Gun Dog Forum

Anyone know where I can i buy some pigeons in northern nj. I am almost done with my pigeon coop...quail will work also....

You could check out the Hackettstown auction. I believe they sell poultry there on one night of the week.

I did a search on line and found that their latest poultry auction on 3/1 had pigeons sold ranging in price from $2 to $10.50. The two dollar birds are probably feral pigeons, which is what I would start a coop for local training use with.

If I were to be taking the birds any distance, I'd want homers, for obvious reasons.

The reason I would prefer feral birds is because they are generally less prone to the diseases that often affect domestic birds. Feral birds are the product of natural selection. Nobody gives them antibiotics when they get sick. They either recover...or die.

RayG

RayGubernat wrote:The reason I would prefer feral birds is because they are generally less prone to the diseases that often affect domestic birds. Feral birds are the product of natural selection. Nobody gives them antibiotics when they get sick. They either recover...or die.

I total agree with Ray. I trapped 4 feral birds, five years ago and they are still going strong. They are even homing to my loft.

I bought about 10 homers 50 some years ago and now have somewhere near 200 hundred and have sold thousands without ever having a health problem during that time. They do tend to be stronger and healthier due to hundreds of years of breeding and better feed and housing I am sure. Ferals are good but do tend to carry diseases due in part to there poor diet I am sure.

Ezzy