The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Other => Topic started by: devonlady on August 21, 2015, 08:05:30 am
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Anyone keep/kept racing pigeons? It's something I've fancied doing for years but, like a lot of fancies probably much more to it than meets the eye.
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We had one for about six months. He turned up exhausted one foggy morning. We refuelled him and expected him to disappear once the fog lifted, but he decided to stay. His owner didn't want him back either, as he evidently wasn't very good!
(http://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/img_4460.jpg?w=480&h=660)
He used to do circuits around the farm, and slept on our bathroom windowsill.
Pigeon fancying has a bit of a naff reputation, but I actually think it would be quite fascinating. They really are amazing birds :thumbsup:.
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A neighbour kept them for many years and was devoted to them. Also I found one injured on my land a couple of years ago and contacted the pigeon folk saying I was concerned that according to hearsay it would have it's neck wrung when it finally got home.
Nothing could have been further from the truth, his owner was overjoyed to have news of him and arranged to get him home to Wales. He had flown into a high tension wire in the dark and wounded his chest.
I only want to keep them in a very small way but am worried that small ways may escalate!!
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I only want to keep them in a very small way but am worried that small ways may escalate!!
Eat the eggs and squabs, they soon replenish their numbers.
I have been eating a lot lately and numbers going down. I should give them a chance to restock, but we love eggs in the morning, and organic wild pigeon meat is great. We are eating too much, I need to build a bigger dovecote.
I would love to combine racing pigeons as well, what a grey hobby.
Our great grandparents time, lots of people ate pigeon. There are old dovecotes all over England and Wales.
I don't know why everyone love chickens so much, they are not as good as pigeons in my opinion.
Pigeons look after themselves, they feed themselves and don't need looking after like chickens.
You need about three pigeon eggs for one large chicken egg, but pigeons produce more and for 12 months of the year.
Also the pigeon manure is the best ever nutrition for your soil.
The only problem is your neighbours may not like your pigeons, but there will probably be wild ones and other birds anyway.
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Your pigeons are laying more eggs than chickens?
I keep white homing pigeons, I don't race them but I keep in touch with the local race scene.
Mine certainly breed regularly but have now all but stopped laying at this time of year as the dark nights draw in.
Easy enough to keep, give them a sheltered dry area to live in, fresh water and a good supply of food and they'll stay for life.
They do love a good bath, I use an old ceramic shower base, fill it with fresh water every day and they love it.
I let mine out twice a day, they fly around for 10 minutes - half an hour then come back into their hut, I have a one way entrance on it so they can't come and go as they please and it saves the cats nosing around.
With a dovecote or similar you could just leave them to their own devices to roam free.
Nice characters and I like having them around.
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I know this thread is a bit old but has no one really considered raising pigeons for squabs/show/pets/garden ornaments?
I used to have some king pigeons.
They are so lovely. My wife likes then more than ducks and chickens because they are monogamous lol
They won't make noise at 5 am like cockerels which means you can keep them in urban areas.
Kong pigeons can't reallt fly! They are more like chickens - walk everywhere.
They lay and raise two eggs/chicks every month or so. Sometimes even through the winter which is the reason why they are such common pests but you can also eat then yourself. No need to feed them much. You can keep a breed like fantail or capuchin or even racing ones! They will fly around and find a lot of their own food.
I wanna get some not sure which breed yet though. Will keep them in an old garden shed perhaps even with the chickens.
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I know this thread is a bit old but has no one really considered raising pigeons for squabs/show/pets/garden ornaments?
Thats what I and Orinlooper do, I don't eat the eggs, I prefer to let them rear them and eat the squabs
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What kind of pigeons do you raise? How do you keep them?
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Mine are just white racers.
They're kept in a large garden shed with a front aviary, nest boxes and perches inside and let out for a fly and a bath every day
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Nothing useful to add to the thread but I visited Temple Newsahm, which is now a rare breed farm but used to be a large working estate with a Tudor/Jabobean house. It had a massive pigeon loft, over a road into the courtyard and in the centre of the floor was a huge wooden "plug", which when open meant the pigeon manure could be shovelled straight into the waiting cart below.
I also remember they had a large laundry facility on site too! :roflanim:
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What a good idea!
Also a lot healthier than shovelling pigeon manure.
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What I maybe should have said was that when the plug was taken out a man could have dropped through!
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Are racing and 'pet' pigeons covered by the bird flu restrictions?
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I know they stopped all pigeon racing events and sales.
No back to my original question on keeping pigeons for meat - I read an article describing method of keeping those birds in the loft. And I mean a house or barn loft. I don't mean a shed made specifically for pigeons but actually under the house roof. Pigeons would nest there, fly and fees out in fields. People would gather the squabs and select the fattest largest pigeons for breeding.
That's how the Polish Lynx pigeon breed was developed. Look at them! They are beautiful!
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ry%C5%9B+polski+pigeon&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwieobGM36bRAhUQIFAKHXfjCtcQ_AUIBygB&biw=360&bih=512#tbm=isch&q=polish+lynx+pigeon (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ry%C5%9B+polski+pigeon&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwieobGM36bRAhUQIFAKHXfjCtcQ_AUIBygB&biw=360&bih=512#tbm=isch&q=polish+lynx+pigeon)
Similar in size in conformation to the French carneau
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I keep white races and Birmingham rollers the Rolers are very good to watch, we eat the cross breeds and any that aren't pure white , very tasty and makes grate gravy,