# Old German Owls & Racing Homers cohabitating



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

My girlfriend's grandfather recently passed away leaving behind a large loft of racing homers as well as 2 old german owls which were used as droppers. My girlfriend was very close to her grandfather, and had raced pigeons with him since she was a young girl, and she couldn't handle giving away all of the birds. So we took a pair of the homers, and another relative offered to take the old german owls. This relative however can't take them for at least another 4 months or so, I'm guessing it will be longer, so the 4 birds are living together in the 'indoor loft' i built of wood, cardboard and some screen. 

I knew the racers would be top birds, they're much larger than the owls, but when I built the new loft i thought i'd make a higher 'penthouse' area for the racers, and the owls would get a lower level. this plan didn't work too well because the owls only really got a ledge, so i put a new level directly below the racer's penthouse, but this backfired further, as the homer cock now kicks the owls out of their penthouse, the level below it, as well as the ledge across from it, forcing the owls on to the floor. 

I know there's always a pecking order, but i wish the owls could relax without being in the dark back corner. does anyone have experience with some kind of small door to allow only the smaller owls into a certain area of the loft, or some other way to adjust the loft to give the owls more freedom? i wonder if it's a stupid fight to pick, trying to even the field to allow the owls to relax a bit more. I assume if they're more relaxed perhaps they'd be more likely to toss out a few eggs for a number of our friends who would love some of these cute friendly birds (the racers just laid their first egg tonight, but fewer people we know are interested in racers). 

If there's interest I can post a photo of the loft in its current state tomorrow, a camera flash will just reflect off the screen tonight so I'll have to wait until daylight to get a shot. thanks in advance!


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hello and welcome! A photo or two would be very helpful. 

Terry


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Size isn't necessarily the determining factor. It is their personality , and whether they are male or female, and number that will heavily influence whether they can co-habit together. 

I have Satinettes, which are smaller then the homers, they are quite gentle and live peacefully among each other, and my males do have their fights sometimes. But I have a seperate loft for them as their gentle nature, (especially the hens) dictate. They would probably end up living on the floor if they were with my homers. I also keep a couple of Rollers with the Satinettes as they are quite gentle and get along fine. The personalities work out fine.

I have about 41 homing pigeons and they have managed to live together peacefully, as there are plenty of cubbies, and plenty of room. There are always dominent males who will try to take up as much territory as possible, no matter who is in their coop. That is just the normal pecking order.

Then I have a Helmet pigeon, named Jasper, who is even smaller then the Satinettes. When he was first rescued he was introduced to the Satinettes after isolation. He is the bosiest and cutest little bird, and ended up reaking havoc among my "little " birds. He has more energy and is very aggressive by nature. He longed to be with the big birds, as he would pace the edge of the aviary where the homers exist. I put him in with my homers and he manages just fine. He has already managed to steal a cubby from one of my homers, and he is quite happy to be in their company. The homing pigeons see him as a little nuisance, BUT he manages just fine and doesn't get beat up.

You have to make sure the personalities can co-exist, and you must have plenty of room, because that could create an issue in itself. You could also even the score by changing the ratio of 2 to 1, more Owls, and only 2 homers. The homers wouldn't be able to be so aggressive if they were outnumbered. If that is not possible then you should close off an area in the coop where only the owls can go.

PLEASE do post some pics.


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

*Photos*

Ok, just took some photos, here are the first two, I'll share the whole gallery as soon as I choose some more pigeon related photos. 

Those sneaky owls snuck out again this morning, I haven't gotten around to buying velcro for around the screen on the loft, and tape doesn't stick well to screen...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k152/volvoben/DSC_7669.jpg

And here's the loft itself, 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k152/volvoben/DSC_7671.jpg

the blue bar is the cock, the hen is not visible up top in the back on her recently laid egg. the owl cock is on the cardboard i put on the floor last night to try to give them a protected nest bowl area, the hen is half hidden behind the watering can. The WB Mason box is my experiment this morning to cut a hole small enough for owls but not for racers (I am not thinking there will be any interest, even if it's the right size for the owls they seem to want to be outside and ontop of things even if they're near the ground and being bothered by the BB cock).

