# Ferals in my hay loft.



## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Today i was out in my hay loft when i saw a pigeon. I thought it was one of my homers so i got the net and some food. I couldn't get the pigeon to come down from the rafters so i went out to where my pigeons are and i checked to make sure they were all there and they were. I wasn't sure if it was a lost homer or a feral. If it was a feral i couldn't understand why it hadn't flown off when i went into the hay loft. So i keep trying to ketch it think it is a lost homer. It flew near a rafter and i thought i saw something move near it so I got a big flashlight and i looked what was beside him and he had a mate it was sitting on a nest. So i think it is a feral and it wouldn't fly away when scared by me because of the mate sitting on the nest. Is this the normal mating season for ferals? I thought the normal pigeon mating season was in the spring. Could these be lost homers since they are breeding now like a lot of racers do? (This is my 400 post wooohoooo  )


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## becege (Mar 12, 2003)

*Ferals in loft*

Ferals start breeding this time of year. My guess is that it is a pair of ferals. Any homers would have proably tried to trap in with yours.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

They do.
It's nice you have a safe place for that pair.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Charis said:


> They do.
> It's nice you have a safe place for that pair.


I am excited to watch them lol  And they are high in the rafters i don't think anything could get them


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Ha, the ferals in my town breed all year round. That's how I ended up with Gonzo, my first pigeon.....he was a November baby blown out of his haphazard nest and into the river where he floated by me until I caught him in a fishing net.  How lucky you are to have ferals nesting in your barn.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Is it ok to feed them or will it make them dependent on me and will the babies expect to be fed?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> Is it ok to feed them or will it make them dependent on me and will the babies expect to be fed?


That depends on whether it's a problem for them to stay FOREVER!! LOL
Are you sure these are feral pigeons or you don't know for sure? I and everyone here WANTS to say, yes feed them, especially if they are on eggs and/or babies, BUT, if it's going to wind up being a problem with them there 2, 3, 6 months down the road, then IMO, it's best to let them fend for themselves. So, it really depends on what you think. Also, remember, that if you feed them, they'll probably stay, there will be more babies and probably more birds and at some point you are wanting to get your own birds and have them out flying. You DO NOT want ferals mixing with your birds and you don't want YOUR birds taking up in the barn or even visiting the birds in the barn and then coming back to your loft. That is asking for trouble, so best think about it.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Personally and although I understand the issues, I would feed them a little bit, especially when the weather is extreme and it's hard to find food. It seems like the humane thing to do.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

I would say don't feed them. They should be fine finding their own feed. That way if you have to remove them they won't depend on you. The babies especially need to learn how to go out and forage, not chase people around.


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## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

Something else to mull over Zimm -- would the ferals have nested in a place where they couldn't find food nearby? Granted - I don't have many ferals near where I live, but the Robin's and the Mourning Doves sure know to build their nests within easy access to my backyard  So if you feel confident that they are smart enough to nest nearby their food source then I would let them continue to forage for themselves.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Keep in mind zimm as well that if you feed them they will have more broods and more pigeons = more poop in your barn and other ferals may also come and stay. I would welcome them but just view them as wild birds and I would only feed them if they were sick or injured. Good luck


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## BirdDogg10 (Aug 23, 2005)

Interesting point. Birds are almost like cats, you feed them and they keep coming back.


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## Ruby Lou (Apr 13, 2007)

zimmzimm3 said:


> Is it ok to feed them or will it make them dependent on me and will the babies expect to be fed?


They've lived fine before you discovered them. They obviously are eating, they found a home, they're nesting, they're feral, they don't need you, they only want to use your barn. Leave 'em be. Just enjoy them. No need to act.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Ruby Lou said:


> They've lived fine before you discovered them. They obviously are eating, they found a home, they're nesting, they're feral, they don't need you, they only want to use your barn. Leave 'em be. Just enjoy them. No need to act.


