Mean Pigeons

[steamer]

I have a loft I have a couple of pigeons in. Just a couple of barn pigeons that have been in the loft for about a year. I recently acquired six young racing culls. The two older birds don't like the new birds .They keep attacking them. I isolated the older birds for a few days and tried to reintroduce them and they went right back to harassing the young birds. Is there some way to help them get along? Thanks in advance for any help.

[dog dr]

is your coop big enough for 8 birds?

[DonF]

It's only two birds. I'd shoot them. That still leave's 6 homer's. I like my feral's and they are in a loft of their own. Had one of them go in the homer loft one time and there was no problem. Sure is easy to spot a feral in a homer loft! I'm kind of surprised that happened. My homer's are more aggressive than my feral's. Go near a feral nest and the bird leave's right now. Go near a homer nest and they growl a bit, particularly if they are on baby's. Stick your hand in and they beat the snot out of me with their winds. The homer's are a lot calmer than feral's but for most people either will do most of the job you want done. Feral's home from a long way off. Before I got my ho,er's, I routinely flew my feral'w from 50 mo. For putting into traps, the feral's work well in older release traps but the older traps kill some homer's as there isn't enough room in them. Newer trap's have been made a bit larger and accommodate home's very well. Were I you and you want both around, I build another loft and separate them. Pigeon's get to picking on one another and it's get's pretty ugly. Of course other than another loft, there's a pretty good chance you could fix it if you don't want to kill them. take a decent size carrying case and put both your feral's in it and keep them in the loft with the homer's. I've never had to do that but then I do keep then in separate loft's. I suggest this from adding chicken's to the one's I already have. If I just take the new chicken's and turn them loose with the older chicken's, there are gonna be fight's, take's awhile for the old one's to accept the new one's.

dr dog asked how big your loft is, good point. While it may hold more it's not necessarily big enough to stick stranger's in.

[ezzy333]

Pigeons are territorial and the two older birds are just protecting their area. And they will continue till someone whips them. I have put snap bands on both legs and then used a plastic or wire twist ties or zip ties and hobble them. Tie the legs about two inches apart so they can still walk but have trouble running or getting leverage when they scrap with another bird. After a few days of not being able to protect their territories they will normally back off but if you are short of room some other bird may decide he is king.

I like Don's idea of using your two older birds and let the young homers take over. You can use them in your traps and still have them raise a few young ones. Just don't get too many for your loft.

Ezzy

[steamer]

My loft is almost 16 sq ft. It has several areas to perch and four nesting boxes. It also has an aviary they are free to roam in and out of. I think the ferrals will have to go. I have introduced new to old before without any problems. These two ferrals are relentless. Thanks for the advice.

[reba]

I would clip the wings on those two and use them for retrieving practice.

[ezzy333]

I would clip the wings on those two and use them for retrieving practice.

I don't use live birds for retriever training, not fair to the birds and not good for the pups. I want my dogs to retrieve dead birds.

Ezzy

[mnaj_springer]

I would clip the wings on those two and use them for retrieving practice.

I don't use live birds for retriever training, not fair to the birds and not good for the pups. I want my dogs to retrieve dead birds.

Ezzy

Clipwings are a staple of flushing dog training.

[reba]

WOW all the dogs I've ever owned would and do retrieve crippled birds................

[ezzy333]

WOW all the dogs I've ever owned would and do retrieve crippled birds................

Mine do to but I sure don't use live birds in training. Just a way to teach a hard mouth in a pup from my experience.