Hi all, I'm still kind of new here but I've been thinking of getting an indoor, pet pigeon for some time now, and have been researching housing/food/exercise requirements. I have heard lots of opinions and advice on pigeon diets, and wanted to present a thought--My cockatiel eats a stovetop-cooked diet called Beak Appetit. Parrots have the same tendency as pigeons, that when fed a mix of seeds and grains, they will root through the bowl and pick out the ones they like best, usually the seeds with the most fat, leaving most of the lean nutrition on the floor.
A pigeon book I got from the library suggests pigeons be fed differing percentages of protein and fat depending on whether they are racing, breeding, molting, or resting. These values appear to be for free-flying birds who are getting much more exercise than a pigeon that spends most or all of its time in the house. Therefore I would suspect that indoor pets would need a good deal less fat, a little less protein (except when molting), and more roughage.
Beak Appetit comes in several flavors, the protein content of the four recipes I have in front of me ranges from 7% to 11.5% (min), the fat content is 3% (min) in all flavors, and 3-4% fiber. The package says 'for all birds,' but of course the birds pictured on the label are all hookbills. My cockatiel loves his 'Beak' and since all the ingredients are cooked together into a warm, moist cereal, he gets the nutrition he needs because it is harder for him to play favorites.
Here are some Beak Appetit ingredients: Pasta, rolled oats, rolled barley, dehulled millet, sunflower seeds, almonds, dates, cashews, raisins, coconut, carrots, dried kelp, cinnamon, anise seed, parsley...in another variety, basmati rice, pearled barley, yellow split peas, pasta, cracked wheat, cracked corn, dried apples...yet another variety contains green and yellow split peas, papaya, and peanuts in addition to some of the above...you get the idea. All flavors have calcium, vitamins A, D, B-12 and E, niacin, riboflavin, zinc, thiamine, biotin, and folic acid.
Would this be a good diet staple for an indoor pigeon, too? Could I feed them roughly the same things? Or do pigeons not do well with moist foods? Or is there some other reason this wouldn't be a good choice? I can get pigeon/dove pellets from my local pet store, should this be ALL a pigeon eats?
A pigeon book I got from the library suggests pigeons be fed differing percentages of protein and fat depending on whether they are racing, breeding, molting, or resting. These values appear to be for free-flying birds who are getting much more exercise than a pigeon that spends most or all of its time in the house. Therefore I would suspect that indoor pets would need a good deal less fat, a little less protein (except when molting), and more roughage.
Beak Appetit comes in several flavors, the protein content of the four recipes I have in front of me ranges from 7% to 11.5% (min), the fat content is 3% (min) in all flavors, and 3-4% fiber. The package says 'for all birds,' but of course the birds pictured on the label are all hookbills. My cockatiel loves his 'Beak' and since all the ingredients are cooked together into a warm, moist cereal, he gets the nutrition he needs because it is harder for him to play favorites.
Here are some Beak Appetit ingredients: Pasta, rolled oats, rolled barley, dehulled millet, sunflower seeds, almonds, dates, cashews, raisins, coconut, carrots, dried kelp, cinnamon, anise seed, parsley...in another variety, basmati rice, pearled barley, yellow split peas, pasta, cracked wheat, cracked corn, dried apples...yet another variety contains green and yellow split peas, papaya, and peanuts in addition to some of the above...you get the idea. All flavors have calcium, vitamins A, D, B-12 and E, niacin, riboflavin, zinc, thiamine, biotin, and folic acid.
Would this be a good diet staple for an indoor pigeon, too? Could I feed them roughly the same things? Or do pigeons not do well with moist foods? Or is there some other reason this wouldn't be a good choice? I can get pigeon/dove pellets from my local pet store, should this be ALL a pigeon eats?
You'd have some spoiled birds! Haha.