Or...maybe they are nesting in the barn because there is some food there such as grain spill. I would still support them a bit in extreme weather. That doesn't mean put out so much that they won't need to look elsewhere. Fiding food in a warmer climate such as Florida where Grim lives would be much easier for them ... you don't live in a warmer climate.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I feed the pigeons in my garden almost all year round (I let them forage for themselves in late summer/autumn when "nature's bounty" is available to them and will help them learn to forage. 

Cynthia


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

I have to agree with those that would supplement the birds. If you put food inside the barn and only a portion that will sustain these two until they have babies and then enough to raise HEALTHY babies, You probably will not ever need to take in a sick or starving bird. Frankly my conscience would dictate to feed.....if you pre-determine the feeding spot....you will be able to keep them away from your pets and birds that are not foraging far and wide are least likely to bring home disease. Most feral feeders I think will agree that their flock's health noticably improves when they are fed sufficient portions.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

Ruby Lou said:


> They've lived fine before you discovered them. They obviously are eating, they found a home, they're nesting, they're feral, they don't need you, they only want to use your barn. Leave 'em be. Just enjoy them. No need to act.


I tend to agree with you. Whenever humans interfere with wild birds or animals, in their emotional need to "help" them....then there are always consequences. For the most part at the end of the day...or week..month or year...more pain and suffering is caused. Mother nature has her own checks and balances, and when we as humans enter the picture...it ends up being people in the form of some goverment decree that restores the balance....in some form it almost always results in more death. 

In our local area it has taken many forms...."do gooders" who wanted to help the deer get some good meals, result..... some special permits were issued in order to "harvest" (kill) these extra deer caused by humans "helping" the deer. Same thing happened at a local city park where there is a rather large pond....people came to "feed the poor ducks".....result, the population increased about ten fold....bird crap all over the place causing a "human health hazard"...ducks stopped flying south for the winter....city stepped in with fines for feeding.....ducks that were born in park and never learned any food sourse other then people meant I am sure a lot more dead ducks...same with feral cat population, and the local feral pigeon population. 

My loving caring wife, does not listen to me when it comes to such matters. Her heart will always overrule the brain in such matters, so she feeds the squirrels every day in our back yard. Pounds of sun flower seeds, peanuts etc. What use to be one or at most two animals several years ago....is now sometimes as many as ten or eleven at a time. What do you think the other result has been ? Many more roads kills since we are on a street corner, and at least one of the neighbors has been trapping and/or shooting them. Others have hired exterminators. So the resulting population explosion from my my wife's "kindness", means at the end of the season ...a lot more poor dead animals.

Didn't mean to write a book........but at least now I have expressed the down side of feeding wild animals and birds.


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

Warren....I agree, Mother nature is definitely the best qualified to keep the balance of nature.....UNFORTUNATELY......She can't control the population explosion of HUMANS who are crowding out every other species, slowly but steadily. Some of my best friends are humans, and I love them dearly, but I believe humans should compensate a bit for the wildlife whose territory we have claimed for our selfish needs and help them out when the bit of area we ALLOW them to live in does not sustain them OR we will lose them entirely. What a sad world this will be when there is no more wildlife.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

little bird said:


> Warren....I agree, Mother nature is definitely the best qualified to keep the balance of nature.....UNFORTUNATELY......She can't control the population explosion of HUMANS who are crowding out every other species, slowly but steadily. Some of my best friends are humans, and I love them dearly, but I believe humans should compensate a bit for the wildlife whose territory we have claimed for our selfish needs and help them out when the bit of area we ALLOW them to live in does not sustain them OR we will lose them entirely. What a sad world this will be when there is no more wildlife.


My same little theory...also applies to humans, but that is not politically correct.....at any rate, as human population expands....there should be fewer other species....untill Mother Nature herself...at some point...snuffs out the human's which she certainly will do some day...maybe a hundred years or ten thousands years...from now. By the way...all species are "selfish"....Mother Nature set it up that way.


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2008)

I have to agree ,we tend to cause our own problems as a whole .. whats the greater good ,the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.. if we dont start ,we wont have a problem to solve later on .. as a human species we are always messing with the balance of nature and not in a good way  its very sad


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