Love the Bird's

With pigeons, especially homer, what you put on it is what you will get. If you are racing, for example, if you take the time to train, condition them, they will respond to it and possibly you can win. To me having pigeons is like an active participation. Pigeons respond well. I didn't have canary as pets, but I did have like parakeets and finches. Those you can't release outside. They are also easier to care because they don't poop much. I trained those birds as well to come to me. But there is difference when you release them inside the house or any aviary to fly compared to pigeons. When you release pigeons in the blue-yonder, you are at the mercy of the outside world. There is trust between you and the pigeons. That is the exciting part. There is apprehension, tension, fear, but once your pigeon comes back from somewhere, you are ultimately relieved and indeed up very happy. You felt special in that the pigeon trusted you and came back. Such experience is endearing. I know of no bird that gives me that feeling. It is like your long lost lovable pet dog just came back to you! Watching pigeon grow from egg to adulthood is like "human life." There is a time when you teach them like human kids. There is also a time when you finally let them go to explore on their own. Then you become happy when they come back. And then you hope that they will have grand kids, too. And all of this can be experienced in less than 2 years.

I really can't explain it to you. Only when you have them, then your experience will show you. Once you get it, you get it for life and you don't feel like parting with them. But if you do, you may end up going back again.

Pigeon is better than canary because it gives you experience that is different than canary. To me once you get a pigeon you move up a little higher in the challenge of taking care of our bird friends.

ps. Some people get it. Some don't. If your wife don't get it, she will never be.

rod

I've raised all kinds of winged animals for quite some time, from simple finches to expensive song birds. What I know is there is not much enjoyment by yourself. Where I live, there isn't any fanciers of the birds I keep, so I've been through many types of song birds and now settling on pigeons as a primary focus. Even pigeons are not much fun for me because I don't know racers in my area. There are some. I just don't know them. I raise pigeons to test myself (breeding ability), basically, because I've done well with all the competition birds I've been involved with.

I suggest you start small. Two pairs is plenty. They can be related or unrelated, but from good winning lines. If the pairs work...you will have good racers for years to come by simply breeding the pairs. Cross the children of one pair to the other and if this works you will have more than enough. If none of the breedings work to satisfaction, simply get new ones and try again. Most people keep too many different breeds (bloodlines). Unnecessary.

My wife...she doesn't understand my bird hobby. But, she accepts it. I don't need her support. Just leave me alone, hehe!

If there is a bad part to having pigeons,it is that it is possible to get "Pigeon Lung Disease"....It takes a long time to get this..BUT....If you keep a clean loft,and vacuum the dust out every day as I do,you will not have to worry about this problem...As far as I know,this is the only disease that can transfer to humans from pigeons being kept by humans...My father had pigeons for over 50 years,and he didn`t die from having pigeon lung disease..He kept a clean loft/lofts,and you could allmost eat off the floor/walls,if you know what I mean...He used to whitewash the interior,with a mixture containing bug reppelent every year...That is not needed anymore,with the great bug control products on the market for keeping pigeons...One thing I will say about starting out...The guys here are an the mark about purchasing the best pigeons you can afford..By doing this,it will SAVE you money in the long run...If you are serious about breeding and racing the pigeons,do build a loft large enough to hold/keep 50 pigeons healthy/safe over the winter...What I mean by that is,in the spring/summer,you will have another say 40 youngsters bred for racing,now your loft has to be large enough to keep 90 birds healthy....There has to be enough room for all the birds..I only keep 34 to 40 birds the most over the winter..That is 6 to 8 pair of breeders,and 10 to 12 pair of old bird racers...That`s it...I keep this a hobby and I don`t want to make it a JOB !!....Having 200 pigeons or more is a job to me....It also cost alot lees to keep less pigeons...
To have a loft with enough room to keep the 40 old birds,and the 30 to 40 YB`s you raise as I do,you need a loft 8 or 10 ft by wide by 24 feet long...What this gives you is a 6ft wide Breeding Section...a 6ft wide OB Racers Section,and a 12ft wide Young Bird section,that you split that in two 6ft sections..One for the young cocks,and one for the young hens....It is alot better/cheaper in the long run to build the correct size loft you will need..If your not going to RACE the pigeons,build a 6 by 8 loft,and just breed 4 to 8 young birds per year AS NEEDED...If you don`t lose any,and the hawks don`t get any,you will not have to breed any,unless youy want to send some out to one loft races etc....Good Luck with your wife....My wife doesn`t care one way or the other about me having the birds..But she does like hearing about the "Barbara" pigeon named after her....I allways tell her when "Barbara" does something funny etc...Alamo