# Just starting with questions



## minister man (Mar 13, 2012)

Hi, I have shown poultry ( bantams) for 5-6 years and I am thinking about raising some show pigeons. However, I know nothing about them. 

Is there are good book that I could buy to learn some of the basics? 

I am looking to learn how to house a pair, I am thinking of having two pairs? 

What breed is good to start with? 

We will start there and see if we can get a discussion started. 

thanks,


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Minister and welcome! I'm going to move this to the Show Pigeon forum.

Terry


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## Chuck K (Jan 12, 2013)

There are a few older books that you could probably find at the library to get started. One I remember was called Pigeons for Pleasure and Profit. The book is also available at Foy's Pigeon Supplies for only $6.95. Foy's also has a larger number of other pigeon books. Some are reasonably priced some are not so reasonably priced.

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/books-and-dvds/pigeon-books?Page=1&Items=12


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## minister man (Mar 13, 2012)

After some reading and attending a couple of shows, I am leaning towards the ASR pigeons. So, that would give me a starting place. What do I need to know about housing them? and feeding them?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You mentioned in your other thread about either building them separate lofts or one loft. I'm sure they would rather be together as pigeons do live in flocks. Always go as large as you can because most always wish they had gone larger. Each pair would need a nest box, and there should be more perches than there are birds. They prefer a flat perch or shelf to roost on. Hi-Cal pigeon grit, ouster shell or similar for calcium, and a good pigeon mix. The very minimum for space would be 2 square feet of floor space, but even that is kind of small. I would go bigger, and a screened in aviary on the south side for them to get outside into the sun and fresh air. Good place to set up the bath pan also. It should be built so that the pigeons can be shut up in the loft at night, and built so that nothing can get in. There are lots of predators around that would love to get in to the birds. The aviary should have heavy gauge hardware cloth for the screening, and better if the whole loft and aviary are up off the ground. The loft should have good ventilation for air circulation.


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## minister man (Mar 13, 2012)

Chuck K said:


> There are a few older books that you could probably find at the library to get started. One I remember was called Pigeons for Pleasure and Profit. The book is also available at Foy's Pigeon Supplies for only $6.95. Foy's also has a larger number of other pigeon books. Some are reasonably priced some are not so reasonably priced.
> 
> http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/books-and-dvds/pigeon-books?Page=1&Items=12


Check out this page https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924000114953;view=1up;seq=6

This book is available for free on line! I like free.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

minister man, that book may be free, and it may be interesting, but is old and some of the info in it is not good. I would pay for a newer book that will have better info.


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## minister man (Mar 13, 2012)

I just bought a book that arrived yesterday from amazon called " Profitable pigeon breeding " by F Arthur Hazard. It has a lot of information in it.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Good. That'll probably help a lot.


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