In response to other questions, the owls are also a pair, the hen is smaller and even more pacifist than the cock, the owl cock is the only one who will, very occassionally, challenge the racers only to lose. They've never been hurt at all, they always have somewhere to go to get away if they needed it, plus they grew up in a huge loft of a few hundred racers. 

Today i'll be cleaning out the loft, tossing down new issues of whatever free paper was near the subway, so i thought it would be a good time to make any changes. perhaps if i could fit in some small perch the owls could sit somewhere high enough to be comfortable and then retreat to their floor level home at night? or perhaps some kind of nesting pen like they would have in a large loft would have a door small enough to be defended by the owl cock? i think i'll work on those two options when cleaning, at least give some new options and new stuff to explore.


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

*more Photos*

ok, here are the same photos imbedded as well as a few others, i guess i'll just do multiple posts of 4 photos each...

The pigeon palace in its current state this morning (no, it's not curved, that's just what you get doing interiors with a 12mm lens):









Owls after escaping again this morning (today is the day to find some velcro!!!):









the owls on their favorite, yet slippery perch:









the original pigeon palace, 3 cardboard boxes connected to a guinea pig cage with window screen tops:









more photos in next post...


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

*photos II*

the owls relaxing while flying around the hallway, their evening aviary:









the racing cock strutting around the hall:









the racing hen also seemed strutty that day:









their old home, Gramp's large well designed loft:









one more page of photos to come...


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

*Photos III*

prettiest (i think) of the birds that were given away. we almost took him and a very very friendly 12 year old hen, but living in a small apartment and taking care of the owls as well as our original pair already seemed too much:









levitating pigeons in the old loft:









another interesting colored cock on giveaway day:









a whole lineup of cocks to be given away:









and that concludes the pigeon tour. i'm going to go vacuum up feathers now, perhaps clean some poo.


----------



## Feather (Dec 8, 2005)

All of these birds are just beautiful. Thank you for being so concerned about the animals that lost their loving caretaker.

Feather


----------



## xxmoxiexx (Oct 2, 2006)

is that a closet you converted to a loft for them?????


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

nope, the corner of our apartment just has an angled ceiling, and in order to make the loft fit in as well as possible i followed the angle. worked out well since the space was rather useless since you'd whack your head trying to get to it. it was a fun project framing out the wood for the loft, although it was so fun that we were no doubt annoying our neighbors by using the circular saw until around 2am. i recommend just using some lousy wood and box of screws to anyone with even minimal skills. cardboard sheathing could be replaced with anything from fabric to painted wood, and you can customize the space to the shape of the room and the needs of your birds. a friend of ours built a smaller loft for 3 doves using mostly cardboard with some dowels for support and some screen from an old window. much nicer than a $80 cage that's half the size and really no easier to clean (perhaps harder since doves are almost as good as tossing around seed as pigeons).


----------



## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Very resourceful, accommodating that area for the pigeons! Those are beautiful birds! Are you sure the droppers are Old German Owls? The ones I've seen have white bodies with colored wings or tails. I've seen birds like yours under another name, sorry I don't remember what the breed was. I just spent an hour trying to find it. No luck. Maybe one of our other members will know. Regardless, you have some very elegant looking pets!


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

Actually I didn't think they were owls myself, but after looking around for a while after we got them, I think their breeder was probably correct in calling them OGO's, they're just the crested variety with saddle type coloration. most owls are all one color, or have bars etc, and some don't have that goofy feather crest, but i decided based on their beaks that they probably were OGOs. They also don't have the 'frill' they're 'supposed' to have on their chest, but these birds have probably been bred as droppers for many generations, and noone cares too much about breed standards when you just want a tame little pigeon to fly to the landing board once a week. i lost my list of other possible breeds they could be, so if you can recall what you thought they might be let me know! OGOs and Satinettes are the only breeds people from this racing club recall anyone using as droppers, but that's no guarantee.


