# Pigeon weight and possibility of overweight?



## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi,

I am a little worried about my pigeon. I live in a small space and I do not think he is getting enough exercise. He eats well and has not been sick other than a slight cold during deep winter. He is about 7 years old. Since I live in a small space he does not get to fly around enough. How can I tell if he is over weight? Is there a way to figure out how much your pigeon should weigh? His feed is mainly cockateal feed. I have been trying to incorporate a more pigeon oriented feed, but he does not seem to eat the corn or other larger seeds. He does eat the sunflower seed from the cokateal feed. However, sometimes he doesn't eat it. Mainly he eats the small round yellow seeds. He does not seem to like the slender brown pointy seeds. He used to eat raw white rice, but after two years he stopped and just ate the other feed.

This is what he used to eat:

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2403/picture016va.jpg

Then later I upgraded it to:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5397/picture134zf.jpg

And now I want to add:

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2871/picture135ud.jpg

He eats the smaller seeds but the larger ones he just picks up, bites around on his beak, then drops and tries something else. I tried adding green peas before but he did not eat them.

He also is very curious and sometimes wants to eat from the food I eat. Mainly boiled rice and egg. He loves egg. He can eat plenty of egg for himself. I also feed him some wheat bread in very small amounts from time to time.

I don't think he is fat, but he doesn't look that small either. He is not big either. I have seem bigger pigeons at the park. He feels a little heavy sometimes. I don't know.

I also bought a white ringneck dove to keep him company. I don't leave them alone because the dove sometimes annoys the pigeon and he pecks at her for that. The other times they seem to get along well. 

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2424/picture136ot.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3622/picture138yi.jpg
http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/9407/picture140c.jpg

-Edit-

What kind of scale should I buy if I were to weigh a pigeon? I felt him today and he certainly feels heavier than before.


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## pigeon poop (May 21, 2007)

Okay first things first. I am from Australia so I am aware your petshops and produce outlets might not stock the same as ours but I'll try to help anyway. 

.Weight.

Okay the thing you need to do is reach underneith the bird and feel through the feathers for the keel bone. This is a bone that runs straight down the birds chest (kind of like a breast bone). If it feels sharp or pointy to the touch, your bird is in dire need of fattening up. If it is the opposite, and you can't feel it at all, your bird needs to loose weight. The keel bone for a pigeon should be present to the eye (through the skin) but have large portions of flesh either side so it is not prominant. 

.Diet. 

Your old mix : 

Millet, Panican, sauflower, dyed wheat and oats, limited grey stripe sunflower and plain canary seed.

Your new mix : 

Millet, Panican, sauflower, dyed wheat and oats, limited grey stripe sunflower and plain canary seed, whole corn, chick pea, Rolled oats (groats), milo and Black sunflower seed.

Standard pigeon mix (but everyones different) :

Whole corn, sauflower, mung beans, oats, grey striped sunflower, plain or red panican, milo, chick peas - no other seed. 

As a treat I offer my birds live food also such as Mealworms and give them vitamins daily. 

If wanting your bird fattened add BLACK sunflower seed and pullet grower.

If wanting your bird thinned take out ALL sunflower and sauflower, as these seeds are high in fat. And don't feed him egg too high in protein for a bird on a diet. 

Now then, as we have adressed weight and diet... human foods.

Dry rice is a '' no no '' as it swells in the birds guts when wet. Egg? Yes, but I'd make a egg and biscuit mix. Oh and whatever those pellets are - get rid of them. 

.Feeding behaviour. 

Okay pigeons are fussy creatures when it comes to living in captivity and you know why? It's because we present them with a bowl full of food daily. They can pick and choose which seed they prefer. In the wild they have to eat what ever they can find. 
I have to admit, that ''cockatiel seed'' as you call it would be better for a small dove or finch rather then any parrot or pigeon.

It sounds to me though that this ''cockatiel seed'' is all he's been given so of course he'll spit the big seeds back at you. The trick here is to slowly mix ur seeds in and take out the other seeds. That and I'd stretch his feeding times. 

To give you an idea I give my flock 4 cups of seed (which fills their bowl) once every three days. This way they are froced to eat everything and thus I do not have fussy birds. You could probably do something simular for him if you get sick of him tossing out stuff he doesn't want. Believe me when a bird gets hungry - he will eat whatever he's presented with. 

Now I think I've answered most of your questions....but I have one of my own. 

What on earth happened to his feet? Did he come this way? Hatching incident? Or is he difficient?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Pigeon poop gave you some good advise and feed does vary per region.

It's rather costly to buy pigeon seed for just one bird unless you can find a find store that sells in small amounts. Most often, it's sold in 50lb bags.

Pigeons need protein....sure he likes the smaller seed because it's a kin to candy for pigeons. Pigeons get protein from peas. Look at your grocery for different kinds of dried peas and lentils. You can also add small pop corn and organic brown rice is okay . Personally, I would leave the safflower in the mix . 

I agree that it's important to make the transition slowly. Do you give him red grit and oyster shell? A vitamin supplement with vitamin d3 is very important for all birds that do not have access to direct sunshine.


