What is best home for a young pigeon?

[Kato]

I found a baby pigeon in late November; now I need to figure out what to do with it. I live in a small apartment with 2 cats and the bird is starting to fly. I've had 2 offers for the bird, one in an outdoor-only-even-in-the-cold hutch-type situation with 30+ other pigeons; the other in a lady's house in a cage (separate) in a room with other birds (but no other pigeons). The bird is quite tame so I'm not sure which is the best situation for it. If I release it, it will probably end up getting eaten by a hawk, they're everywhere, even downtown where I found the baby. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Reti]

Hi Kato.
The outdoor pen sounds better to me. Pigeons do good in the cold, all they need is plenty of good pigeon feed and water. Their envorinment has to be draft free and dry though, they need a place to get away from rain, wind and snow, other then that they are cold tolerant.
Make sure this lady has a clean loft and her pigeons are healthy and happy.

The other person, what kind of birds does she have? If she has doves, pigeons get along well with doves, but I would never put pigeons with parrots. parrots can injure even kill pigeons. Also I would not put small birds, canaries, finches etc, with a pigeon cause pigeons can injure/kill small birds.

It is up to you to check the places out and make a decision.


Good luck

Reti

[Kato]

I'm concerned about lack of human interaction with the outdoor situation but with lack of pigeon interaction with the indoor situation. Unfortunately, both places are too far for me to go inspect myself.

[Trees Gray]

Where do you live?

Perhaps someone who is a member here lives nearby and can help direct you to a home for the bird, or take the bird themselves.

The bird may thrive and do well in a nice loft, as long as their basic needs have been met, and they are not overcrowded. I would be most concerned of an overcrowded loft, with not much room to fly.

It should also be predator, wind, weather, damp and draft proof, as already mentioned.

The indoor situation may work as long as all the birds get along and there is interaction, and the bird has space to fly.

[Maggie-NC]

Hi. The outdoor coop sounds the best to me provided it is large enough. Crowding can sometimes cause diseases to spread quickly. My other concern about the outdoor coop is the time of year. If he has been kept inside, in a warm environment for a couple of months, I would not place him in an outdoor aviary until spring, particularly since you say he was a baby when you rescued him. Of course, that depends on where you live. They can manage pretty well being outside during a sunny winter day but I don't like to expose them to the nighttime lows.

Maybe each home can provide you with pictures to help you decide.

Many thanks for rescuing this precious pigeon.

Maggie

[Kato]

I agree that Baby P. shouldn't be outside right now after being kept nice & warm inside for so long. And overcrowding in an outdoor pen doesn't appeal to me. This bird is so tame I really can't stand to see it 'warehoused' with a bunch of racing pigeons. Anyway, I appreciate all the advice. I never knew I'd get so attached to it, that's why I'm so anxious to try to make the right decision.

[Lin Hansen]

Hi Kato,

Thanks for wanting to do the best thing in regard to your bird. If you are that attached to Baby P, and he seems happy with you, perhaps you would want to keep him as a house pet. Many of our members have house pigeons. He would probably be okay in a large cage, if you could provide him with some flying time each day...perhaps in a bedroom with the door closed so he would be safe from the cats.

But, also, the loft situation sounds okay too. Your pigeon is bonded to you because you raised him and because he has no other pigeons to interact with. If he were to be put in a loft and found a mate, he would probably not crave human interaction as much.

In any case, it would be probably be best to keep him with you, if you can until the warmer weather comes. Then, if you want, perhaps you could give him a trial run in the loft. If he seems unhappy and does not seem to be acclimating to the new environment, you could always take him back.

Good luck,
Linda

[christina11]

You Shoudent Let It Out Into The Wild Because Its Been Raised By A Humane And May Not No How To Survive In The Wild I Took Care Of Many Wild Pigeons Even When I Was 10 The Pigeon May Even Be Home Trained To You If U Have A Pourch You Can Keep The Pigeon In There That Would Be Greay For Him