----------



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

What beautiful birds! As an alternative, since you have them for a short while, you may think of using a large tent for the owls. It would depend on how safe your yard is, but I find a tent is inexpensive and easy to throw up or take down for birds that need their own space. Then you can just unzip the door for them to go out during the day if they fly. May sound funny, but I've had one for over a year (after building many different aviaries over the years) and it couldn't work better. You can see some picture on my link under my name here if you are interested. Just a thought.


----------



## Guest (Oct 16, 2006)

hi, what you have there I dont believe to be owls at all but a pair of Komorner Tumblers ,here is a link for comparison but Im pretty sure that they are  http://www.pigeoncote.com/lancast/lancas15.html and thats quite the set up you have there  just remember the bigger the better as pigeons do love their air time especially homers


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

komorner tumblers indeed, and just hours after agreeing to call the cock albert, or 'owlbert'! I tried finding an OGO colored like ours online last night with no luck, but i hadn't yet found a photo of a pigeon they did look like. but now we know, and i wish i could change the title of this thread!

just finished installing a bunch of velcro to secure the screen, and there are officially 2 eggs in the racer's nest bowl, so 18 days until little bald pigeon fetuses emerge. the owls have found a new area to hang out on top of the box i put in as a possible escape area for them. it's tight up there and they can barely stand up, but no one bothers them and they seem happy enough. no nest bowls are fitting up there though, perhaps we'll have to try cutting down that box a few inches. 

the tent idea does sound like a good one, but we're lucky to have a yard at all living this close to Boston. it's also shared with the other 10 people in our building, pigeons are probably banned in our city, i'm doubting our landlord would take too kindly to it, plus it's going to be awfully nippy soon up here. sure makes me want to move back to the country, but i defy you to find good jobs in advertising or marketing anywhere outside a metro area. but that's a totally separate issue. 

anyway, the tentative plan is to let the two new birds fly outside, and to do some training with them, perhaps a max of about 75 straightline miles from my parent's house back on the vt/ma/nh border. it makes me nervous, partly because we don't have a loft/landing board, just a fire escape with a glass door for them to come back to, we're up on the 3rd floor, there are tons of feral pigeons being a few miles from Boston, and there is no shortage of hawks in the area. on the other hand, i hate that our pigeons can't fly free at least once in a while, it seems like quite the waste to have wings and not use them for something besides hopping aides for a 10' flight here and there. i guess i'll wait for them to hatch before fretting too much over the subject. thanks again for the correct identification of our komorner tumblers!


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Well, Volvoben, I think you are setting yourself up for a disaster with your birds. One typically does not fly show breeds of birds of which you apparently have. One does not also typically fly homing pigeons that were homed to another loft.

I think you are asking for major trouble and will lose most, if not all, of your birds.

Kindly read, think, and converse with folks here.

Terry


----------



## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Just My Opinion...but if you have limited room for the birds you do have, letting them have babies, doesn't seem like a good idea.


----------



## volvoben (Oct 14, 2006)

we won't be flying show birds, we're not insane. our pair of racing homers have 2 eggs, so we're thinking about training them. the komorner tumblers are temporary residents and have no eggs (they're probably still only about 6 months old). the KTs will move out, probably in 2-3 months, so we will have 4 racing homers instead of 2 homers and 2 tumblers. does this seem like a bad idea?

and of course we'll only be training the 2 new birds, our current pair are homed to their old loft (if they did ever get free by some sort of accident we could always go back to the old loft, it's still there and still owned by grams.)

the fancier who took some of the best birds from the old loft has already successfully trained them to home to his loft which is about 25 miles from their original home, i didn't expect them to "re-home" that quickly. on anything but a short toss or exercise i bet at least some would end up at their old loft though.


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Well, it does sound like you have things figured out. Sorry that I didn't get that impression at first. Best of luck with your birds and enjoy them to the fullest!

Terry


----------



## dovegirl (Apr 15, 2006)

Those owl pigeons look really cute.

They look like they're wearing brown jackets. 

Regards
Ellie


----------