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## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi Pigeon Poop,

Thank you for your very detailed reply! It helped a lot. I felt the bone and it doesn't feel too sharp. Though it is my first time doing it so I have nothing to compare it to. I could definitely feel it, but it also felt a little soft. Do pigeons really get so over weight that you can no longer feel that bone???

Thank you for listing the seeds. I really did not know what most of them were named. Now I got to look them up online . Thank you. I always wondered what the dyed seeds were.... Why are they dyed anyway?  They sometimes stain the bowl where I place them. I had to wonder if it was just how the seed was or if it was coloring. I guess it is coloring. I am not sure if dyed seeds are good or bad. Should I remove them?

From the new feed my pigeon seems to really like the Milo. He eats it pretty fast. From the new feed he doesn't eat the whole corn, or the random popcorn thrown in there. I hope he will one day.

Okay I will remove the pellets. Those were included in the mix I bought so I guess I'll have to find another kind. He has started to eat the pellets but if they are no good I'll remove those.

When I found my pigeon I did feed him white rice and canary/cockateal feed. I never thought of the rice expanding inside after he drank water.... Eventually he stopped eating it. I think it was 1 year and a half later. He seems to eat some rice now, but only if it is boiled. So like the rice I eat he'd eat some too. He likes it if it has some egg mixed in there.

I think his feet are like that from a birth defect since when I found him they were like that. He was like a an old squab. He had all his feathers but his beak still had that bigness to it in baby pigeons. Oh he also had some slight yellow hairs. He did not coo either he would squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee for food and would try to stick his beak in like a baby into a mother. I made sure to buy a baby powder mix that I fed him to in a small cup. He would drink sooo much .

Hi Charis. Do you think http://www.jedds.com/-strse-1059/GRIT-WITH-REDSTONE-2.5kg/Detail.bok would be a good choice for red grit and oyster shell? He sometimes gets some sun light, but not all the time. I have vitamin drops and it looks like it does have VitaminD3 listed. 67500IU. It also has vitamin A. Thiamine. Ribofavlin, Vitamin b6 niacin d-pantothenic acid Choline. it is called vita-sol from ecotrition. 

I actually tried adding dired peas before, but he would not eat them. I got to give lentils a try since they are smaller!

On another note the ringneckdove and the pigeon are getting alone better. I sort of hope they mate so I can see some of those hybrids. I've only seen them in pictures . Mm.. but the dove doesn't really stay still. At first my pigeon seemed more interested, but now he doesn't seem as much. Though it has only been like a week they are together. My dove definitely likes my pigeon since she likes to stay around him, and sometimes coos for him to come to her twitching her wings.

Oh thank you for replying I was starting to lose hope.

I caught my dove doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk8Qye4BDCU did I by any chance get a male dove instead of female??? It is basically doing what my pigeon does and he is male.


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## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi,

Sorry, it is me again. I was wondering if someone could help me about my dove. In the video I posted above it was doing some strange things. Did I by any chance get a male dove?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

FlyingPigeon said:


> Hi,
> 
> Sorry, it is me again. I was wondering if someone could help me about my dove. In the video I posted above it was doing some strange things. Did I by any chance get a male dove?


yes..he is acting like a male dove.. I have heard of the mirror test to see if they would coo at it and I guess it works!..lol..


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## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> yes..he is acting like a male dove.. I have heard of the mirror test to see if they would coo at it and I guess it works!..lol..


Oh no . Well, my dove has been acting up again and it now does this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdgo5pjtTE when it sees my pigeon. Isn't this what female doves do when they want a male? I say that because I used to have a cockatiel and she would always do that when she wanted her mate to come over. Is this the same with doves? Or is this still normally done by males? Because my dove does it all the time while looking at my pigeon. In front of the mirror my dove does the other dance, but with out the mirror it does this. Help!!!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

FlyingPigeon said:


> Oh no . Well, my dove has been acting up again and it now does this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdgo5pjtTE when it sees my pigeon. Isn't this what female doves do when they want a male? I say that because I used to have a cockatiel and she would always do that when she wanted her mate to come over. Is this the same with doves? Or is this still normally done by males? Because my dove does it all the time while looking at my pigeon. In front of the mirror my dove does the other dance, but with out the mirror it does this. Help!!!


well, I see my male pigeons do this as well as one male dove I had.. they flitter their wings as a love gesture I suppose..esp if they want them to nest and accept them..(iam guessing from just human observation)..lol.. my hen doves were not so aggresive and vocal like that, they pretty much ignored him untill the time was right then they would show interest to mate and nest and that was about it.. some hens can act out in male behaviors though..so if you have another bird around if he is a she..she will lay eggs then you will know.. if not then he is probalby a he... maybe.


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## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> well, I see my male pigeons do this as well as one male dove I had.. they flitter their wings as a love gesture I suppose..esp if they want them to nest and accept them..(iam guessing from just human observation)..lol.. my hen doves were not so aggresive and vocal like that, they pretty much ignored him untill the time was right then they would show interest to mate and nest and that was about it.. some hens can act out in male behaviors though..so if you have another bird around if he is a she..she will lay eggs then you will know.. if not then he is probalby a he... maybe.


