Gun Dog Forum

Got a call last night from a local pro looking or pigeons. Said he needed a bunch. Asked how much and told him $7. That got him. Years ago I gave him pigeons for $2.50 I think it was. I asked him what he was training with now and he said mostly chukar's and few quail. Asked him how much they cost him, $8 for the chukar and $6 for the quail. Told him if he got a coop going he wouldn't have to buy any birds, said he won't train with pigeons! Ok, guy is perfectly happy spending $8 on a bird that either he uses one time and the bird is gone but balks at paying $7 for a bird he can use over and over again! Shoot if he got a loft going, by next year he could never have to buy bird' again! Last time I sold them to him was over 20 yrs ago. He got about 20 at $2.50 and on his way home had one box fall out of his truck and he lost the bird's in it. He called and told me about it and I didn't really think he needed to know that I got them all back!

I've sold about 60 birds in the last few month's to guy's that live a really long way off. Down near Reno, Nev, Another guy came from Lakeview, Ore, about 4 1/2 hrs one way and another from Columbia Falls Montana, about 20 hrs one way. Now why in the world should I sell them birds for $7 each then turn around and sell a guy 70 mi away the same birds for $2.50? I would encourage you the put in a loft if you don't have one. You'll never have to look for birds again much less pay for them! And side product is you end up with a lot of kill birds every year, for free!

And this is a Pro? Wow. I’ve never in my life heard something like that from a Pro trainer. I’d hate to hear how much he’s charging people to afford those chukar.

I don't know why people don't cozy up next to another dog trainer who has a loft and rent their pigeons...? For a person with one or two dogs or living in an area that prohibits pigeons having a coup isn't really cost effective. When I had a larger loft with more pigeons I would rent them to other trainers for $1 a piece with the promise that they wouldn't shoot them. If they let them fly away they would come back to my loft and they could get them again the next weekend. I made $40 to $50 a month which was enough for my feed. I lost a couple over the course of a year but that could have been from other factors.

There is another way of looking at this DonF, at least for me locally. I used to buy pigeons for $1 apiece. Could get all I wanted! Today I pay more, IF I can get them! Why....because of inflation? Come on now..... There are other dynamics.
When I used pigeons "back in the day", I was ridiculed: "Why would you want your dog pointing those s_ _t birds anyway? They aren't even game birds!" Back then, most everyone used Bobwhite quail which were 1/2 the bird AND cost more than double the price of my pigeons!
Today, just about everyone working with their dog(s) has discovered the advantages of using pigeons.
Here, near the BIG city, a certain group of people buy all the pigeons they can get their hands on because of their culture (not the pigeon's culture - these people's culture ).
I personally, find paying $7-9 for a pigeon outrageous. That said, if you want pigeons around here.....
Chukars should cost what they cost if you look at what it costs to acquire eggs, produce/house/feed them. Furthermore, I consider them decent table fare. So, why are pigeons $7? (Yes...I have eaten farm pigeon.)
..............supply and demand. Doesn't make it right but......

I used to have a deal with a local Amish young man. $2 per bird and I didn't shoot them. It was a great arrangement because I didn't have to clean up after those filthy barn pigeons. Unfortunately, he moved away and none of his siblings or relatives cared to continue.

There is a local livestock auction every Wednesday in the summer and barn pigeons typically go for anywhere from $2 to $5, depending on demand. If I need pigeons, I will go there and buy a half dozen or so, but I won't pay over $5 per bird. I will use quail out of release traps and work on my property since some of them will recall.

For steadiness training with a young dog, there is nothing better than a strong flying pigeon. They really help to avoid problems, since they will not land on the ground and allow themselves to be caught by the dog. I actually really like it when the bird lands in a tree with the dog chasing. It gives me a chance to get to the dog, steady it, stack it up, style it up and get into the dog's head with almost zero pressure.

RayG

I captured 4 four years ago and put them in a small loft. They homed to it within a year. I've used them over and over.

Us guys who have flushing dogs only use Trained Pigeons
This one was being conditioned by the Trained pigeons to do this while I had a beer in the garden and a whistle .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uYCRpa1-A

That video is too funny.

I buy mine at a local small game auction. I won't pay more than $2.00. One time a guy there kept running up the price. He bought 90% of the birds. I asked him why? He said , "Dog trainers are going to shoot these birds; I'm going to free them all! " :roll:

I used to hire out white doves to a company that organises weddings in the city ,some 3 miles away .
£20 a pair !!
They were used at the end of the ceremony as a symbol of their everlasting love .
...............
That pair made me plenty dosh , and always came back to me on the same day .

Sharon wrote:That video is too funny.

BTW ! as Cracker'd will tell you , this was training on how to only flush 'One at a time'

polmaise wrote:Us guys who have flushing dogs only use Trained Pigeons
This one was being conditioned by the Trained pigeons to do this while I had a beer in the garden and a whistle .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uYCRpa1-A

I don't know how much truth there is to it, that white pigeons are easy prey for hawks. Something about beining so visible. I have a red band that from a ways off looks white, really light red on it. I only let it out around the house. Have you noticed that? Another thing, I've never seen a white bird in a race team.

