# Pigeons and Cold Tolerance



## Hawkwing (Aug 30, 2015)

Hello,
I'm currently a senior in high school and am working on my senior project, which is (hopefully) going to educate some of the local people about the joys of pigeons. It's also a great excuse to adopt some of these wonderful birds 
I've done a lot of research so far, but one thing I've been having trouble finding is how tolerant pigeons are to cold. As far as I've found, they can handle it pretty well if they are able to adjust to it gradually (like humans do in fall/winter), but I was concerned because there's a chance I'll be adopting them from a shelter, where they'll have been indoors and out of the cold. I'm also concerned that the pigeons may be domestic King Pigeons, which I'm not sure are tolerant to cold at all.
I live in upper New England, so it can get below 0 in mid-winter. 
I hope that wasn't too wordy, thank you in advance (and for all the posts on this forum - it's been really great to see others input and the discussions that go on here)
-Ana


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hi, and welcome to Pigeon Talk. I'm not a good one to answer your question, as I have a rescue loft and am a wuss about my birds and their comfort. I keep an oil filled radiator heater in my loft, and keep it above freezing all winter. I'm in N.E. too as you can see. And I like to spend time with my birds. I wouldn't want to do that if I had to freeze to go out there. I wouldn't want to see them all puffed up to stay warm either. And cleaning the loft and scraping frozen droppings that are hardened like cement would not be my idea of fun. King pigeons, just like any other can tolerate the cold. As long as they are in a loft or shelter where they are dry and out of the wind and weather. Something where they could get outside to an aviary during the day if they wanted, but with a place where they can go inside for the night to stay out of the wind. Most would probably just put them outside in the loft right away. I wouldn't. If my loft was unheated, then I would do it in stages. Like maybe in a room that wasn't heated for a while, then outside to the loft. It hasn't been too terribly cold thus far this year. When do you think you would be getting them?


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## Hawkwing (Aug 30, 2015)

Thank you for the quick response  I had thought about doing it in stages, so I'll probably end up doing that, and it sounds like a good idea to heat the loft (though I don't mind the cold too much as long as I have gloves). 
I'll most likely be adopting them in January or February, I'm not too sure yet.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Most people don't heat their lofts. So not needed. But if you did, then you could lower it little by little until you just turned it off.


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## Hawkwing (Aug 30, 2015)

Makes sense, thanks again


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## CooCooBird (Dec 1, 2016)

I live in Canada (Toronto) and it gets pretty cold here as well. As long as they're used to the cold, the pigeons should be ok in the cold. They become acclimatized as the year goes on and the seasons change. People here don't heat their lofts either. Like barns with livestock, or chicken coops, the body heat of the birds collects in the loft and raises the temperature significantly. It's still cool in there, but not unbearable. Also, on sunny mornings birds find places to bask. The railing on my balcony is a favourite place for feral pigeons on sunny winter mornings. They only come here when it's cold and sunny, sometimes mixed with starlings. As long as they have access to good foods, this will help them to keep warm. A bit of extra fat from more oily seeds in their diet would probably be helpful in cold weather.


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