 Oh, I see. I only have a male pigeon. At least I know my pigeon is male because he has mounted my hand a couple of times, so it is pretty clear he is male. My mom (No expert on pigeons/has never had any.) Says that the dove is just mimicking what my male pigeon does; the bowing turning and what not. She thinks so because when we brought the dove it could not even fly properly so she thinks it was pretty young (Thus mimicking the other while it learned). I personally don't know. I was pretty confused when I saw the dove do the same thing as my pigeon. The only thing that made my think it was female was when it would tilt forward, coo, and twitch its wings. That was what my cockatiel would do when it wanted her mate. She also laid eggs and what not. So, my pigeon shows no interest in my dove. I don't think there is much of a way for me to find out if my dove lays any eggs or not. The dove doesn't fight my pigeon. At least not yet? I am not sure if having TWO MALES is such a wise idea. I have to say that the white dove has been extremely vocal cooing like craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hours on end everyday. I did not know Doves were sooooooooooooooo loud and sooooooooo noisy . Do only male doves do this? I mean, is there any difference? Are females more quiet while males more noisy? Because I think female cockateils don't sing, but males do, or something like that. So is this the same? Males singing all day long none stop? My dove sings MUCH LOUDER in front of the mirror; really loud! I hope they don't get into fights at some point later on. Is there still no hope for my white dove to be female? My white dove certainly shows a lot of interest in my pigeon. Will this turn into a gay relationship lol? I can't help but think of the dove staring at my pigeon from 'across the bar' with fuzzy intentions!

...help!!!!!!!!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

FlyingPigeon said:


> Oh, I see. I only have a male pigeon. At least I know my pigeon is male because he has mounted my hand a couple of times, so it is pretty clear he is male. My mom (No expert on pigeons/has never had any.) Says that the dove is just mimicking what my male pigeon does; the bowing turning and what not. She thinks so because when we brought the dove it could not even fly properly so she thinks it was pretty young (Thus mimicking the other while it learned). I personally don't know. I was pretty confused when I saw the dove do the same thing as my pigeon. The only thing that made my think it was female was when it would tilt forward, coo, and twitch its wings. That was what my cockatiel would do when it wanted her mate. She also laid eggs and what not. So, my pigeon shows no interest in my dove. I don't think there is much of a way for me to find out if my dove lays any eggs or not. The dove doesn't fight my pigeon. At least not yet? I am not sure if having TWO MALES is such a wise idea. I have to say that the white dove has been extremely vocal cooing like craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hours on end everyday. I did not know Doves were sooooooooooooooo loud and sooooooooo noisy . Do only male doves do this? I mean, is there any difference? Are females more quiet while males more noisy? Because I think female cockateils don't sing, but males do, or something like that. So is this the same? Males singing all day long none stop? My dove sings MUCH LOUDER in front of the mirror; really loud! I hope they don't get into fights at some point later on. Is there still no hope for my white dove to be female? My white dove certainly shows a lot of interest in my pigeon. Will this turn into a gay relationship lol? I can't help but think of the dove staring at my pigeon from 'across the bar' with fuzzy intentions!
> 
> ...help!!!!!!!!


male doves are known to be loud, That is why I found a new home for mine with his mate..they went to a nice heated sunporch of a nice man where he could coo to his hearts content. so it does sound like a male dove..my hens were pretty quiet most of the time..just some soft cooing and the laughing thing and a few other small noises that I can't remember now. so make the best of it at least they have each others company.. but they can not be in the same cage together. If you keep them out in neutral territory they should be fine.


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## gunnarwordon (Jan 14, 2012)

I don't know if this is any help, but here I go. I have a few WOE Tumbers, and most of them are, shall we say, overweight? They love to eat..... sunflower seeds are there favorite. My fantails eat, but never seem to get overweight...... its just that way..... but I will say this: do not feed them corn, if you must, feed them very small amounts. A cheap filling used in commercial products to take up space, it has very little nutrition and health benefits. I advise switching to something a little more nutritious. Maybe a mix seed, maybe a millet-based feed. But corn is a cheap filler, and my WOE tumblers don't even eat it. Whenever I do mix some into there mix, they simply pick around it.. they're smart that way I guess.


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## FlyingPigeon (Jan 11, 2010)

I showed the video to the store owner of the pet shop and he said that it is male. Of course, he offered to exchange it for a female. Though that is hard to do after you have had the dove for a while. It just doesn't feel right especially since he has flown around and doesn't like being caged now. We had to cover the mirrors because the dove kept cooing really loud all the time in front of them. He also scared my pigeon a little when he started bowing/cooing right in front of him. They do get along. My pigeon some times pecks the dove when it gets too close hitting my pigeon in the process (Wings). We named the dove monkey because he likes to monkey around so much, and his little 'laugh' reminds me of a monkey somehow. I am disappointed because I wanted a female companion for my pigeon rather than male . I still want a female pigeon. One that can be nice to my pigeon. My pigeon is actually a nice fellow and very friendly.

Oh gunnar thank you for that input. My pigeon doesn't like corn either. I want to get him some mung beans because I read that pigeons love them?


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