Gun Dog Forum

How much maintenance is involved in keeping lets say 6-8 pigeons? Like how often do you have to clean out their coop etc....Feed them everyday?

They aren't tough keepers. They are some messy birds though! I have a self-feeder in there that I only fill up about once a week with scratch grain. I have had up to 20 birds in there at once, but now I'm down to 7. I have two half gallon waterers in there that I refill about once every two or three days. I also have a concrete floor and I sweep it out about once a month. Very minimal maintenance if you ask me. If you have a dirt floor I doubt you will ever have to clean it out.

I have a ply wood floor in mine.Just scrape it out with a hoe once a day.

I have twelve birds in an upright coop, with floor dimensions built based on a dog crate plastic 28 x 48" pan. I will either slide the pan out every 3-4 weeks and hose it down or use a sturdy dustpan to scrape it clean. Takes less than 10 minutes to do that. Once in a blue moon, I have to scrape the 3 unused nest boxes clean. I feed and water every other day 1/2 gallon water and the equivalent in feed. Takes less than 5 minutes to do that. Feeder is covered to keep poo out and I use milk jugs for waterers (just cut some holes halfway up for them to get their heads in) and throw them away when the exterior top half gets too poo covered. And I have a tiny mushroom can tacked in pen with grit, which lasts forever for my birds. In the winter I get an electric dog dish to keep the water open, and still feed them every other day. If you get enough food and water storage, you could even do them less frequently. It's another chore to add to your daily list............... but pigeons are fairly cheap compared to other birds, reusable and easykeepers so that I think it's worth it for me. Denise

wems2371 wrote:I have twelve birds in an upright coop, with floor dimensions built based on a dog crate plastic 28 x 48" pan.

Denise, that was a great idea!! Wish I would've thought something like that......maybe next time.

There is NO maintenance required! I sometimes wish I only had 6-8, try 150! :roll: 6-8 wont take much at all. Feed and water once a day, it shouldnt take you 5 minutes at most to take care of every day. Just get them and try, they are cheap and hardy. You can dang near feed them anything and have a shoe box for a house and they will reproduce. All you need is 1 male and 1 female and before long they should start giving you chicks. Good luck!

thanks everyone

Maintanence is really easy. The bigger the feeder and waterer, the less frequent you have to deal with it. Same with cleaning. A big dirt floor requires minimal effort, a small concrete one would be more. 6 or 7 birds can become 30 pretty quickly. Those guys really know how to reproduce.