# Clueless with a Rescue Pidgie



## Pigeon Virgin (Jul 16, 2014)

First time poster. First time pigeon owner too.

I keep my horse at a barn and every year when it gets hot the barn turns on their overhead fans and invariably some wild birds get killed. Usually they are just cut in half but this year a pigeon was nicked on the wing by one and got hurt and it can no longer fly.

After days of watching said pigeon run around the place I caught it and took it to a local bird vet. The vet, a very compassionate man, didn't charge me for it other than for some medicine. He said that odds were the pigeon would never fly again as it injured the area where the front of the wing meets the body and that area controls the ability of the bird to fully extend and retract the wing. The pigeon can fly as high as a couple of feet, but that's it. Otherwise it seems a young, healthy male bird.

So I took it home where I have my chickens in a nice custom shed and humungous run. My chickens want for nothing and they even have a fan (enclosed) in the window to keep the coop cool in summer. The run was made to be a hawk deterrent but it does allow for other wild birds, including wild pigeons to come in and share the food. It's all the rage amongst the local wild pigeon population so I can have as many as 20 wild pigeons there throughout the day.

My rescued pigeon decided he wanted no part of nesting inside the coop and instead flies up every night to an outside flower box on the side of the shed. I feel bad that he wants to be there roosting at night. On that flower box he doesn't have any shelter, except for the 8' fence that the box hangs on.

He eats, he drinks, he runs around, but he seems a little depressed until he sees the other pigeons come around. He doesn't leave the flower box until other pigeons come around.

I'd like to provide the best I can for him but I simply don't know what the best for a pigeon is. Should I get him another injured pigeon as a buddy or mate? Is it okay to let him roost on the flower box? What about in winter? What about rain?

I need coaching and some guidance please. Can anyone help me be a better pigeon provider? I appreciate any and all help.

Thanks!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you so much for helping this needy bird.

Yes, you can get the bird another pigeon for a friend.

Also, pigeons like to roost a bit up high, not close to the ground, if he can get up that far. Perhaps the bird is stressed and feeling threatened. 

Can you post a picture of the box, the coop? Perhaps the flower box seems less threatening and more comfortable, but the bird does need protection from drafts of air, rain and predators. 

Pigeons have simple needs, but they need strict adherence and they have different needs from chickens. Also, with wild birds flying inside, there is also the chance of bringing in disease.

*


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pigeon Virgin said:


> First time poster. First time pigeon owner too.
> 
> I keep my horse at a barn and every year when it gets hot the barn turns on their overhead fans and invariably some wild birds get killed. Usually they are just cut in half but this year a pigeon was nicked on the wing by one and got hurt and it can no longer fly.
> 
> ...


If you are in this for the long haul and that could be years depending on how long this pigeon lives, then yes I would get him/her a companion, but also house them together where they are not flying out at will but where they could be held and get used to the loft. being the pigeon is handicapped he will be hawk bait . he can't defend himself as pigeons do by flying fast and high. as long as you keep the two safe in a loft the other can be non handicapped or handicapped, I don't think it would mattter. a pair as in cock and hen would work or two hens ,.. two cocks may not get along.

on a side note.. I would not leave it where wild birds can get in with your chickens.. you are just inviting in mites and lice and other parasites, plus disease.


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

I noticed that the feral pigeons in Cologne, Germany like to perch on the south side of the buildings. 

It is the side most exposed to the sun, but I think what may be more significant is that it is the side most usually protected from the stronger winds. 

Out of a number of window ledges available at Severinskirche, two smallish southern rose window ledges (east of the transept) were continuously occupied at night, for many years.

There was one rose window in the northeast window, between the apse and the transept, which was almost inaccessible to any creature other than a bird, or someone with a tall ladder, and only visible at a distance from a certain spot.

Pigeons spend a lot of time observing their surroundings. This is obvious when you consider it; but since we humans are so occupied and preoccupied with so many things not in our immediate surroundings, I find it interesting that birds must spend so much time "doing nothing" and "hanging around" in order to ensure that they have the best and most secure place available to perch at night.

If we saw a person on some precarious ledge we would be distressed that the person must be suicidal, and be calling the emergency services, whereas a pigeon would see it something normal (for a bird).


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