Pigeon food info.

[Shrek]

Okay guys help me out here. Where are you getting Peas?

Here is what I feed is it enough or should I get something else also?

I get Cracked corn for $6.50 for 50#

and Winter Wheat for $7.50 for 50#

also I'm getting a mix of seeds for $7.50 for 50#

Then I buy some bird seed and mix that in. Its around $12.00 for 50#

You guys are talking protein, and such well how much protein are my birds getting?

Is one of the feeds I'm getting better then the other?

Where are you guys getting the Peas and other seeds?

Also for grit they get regular gravel and Oster Shell.

[Grim]

I would do whole corn instead of cracked. The peas are premixed in my feed.

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by Grim

I would do whole corn instead of cracked. The peas are premixed in my feed.

Really! I was told cracked was better. So why whole? Don't get me wrong its cheaper so I'm all for it.

[jbangelfish]

The germ is at the base of the kernel and is where most of the nutrition comes from. That's why mice will chew the center out of a kernel of corn.

You should buy a premixed pigeon feed and it is not cheap. I'm paying $21 per 50# bag of Kaytee pigeon mix with corn which is rated at 13% protein.

I just pulled the label and here's what's in it:
Whole corn, Hard Wheat, Milo, Canadian Field Peas, Maple Peas, Austrian Peas, Oat Groats, Flax seed. I had never actually read the entire label before and I did not realize that it had Oat Groats, Flax or that it had 3 different kinds of peas, I only notice two by appearance. It is possible that my birds are leaving the Oat Groats as I can't tell a grain of Wheat from an Oat Groat. I do know that I have a separate bag of Wheat and they will eat very little of it when it is in a separate feeder.

Where you would find all of these separate grains, I have no idea.

For a while, I made my own feed by mixing Milo, Corn, Wheat and Soybeans. They are not too fond of Soybeans. I also tried dried green peas which are seed peas and they eat them OK but they are hard to find and I see no benefit to feeding them anyway. If you feed any kind of seed grain, you better make sure that it has not been treated with any chemicals. Most seed is protected from rodents and pests with chemical treatment.

The fact that your birds go out and eat wheat in a field doesn't really come as any surprise as they love to forage in fields and I assure you that they are eating all kinds of seeds that don't come in a feed bag such as various grasses and weeds.

There is also something to be said about what any group of birds is accustomed to eating and obviously, yours are accustomed to eating wheat. Mine eat it but as near as I can tell, their favortie seed is Milo, also known as Kaffir Corn.

They will also eat Sunflower seeds and some of the Millets. If they are hungry, they'll eat just about any seed.

I just have come to trust the feed makers to supply me with a complete diet for my birds. Kaytee has always been a trusted name and I always fed Kaytee feeds to my cagebirds as it seemed to be the best available to me when I was raising them.

There are also pigeon pellets, similar to what most people feed to chickens and game birds. I tried it for my birds, many years back and they did not seem to care for it and they all had runny stools when they ate it. I went back to seed and grit (with pellets, they supposedly needed no grit) as I feel that it's much healthier and more natural for the birds.

They like to pick through the feed and find what they want anyway. If it all looks the same, they will throw it aside and waste feed. When a bird is moulting, it will look for higher protein and also when they are getting more excercise, they will want higher protein. That's why racing feed is 17-19% protein. The birds know what they need and as long as we provide a variety of seeds, they'll find what they need at the right time for them. Corn for cold weather, etc. Corn is fatty and should be cut down in summer.

OK, I quit. This is turning into a book.

Bill

[zimmzimm3]

Originally Posted by Shrek

Really! I was told cracked was better. So why whole? Don't get me wrong its cheaper so I'm all for it.

You should use whole corn because the cracked corn can carry harmful parasites and it can scratch the birds crop when they eat it. Not saying this will happen every time you feed it. But it is better to use whole corn to eliminate the possibility of it harming your birds and if you say it is cheaper then definitely go for if. I am not sure on the pricing to be honest I have always fed whole corn and have never compared the price to cracked corn.

[Trees Gray]

Pigeons do well on "pigeon feed" as it carries the full spectrum of nutrition that they need.

Here is an example of what is in a bag of pigeon feed:

http://www.purgrain.com/ingredients.htm

[Shrek]

Thanks guys. Out here I have never found anyone that carries anything for pigeons. No books, food, nothing. Everything is ordered. And let me tell you what I'm not rich enough to have them order pigeon feed. They have to many minimum orders, extra costs, plus the price of the feed. I guess my pigeons will have to be Blue Collar Pigeons.

[warriec]

I only feed chicken feed and it helps alot, i used to feed seeds and i realised that they ate because they were greedy and my cost were high.

Now they only get chicken food and its doing fine. eat less, cheaper, one one brand to buy, balanced nutrition.

By the way, I feed only a particular type of food that the chicken feed store recommends for pigeons. its chicken food and its good for pigeons

[rock]

I feed mine spinach or romaine lettuce a few times a week as well as Browns feed daily. They love the greens and was told they get a lot of vitamins from them as well. It seems they like the spinach better.

[jbangelfish]

But I'd rather give them seeds as it is more natural for them. Chicken feed tends to be higher in protein than pigeons need. It is just ground up grain but then, so is dog food mostly and I wouldn't feed it to my pigeons.

I tried feeding pigeon pellets to my birds for awhile, on the recommendation of some other breeders. My birds didn't care for it, they ate it because they had no choice but it gave them all runny stools and they were constantly picking through it, looking for something that they liked.

I went back to regular pigeon feed in short order.

Bill

[eric98223]

shrek,

i feed northwood farms racing pigeon feed check your local feed store. then i suppliment that with pigeon peas from the same distributor (about 8 bucks for 50 lbs) and also they have turkey grower (11.00) made by purina. they are all from the local feed store i feed the mix 1 time a day and the other is available all the time. especially when there are babies about.

let me know if you need more info.

E..