downside of homing pigeons

[blanked]

i am thinking about getting some and keeping them in the back yard. i only want to keep about 5-6 on hand. will they multipy like rabbits? cant tell males and females honestly. can i let the young ones fly off before they get established?
how about the upkeep? lots of work or minimal? can i keep the pigeons in view of the dogs or is that not a good idea? what about the scent will that be an issue if dogs are smelling them all the time? what else do i need to think about. will they be hanging around my house on the roof or the neigbors before they are back in the coop?

[battman1]

They do multiply mine have had 5 babies in about 3 or 4 months.I have 3 breeding pairs.As for up keep I just feed them and keep fresh water in there.Clean the loft at least every other day if not every day.Not a big deal for me, I just scrape it out into a bucket with a hoe when I'm feeding.Let em out to fly once in awhile and they seem to be fine.

[High Voltage]

Our coop is about 5' from the dogs kennels/runs and it does not stop them from scenting and pointing them in the field. Our dogs can also get to the coop when they are in the yard and the first few days they paid a lot a attention to it but once they figured out they weren't going to get the birds that were in it they just ignore it. Seems like there is always someone looking for pigeons so you should be able to sell any extras or use them as kill birds.

[WiskeyJaR]

I have a small loft meself 8-19 adults. Easy enough for me to keep, little matinece. have had loft for just about a year so far, the preditors have keep the birds down. I currently have 8 adults with 4 eggs. Havnt had more then 10 adults at any timne, have been as low as 4 adults (two breeding pair, kept seperate from the "working birds" now.)

My dogs runs lose in yard, will stop to sniff around loft, but is not a big issue. "Leave It" command and she walks away. The pigeons do not seem to fear dogs, as one has raised a pair and now sitting on second batch of eggs right up next to wire screen. Wife's little terrier dog also runs around there too.



Have neighbors to both sides of me, no complaints yet over the birds. I let my birds lose in morning, 'cept for the 3-4 I plan to work with for the day. The rest are free to fly all day, I feed only in late evening. They will hang out on my roof, but rarly on the neighbors roofs...sometimes. They will enter loft when is starts to get dark.

Dutchess still hunts the pigeons when training in field, doesnt seem to bother her that she is around them so much.

Good luck with your birds and loft.
WiskeyJaR

[Duke82]

I have a 4X8 setup in my backyard which is not big by no means. The backyard is all fenced off so my EP has run of it. As far as him leaving the birds alone, not really. He will sit and point them when they come out in the screen part or chase them back in. He is like giving a 7 year old boy crack when it comes to birds. When I see it I call him off and he listens but I know he is pestering them all day. As for upkeep it is very easy I clean my loft about once a week takes about 15 min, I put laminate flooring in the bottom so it keeps down on smell and clean up. Pretty easy going.

[47sgs]

I have a bird pen that's about 10 X 15 by 10 feet tall. I have about 25 adult bird that muliply like crazy, and about a dozen bobwhites as well. I feed them all medicated feed and they all do fine. I've had no predator problems at all until a great horned owl ended up in my bird pen through the pigeeon gate. The pigeons have not been much of a problem, except they're a little expensive to feed.

[HerrimanBDB]

I have not been able to use my birds for training yet as they are only 5 weeks old now, but I can share my experience so far as a new pigeon keeper.

I have a loft 3 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall with 6 perches and a trap door for returning birds. I have 5 birds in there now with room for about 6 total. I purchased a poultry feeder and watering device from the local feed store that stores several days of water and food as well as an additional one for grit.

I started out with the coop on the ground with roadbase on the ground. It was a pain to keep clean as they crap a ton! The other day I covered the floor with 1/2" metal cloth and added 8" legs to get it off the ground. Now the droppings fall through to the ground. Much easier to keep clean as I just rake under the coop. I just need to keep them from perching on the water tank and crapping into the water. In hind sight I would have purchased one designed for pigeons that has a steeply domed top that is hard to land on.

I started about a week and half ago taking the birds out one at a time and putting them on the landing by the trap door. At first, they would not go through without me pushing them in, now they usually go in on their own. Same with the perches, I started by placing them on the perches and now they fly up on their own. One got out yesterday and spent the night on the roof and who knows where during the day. However, it was back in the coop by the time I got home from work.

[luke0927]

just take the eggs away if you don't want them having babies

[Rick Hall]

Why would someone not want babies? Young pigeons are delicious!

[Greg Jennings]

The excess just become shooters...