New to the pigeon world and need help

[sheshe]

I bought three Roller pigeons at a auction. First of all I know next to nothing to pigeons. So anyway these pigeons can not fly but they do the flips. Is there any way to teach them to fly? I also have found out that I have at least one female and one male pigeon. They are setting on two eggs, could you tell me how long it takes for a pigeon to hatch? They have a wooden box on the ground that they are useing in my chicken pen. The chickens don't bother them and they are eating chicken feed, these are baby chickens as it is. So is it bad for the pigeons to eat chicken feed? And if there is anything else I should know please let me know, Thank You, Sheila

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Sheshe,

Welcome to the group! First of all, pigeons eggs hatch at around the 18th day of incubation. Secondly, the chicken feed is alright for the rollers, but they should be provided with a good quality pigeon feed. These mixes can be purchased at most feed/supply stores. It seems ok right now to keep young chickens with the pigeons. However when they get older, the two breeds might not get along so well and the pigeons might get harrassed or bullied. At a later time you may want to consider getting the pigeons their own space. And as for your flying questions, hopefully someone else can help you with that as I'm not really sure what you mean by "teaching them to fly"

Good luck,

[upcd]

Greetings, If these pigeons don't fly, but roll on the ground, you have Paulor pigeons. These kind will never fly. They live thier life on the ground. You were in luck to get them. Out in Cal. they sell for $40.00 each. What color are they?

[pdpbison]

Hi sheshe,


I have heard of "Parlour Tumblers", which as a breed of Pigeon, were not known to fly well, but did curious 'low' arial acrobatics close to the ground.

Rollers, so far as I recall, are so named for areal maneuvers in flight...

It is no more probable that one could 'teach' a Bird to Fly, than, say, to teach a Fish to 'swim'...( I am being playful, but, it is true, also...) but, if they are able to fly, and given the opportunity, and some encouragement for being enjoying outdoor open spaces, I am sure you will find whether they in fact do so, or not...and likely, they will, but still, some breeds supposedly do not, or do not do so very well anyway.

Pigeons need smaller and varied, ( of well seasoned ) Grains and access to grit. Cracked Corn, for various reasons, while a usual resort for Chickens, is not the best for Pigeons. Nor are the usual bagged Chicken feeds of other contents. Feed Stores in your area should have some kinds of Pigeon Mix in large bags. Or, grocery stores having so called wild Bird Mix would be allright too, but less ideal than Pigeon Mix.

Post an image so we can see what your Birds look like..!

Soon you will have 'four' maybe...!


Phil
Las Vegas

[alaska]

Hi Sheshe,
Welcome to pigeon-talk.
It definately sounds like you have parlour tumblers or something similar.
As mentioned they are not very good flyers, but are great at performing 'in your parlour'
I definately recommend you ask at the place you get your chicken feed from if they supply 'pigeon mix' it is much higher in protein, also the 'red pigeon grit' is needed for them to help crush food in their crop.
You can see a picture of both of these on my site for visual reference.
Extra dried dunn peas are an excellent addition to mix ino the feed when it gets colder, or if you are in a cold area, this puts a bit more fat on the birds and keeps them warm in that weather.
Goodluck and look forward to future photos

[sheshe]

Well my pigeon's had two eggs and i went in yesterday and one egg was in the middle of the floor broke but no baby anywhere. Just wondering if the egg might have been bad or what do you think happened. It should be getting close to time for them to be hatching.

[Skyeking]

Was there any yolk around the broken egg? Sometimes the eggs aren't fertile and they will try to hatch them anyway.

If there wasn't any yolk, just a shell broke in half, you might look under the mom and see if there is a baby as the empty shell will usually be thrown out when baby is born.


Treesa

[sheshe]

No there was no yolk and no babies either. But would two pegeons set on the eggs? And they both ended up broken and the second wasn't thrown from the nest but broken under the male (or the one I think is Male).

[Pidgey]

Sheshe,

Are the eggs "broken" in two uneven halves with serated edges? When a chick hatches, it works its way around the shell, pressing outward in spot after spot with a little bump on its beak called an "egg tooth". It usually produces an almost perfect "endcap" off the end of the egg.

If that's how they're broken, there's chicks around there somewhere.

Pidgey

[upcd]

About the broken eggs. Was thier pigeon grit? This make hard egg shells and aids in digestion. Also tumblers can be easily excitable and spin while on the nest. They don't mean to. But accidents happen. Or the other bird might of bothered the nest.

[JGregg]

I don't think combining chickens and nonflighted pigeons is a good idea. First off the pigeons can't get away from the chickens if they're picked on. And the chickens are much larger than the pigeons. And since the pigeons can't fly they're forced to nest on the ground with the chickens. Chickens are omnivores to a degree, you'll agree with me if you've seen 'em after a mouse. Well the difference between a baby mouse (which chickens love to eat) and a little squab on the ground is minimal. You could end up having your chickens eating your squabs.

I've heard of other members having trouble with chickens and pigeons, and some who don't. But, if you ask me the combination of chickens and nonflighted pigeons is tanamount to looking for trouble.

[Birdmom4ever]

JGregg is right. Parlor rollers shouldn't share space with chickens. As the chickens mature they will eat eggs and chicks. I wouldn't keep chickens and pigeons together anyway. Even normally flighted young pigeons would likely be picked on or killed by grown chickens when they first leave the nest and aren't yet flying well. There can be disease/parasite issues, too.

Parlor rollers, once mature, can't fly at all, but do backward flips along the ground. So their food, water and nest boxes must all be on the ground.

As to cocks and hens, you can tell by behavior. Cock-birds are more vocal and make the deep "coo-coo-ca-coo" sound while puffing their chests out. They also dance in circles around the hen while fanning their tail feathers and prancing.