Pigeon King International

[Fever]

Apparently, this has been going on in my own backyard for quite some time. A company called Pigeon King International has been breeding pigeon for squab meat (!!!), and has been creating franchises all across North America. The idea is that chicken are too vulnerable to avian flu, and pigeon, since they are fairly immune, are the next... poultry.

The company is currently under investigation for fraud by the state of Iowa, but all the same, this shadowy (at least to me...) pigeon farm flock is pretty sizable... the company claims to have millions of birds in several farms.

I know pigeons were brought here as a food animal, but now that I have doves, it's a little bit like someone talking to me about the merits of eating baby dogs.

Here's some links to the site and the scandal (sorry if this has all been posted before, maybe it's common knowledge but I only heard about it in the news this week... and I am from Ontario):

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ne...e-092cb8b83ebb

http://pigeonkinginternational.com/

[TAWhatley]

There are a couple of other threads here regarding Mr. Galbraith and his company. You can find them by searching on Galbraith.

Terry

[MaryOfExeter]

Personally, I don't have a big problem with pigeons being used as food. I mean...I have chickens...but I love to eat chicken tenders. I wouldn't dare hurt any of my birds though...or anyone else's birds. You can't blame someone for eating what they do...like for example, asian countries. It's in their culture to eat things that would seem terrible for us to eat, like dog. If they didn't eat chickens, they'd probably feel the same about us eating chicken as we do them eating dog. I do know that I'll never in my life eat a squab or pigeon of any kind. Mine are like my children, so it isn't a pleasant thought.

My big problem with pigeon plants like these, is that there are so many pigeons in one place...it seems inhumane really. Those pigeons better be getting the best treatment possible! Pigeons are mostly immune to Avian Flu. There are a couple more recent strains in which they are capable of getting and passing bird to bird although I doubt bird to human (unless eating an infected squab I suppose). It also seems to me, that in a plant of sooooo many pigeons...if the avian flu gets in, regardless of whether the pigeons seem to be effected....it seems like that would be a breeding ground for the flu, and potentially forming more strains which pigeons are more susceptible to.

[george simon]

Squab farming is nothing new Wendell M Levi the author of the book the pigeon was the owner of a large squab farm in South Carolina called the PALMETTO PIGEON PLANT. This squab farm was started in the late 1920"s or early 1930's it is still in excistance today. I would suggest if one can get Levi's book at a libaray it would be of great intrest not only on squab farming but on pigeons in general, be forewarnd its a big book some 667 pages of very good information on the pigeon. The book can be had at most pigeon supply houses for a small sum of .................$100 DOLLARS lol. You might try googling the PALMETTO PIGEON PLANT. .GEORGE

[Fever]

The other threads must be pretty old and deleted by now, I couldn't find them under Pigeon King of Galbraith.

I am always a little squeamish about eating birds, because I hate the way they are treated, crammed in little cages, force-fed till their livers almost explode, etc. I usually try to find chicken from free-range, grain-fed birds, but even when it's labeled that way, it's hard to know what that means to the farmer compared to what it means to me. Since pigeon are a flying bird, I don't think they would be free-range. Maybe placed in large cages?

I think I feel a little guilt too, about the passenger pigeons and dodos that we ate to extinction.

[TAWhatley]

Try this: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=21353

Terry

[Pigeon Farmer]

Originally Posted by MaryOfExeter

Personally, I don't have a big problem with pigeons being used as food. I mean...I have chickens...but I love to eat chicken tenders. I wouldn't dare hurt any of my birds though...or anyone else's birds. You can't blame someone for eating what they do...like for example, asian countries. It's in their culture to eat things that would seem terrible for us to eat, like dog. If they didn't eat chickens, they'd probably feel the same about us eating chicken as we do them eating dog. I do know that I'll never in my life eat a squab or pigeon of any kind. Mine are like my children, so it isn't a pleasant thought.

My big problem with pigeon plants like these, is that there are so many pigeons in one place...it seems inhumane really. Those pigeons better be getting the best treatment possible! Pigeons are mostly immune to Avian Flu. There are a couple more recent strains in which they are capable of getting and passing bird to bird although I doubt bird to human (unless eating an infected squab I suppose). It also seems to me, that in a plant of sooooo many pigeons...if the avian flu gets in, regardless of whether the pigeons seem to be effected....it seems like that would be a breeding ground for the flu, and potentially forming more strains which pigeons are more susceptible to.

Just poping in very nice forum ..But the bad things about forums is people give false iformation and sometimes people believe it .. pigeons DO NOT GET avian flu .I live near Ottawa ontario and they have a exsperamental farm there they introduced many birds to this virus .Guess what the pigeon was the only bird to walk away from it without carring it and many new strains also

now on to how PKI birds are being looked after ..Im a breader for them and we all follow rules on making sure our birds have the space they need ,anything that you would do for your birds we do ..I have a pasion and a love for my breeding pairs but I sell my offspring .this is something my daughter and I do together and treat our birds with respect and the other breeders I have seen the same ..I have 120 breeding pairs and with my offspring I have around 800 to 900 birds at one time breeding pairs in one loft and when offsping is old enough moved to three other pens with more then enough space .my breeding pairs also have a large outside fly pen .and many other breaders also



some pics of our birds my daughter took http://community.webshots.com/user/LeafyCargo

[warriec]

I dont think its fair to breed an animal that will suffer later in labs

[Fever]

They're so pretty, and so many different colours! Do they ever get to go outside for a fly, though? Do they require a lot of veterinary care since they're for eating?

Hyh, I always wondered why they called it 'The Experimental Farm'.

[Matt D.]

People have been eating pigeons for thousands of years. If people didn't eat pigeons we wounldn't have any pigeons today they would all be wild and their population would be under control in the wild. So really we owe our pigeons lives and the way pigeons are today to these pigeon eaters. In fact I know a guy that buys your culls for 2 bucks he fixes them like chickens and sells them in a chinese restaurant around here. I was at a very expensive Italian restaurant and they had squab. It wasn't bad or so he told me, and the French love them too.

yes eating them isnt anything newand have been even a life support system in the days of old but ummm I myself could never bring myself to eat one no matter how hungry I would become but then thats just me and Im no veggitarian trust me

[k-will]

george,living in south carolina and having trained pigeons in that area for years i have been to the plant there many times.in my experience the birds there looked well cared for.i never met mr levi,but i did meet family of his by accident one day when i was "borrowing" one of their cotton fields to train pigeons.he was a keen animal person according to close relatives.i could never get over how big those "kings" are that they breed from in that plant.those birds are huge.i have a first edition of that book that my mother found at a yard sale in the 60s.