Hello! We are newbies and I am looking for any helpful hints and suggestions. A bit of background: My name is Melissa and my 11 yr old son, Josiah, has been interested in pigeons for quite a while. Josiah has been diagnosed with Non Verbal Learning Disorder and I am hoping that we can use his love of pigeons not only as a family hobby but also as a learning tool. We are in the very early stages of getting going. We have planned on using a corner of our garage to build our loft. It is a 2 car garage that does not house any cars in it. Is this alright? It is not insulated, does it need to be? We are in northern Ohio. What is a good number of pigeons to start with? He is interested in fantails but I am thinking that a better choice to start with is homers. Any input on this? I am so glad that I happened upon this message board. Any suggestions and input will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
New to pigeon hobby
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Hello and Welcome,
Pigeons are can easily handle the weather in Northern Ohio - and a section of garage will provide more than enough shelter. I recently started with homing pigeons and what surprized me most about the housing requirements was the importance of good ventilation. I had imagined I would build a sealed structure and that proved to be far from the fact. The more fresh air they get without drafts the better.
Hugh,
Pigeons are can easily handle the weather in Northern Ohio - and a section of garage will provide more than enough shelter. I recently started with homing pigeons and what surprized me most about the housing requirements was the importance of good ventilation. I had imagined I would build a sealed structure and that proved to be far from the fact. The more fresh air they get without drafts the better.
Hugh,
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Hi and Welcome to PT. It's always fun trying to help someone learn about pigeons. They make Great pets! Their very intelligent and love to interact with people.
Everything Gnuretiree said is true.
A bit more info would help in your decision for a breed.
Are you planning on letting them "free fly" or are you going to attach a flight cage? I don't "free fly" my birds - I couldn't handle a hawk attack
Mine are pets (80 or so) with a large flight cage attached to their loft. Fantails and King Pigeons don't need a huge flight cage. And make excellent pets. These two breeds should not be allowed out to "free fly" - their not the best flyers and have a hard time escaping predators.
Any questions you have - ask away. More members will be along.
Also, there are MANY wonderful King Pigeons looking for homes right now!
Thanks for the warm welcome! The corner of the garage we are going to use has 2 double hung windows 1 on the west wall and the other on the south wall. We are planning on making a walk-out green house type of thing (for lack of better words to explain) out of one window. My son seems to think that the pigeons should be able to go up into the garage rafters (the garage is all open from the floor up to the roof) but I think if we do this the birds will stay up there and never get used to us. Is it important to have the loft all the way finished before we bring home pigeons? Can they be kept inside until the loft is completed? I am wondering this as we are attending a pigeon show this Saturday and I figured we would return with a few pigeons. It is doubtful the loft will be all the way finished by then.
I am interested in free flying but like you I am not so sure how I would handle it if a few do not return. Breed wise I was assuming that maybe homers are easier to care for. I do not mind getting into the more exotic birds but that will probably happen further down the road after we figure the ins and outs of raising pigeons. I am really looking forward to getting started, I can hardly wait!Hi and Welcome to PT. It's always fun trying to help someone learn about pigeons. They make Great pets! Their very intelligent and love to interact with people.
Everything Gnuretiree said is true.
A bit more info would help in your decision for a breed.
Are you planning on letting them "free fly" or are you going to attach a flight cage? I don't "free fly" my birds - I couldn't handle a hawk attack
Fantails and King Pigeons don't need a huge flight cage. And make excellent pets. These two breeds should not be allowed out to "free fly" - their not the best flyers and have a hard time escaping predators.
Any questions you have - ask away. More members will be along.
Also, there are MANY wonderful King Pigeons looking for homes right now!
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I don't know if you saw my previous post - as we posted at the same time
When I got my first Fantails I kept them inside in a large dog crate. I got them in the fall from a warmer climate so I kept them inside until spring. Some members only have a few birds that live inside all the time. So living inside is fine as long as they have a large enough cage and exercise time.
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Care wise, all of the breeds are pretty much the same. But some breeds should not free fly.
If your looking to free fly, you should get YOUNG Homers. Preferably just weaned. If you get older homers, the first time you let them out they just might fly back to their original home
That's why they call them "homers".