I think any pigeon is easy prey for a Hawk DonF .
I have lost a few to them. I also raced Pigeons years ago and many in the team were Pies or piebald with white in the plumage as had the red chequers and they were winners .
The Peregrine's favourite is the Rock dove and none of them are white . I'm sure it's selective breeding in performance within Racing pigeon folk looking for performance rather than colour that makes the white one rare in racing pigeon loft . (much like dogs ,really)

I have a great liking of pigeons . When , many moons ago, I became a teenager with very little money to spend , I used to catch Edinburgh's street pigeons on the bridges and in the old derelict buildings they nested in. I sold the birds to a local pet shop for 2 shillings each ---about 1/10th of a pound sterling and the shop sold them on to anyone who would buy them for 4 or 5 shillings each depending on the individual birds amount of white feathering . White feathered birds sold better.

I made quite a respectable income from those pigeons and most of them escaped their new owners and went straight back to their previous haunts .....for me to catch again ! I shudder now to think of the risks I took to life and limb while clambering about among the rafters of old factories etc. trying to fill a sack with pigeons !

I kept a few "proper" homing pigeons myself and learned how to hand feed the squabs if that ever became necessary. A few years ago my wife rescued a woodpigeon squab from the crows which had already pecked out one of the very young squabs eyes . I wanted to give the wee thing a "dunt on the heid" to put it out of it's misery but my wife insisted I should try to rear it. I cleaned up the missing eye and then hand fed it my version of pigeon milk until it was old enough to feed itself.

I called the woodpigeon " Nelson" for obvious reasons and he was so tame that in the end I could release him to fly around my area and then call him back in to land on my arm. He was a "house pet" woodpigeon .....the only one I have ever seen or heard of.

I will use pigeons to train pointing dogs with but I never harm them , I like pigeons too much to ever release a live wing clipped one for a puppy to retrieve like some of you folk seem to do. I have never found I needed to do that . It would be illegal here anyway.

Bill T.

Single best thing that ever happened to my dog training is building two pigeon coops on my farm. One for Homers and one for Feral/Shooters. I let both coops of birds out every morning so they all fly strong. Fun to watch. Am now at the point where I need to sell or give some away to fellow amateur trainers as they are reproducing constantly.

Coopers Hawks have taken quite a few over the years. I was recently sitting on the front porch one morning when I heard the rush of wings and looked up in time to see one of my pigeons bank into a straight vertical climb as the Cooper's Hawk passed directly underneath it, Talons flailing at empty air barely missing the dinner it was seeking. It was spectacular. Glad my pigeon won that round.

I tried to give a guy squeakers last summer, he had a pup coming in the fall, he told me "I'll get back to you" twice. I saw him a few weeks ago and he asked "about them pigeons" I told him I didn't have any squeakers, he said he'd take "regulars" I said $7 each. He looks me in eye all serious and says "they were free six months ago" . I said, "They were, until I fed them and chipped ice out of their water all winter". He walked away :roll:

polmaise wrote:Us guys who have flushing dogs only use Trained Pigeons
This one was being conditioned by the Trained pigeons to do this while I had a beer in the garden and a whistle .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uYCRpa1-A

Been a lot of years since I had flushing dog's and never steadied one to flush. Is that what this drill is about? Been to a few Spainel field trials many years ago and it impressed me how the trial dog's did what your's did at the flush. Actually my first tough with your video was you'd teach the dog to blink. Then watching a couple more time's it hit me that you were probably steadying the dog to flush? Dog mind's right now, nice job!

DonF wrote:

polmaise wrote:Us guys who have flushing dogs only use Trained Pigeons
This one was being conditioned by the Trained pigeons to do this while I had a beer in the garden and a whistle .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7uYCRpa1-A

Been a lot of years since I had flushing dog's and never steadied one to flush. Is that what this drill is about? Been to a few Spainel field trials many years ago and it impressed me how the trial dog's did what your's did at the flush. Actually my first tough with your video was you'd teach the dog to blink. Then watching a couple more time's it hit me that you were probably steadying the dog to flush? Dog mind's right now, nice job!

It was a tongue in the cheek attempt to show part of the training with Pigeons Don
The wee dog in this clip actually isn't mine ,it has been in for Training . It had a bad rap sheet and a notorious reputation for chasing anything and everything ,often for hours on end ,on occasion days . !
Yup , the Field trial trained ones will stop to a flush on their own without command or whistle . often 'bumping' the game with their nose to 'Flush' including ground game like rabbits (if they decide to seat' , that's just not cricket ! ..For the Gun

The next step would be steady to the shot and the fall, ..It all started with the yard drills and the well trained pigeons . DonF .
This little 9 month old has the right start.
It stops on the flush of anything ..presented for the handler .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjUT0-runh0