traps up. Is this practice okay to do? My thought was, if they have free reign, will they eventually not come back.

They'll keep coming back until they find somewhere better to hang out... which you're giving them more opportunities to do. Also, if you're leaving your loft open all the time, you're asking for probs with predators (coons, hawks, etc.)

As long as you are providing them food and water, they should come back.

I had a small pigeon loft at my former house. I moved, but kept the house as a rental property. I owned the house for about four more years, but didn't live there. When I finally sold the house, I was there cleaning it out, and I walked down to the pigeon coop and there were still pigeons in it. To my knowledge they had not been fed or watered in that coop for four years. They had been free flying for all of that time.

You are doing fine but I would lock them up at night because of predators.

My ferals fly 24/7. I think that's why when I fly them in the beginning, young birds, I can take then out quite a ways to start. I don't let the homer's do it all the time but now and then. There's a big flight pen on the homer loft, 16'x20'. Of course when I start seeing hawks around, I keep them all shut up. I've got a fold down door on my homer's loft and inside I just put a bar that locks the bob's down.