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Also, if your going to a show this weekend, be prepared to be thoroughly overwhelmed - if you've never been to one before!
Another thing to keep in mind and do your homework about breeds is that - some breeds should not be housed together. Some breeds are slower and docile (fantails are one) and others can be aggressive (modena's) and bully other birds.
This is just in case you want to get different breeds down the road
Another thing to keep in mind and do your homework about breeds is that - some breeds should not be housed together. Some breeds are slower and docile (fantails are one) and others can be aggressive (modena's) and bully other birds.
This is just in case you want to get different breeds down the road
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I think it is important that you be able to easily catch the pigeons in the loft, so allowing access to the rafters might be a problem. Cleaning the loft is important too, so be sure you should have easy access to all areas. I am very, very biased in what is the best pigeon to raise - I get immense pleasure watching them fly and I am probably incapable of giving an impartial, well thought out opinion - sooooooo GET THE HOMERS!!!!!
Hugh
Hugh
hi my name is Josiah. I like pigeons i want to raise some my mom says that she would like to to. but i have some tricky questions about pigeon pox. and anti virus shots and health shots and vitamins.what is the best way to learn about these things?
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Hi Josiah and welcome to PT.hi my name is Josiah. I like pigeons i want to raise some my mom says that she would like to to. but i have some tricky questions about pigeon pox. and anti virus shots and health shots and vitamins.what is the best way to learn about these things?
My birds don't come into contact with other birds,they don't free fly and I don't race. So I don't vaccinate them. Sorry I can't help you with that question, but keep checking back. Others that know more about that will be along.
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If you ask, I guess the members will answer your questions! There are really experienced people here.hi my name is Josiah. I like pigeons i want to raise some my mom says that she would like to to. but i have some tricky questions about pigeon pox. and anti virus shots and health shots and vitamins.what is the best way to learn about these things?
Good snowy evening! We are in the middle of a massive snow fall here. I can not wait for spring! Well anyhoo the excitement is growing in our household. Tomorrow my hubby's buddy is coming over to help him complete our first ever loft. Josiah is getting real excited and I am sure it will be a battle to get him off to school tomorrow, that is if they do not have a snow day. Josiah is excited that we found this site and as you can see he posted on this thread the other night. Thanks to all that have responded to his post and thanks for your patience with him.
For those of you that raise/keep different breeds can you tell me what breeds mix together well? Is it best to stick to just one breed? If you have a few different breeds, do you keep them together or are they kept separate? I have hunted around here to find the answers but there are so many threads to go through. I have thoroughly enjoyed all that I have read. Thanks again for your warm welcome!
For those of you that raise/keep different breeds can you tell me what breeds mix together well? Is it best to stick to just one breed? If you have a few different breeds, do you keep them together or are they kept separate? I have hunted around here to find the answers but there are so many threads to go through. I have thoroughly enjoyed all that I have read. Thanks again for your warm welcome!
All breeds of pigeons will cross, so if you are worried about keeping pure bred pigeons you are best keeping them seperate from each other.
I would recommend starting with homing pigeons or Birmingham rollers.
Both breeds are easy to take care of, prolific breeders, come in a wide variety of colors, can be purchased relatively cheaply and are fun to fly.
Homing pigeons can be trained to come back from long distances and Birmingham rollers will kit tightly and perform bacwards rolls in the air.
Keith
I would recommend starting with homing pigeons or Birmingham rollers.
Both breeds are easy to take care of, prolific breeders, come in a wide variety of colors, can be purchased relatively cheaply and are fun to fly.
Homing pigeons can be trained to come back from long distances and Birmingham rollers will kit tightly and perform bacwards rolls in the air.
Keith
Though you need to be careful cause my white dove and pigeon (flying together) were attacked by an eagle. Good thing they got away in time. Two big black birds (smaller than the eagle,but bigger than my pigeons) chaded the eagle away. Those black birds looked like they were going to eat the eagle. They were cooing like crows. I was scared to death. I thought of my birds as if they were my kids. Im proud of my pigeon. as soon as he saw the eagle he flew as fast as he could to his eggs. he was spinning in the air. but he was worried about the white dove.
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