# Pictures!! and a question:-)



## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

Figured i'd trade pics for some advice this the the crew enjoying their outdoor quarters and a morning bath.
the new white birds are doing great, BUT, they are wild as hell. what advice do you all have for teaching the birds that i don't wish to eat them, because thats what they think i'm sure of it. i tried sitting in the loft at feeding time so that they'd have to come closer to me, but i'm pretty sure they would have sat on their perches until hell froze over before they came any closer to me. they came from a huge loft where i'm sure they were able to keep some considerable distance from the keeper, so its expected, but they are very young and i'm hoping i can still chill them out a bit. i want to do this mostly because i don't want them to be scared everytime we are around, as we spend a lot of time near them.
Thanks!
Aaron


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## jots jets (May 10, 2008)

*scared birds*

birds that are afraid can cause other birds that are not to become skittish to.if possible tighten thier quarters for a week or two,put them in cages so they cant fly and handle them often if any of them are going to calm down this will do it.remember the birds interact with each other and just one frightened bird in the loft will cause alot of the others to beome frightened to.so watch them close when handling them and only put the ones that are calm back in the loft.birds that are not calm do not make very good breeders use this method i think it will help jim


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

You need to start feeding them from your hand, and only from your hand. They will calm down once they realize you are the one that provides them their food and water. They will warm up to you.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

let us know how it works out as I wil be in the same boat come june... your loft is so cute.. I like the nice big door for fresh air when you want it.


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## jots jets (May 10, 2008)

*feeding from the hand*

it takes alot of will power to feed them from the hand you will have to get them really hungry.it will calm them down alot watch them close if you choose this method see which ones come to the hand first and last.or hardly ever. my method of caging them will also help single out any trouble makers,the bottom line is you need to spend lots of time with them and seperate them as you go, once you find one thats not afraid remove him from the rest.its just temporary after about a week or two you will know which ones that will never calm down or are the last to calm down get rid of them!!!!! they can never be useful for flyers or breeders.Jim


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jots jets said:


> it takes alot of will power to feed them from the hand you will have to get them really hungry.it will calm them down alot watch them close if you choose this method see which ones come to the hand first and last.or hardly ever. my method of caging them will also help single out any trouble makers,the bottom line is you need to spend lots of time with them and seperate them as you go, once you find one thats not afraid remove him from the rest.its just temporary after about a week or two *you will know which ones that will never calm down or are the last to calm down get rid of them!!!!! they can never be useful for flyers or breeders*.Jim


Sorry, but I think that's a little extreme.........I've got all kinds of birds in my loft.......those that I can pick up at will, those that will come close, but not TOO close and those that fly like crazy birds when they even THINK that I might try to touch or catch them. If you've got a loft full of birds and I mean more than a dozen, you'll never get them ALL completely calmed down. I don't care if you move into the loft with them. 
The statement that birds that are not "calm" can NEVER be useful for flyers or breeders simply isn't true. You just have to be a bit more patient with them and know your boundaries when around them.


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## jots jets (May 10, 2008)

*wrong answer?*

renee i think your wrong i have raced homers for a long time and won many races,also flew doneks and rollers for years before that,its all in the breeding loft,a pigeons behaviorial traits are passed on very quickly so if you breed from wild birds you get wild birds.the smartest birds that win races or perform well are always the calmest,they are smarter because they know you are not going tu hurt them so unless your flying just to watch them fly which is also ok,breed anything you want but if you want to compete or have outstanding birds you need to create a family and that family can be excellant,champion pigeons look and act like champions.any good pigeon is bold calm and daring.and has an excellant physical structure,i have raised pigeons for almost 40 years and have dealt with almost everything you could imagine Jim


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*nice*

sounds like a bunch of stuff to try. this might sound really dumb, but how am i ever going to tell the difference between one white bird and another? if i am to figure out which ones are tame or not i might have to band them separate cuz they all look white to me!


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*also*

how long is it ok to let them go without eating? i'm thinking a few days will go by before i get one to eat from my hand. is this any better for them than just letting them be wild? how do they go from having never eaten from a hand before to knowing that the hand has food in it? will i have to ease them into it or will they just be able to recognize the seed in my hand? sorry for the dumb questions but simple stuff escapes me


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

aarongreen123 said:


> how am i ever going to tell the difference between one white bird and another? if i am to figure out which ones are tame or not i might have to band them separate cuz they all look white to me!


You can get the colored marker bands to distinguish them, if you can't distinguish them by their permanent number bands.



aarongreen123 said:


> how long is it ok to let them go without eating? i'm thinking a few days will go by before i get one to eat from my hand. is this any better for them than just letting them be wild?


Hunger should motivate them to eat from your hand. Hopefully, they won't starve.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Sorry, but I think that's a little extreme.........I've got all kinds of birds in my loft.......those that I can pick up at will, those that will come close, but not TOO close and those that fly like crazy birds when they even THINK that I might try to touch or catch them. If you've got a loft full of birds and I mean more than a dozen, you'll never get them ALL completely calmed down. I don't care if you move into the loft with them.
> The statement that birds that are not "calm" can NEVER be useful for flyers or breeders simply isn't true. You just have to be a bit more patient with them and know your boundaries when around them.


I'm with Renee on this one there's birds that for whatever reason are always jumpy but that doesn't mean that they can't be good breeders or flyers. I've had birds win races that are really calm as well as the jumpy guy that you couldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. The birds I came in 1st and 2nd in the combine were just that, the one that came in first would land on me and eat corn off my toung and the other one you couldn't get near. Thats why it took 2 and half mins to get her in after the first one. She wouldn't come down with you there you had to walk away and let her go in on her own. But now with the electronic clock you don't have to get close to the birds when the come home anymore anyway so she'd be good now. But don't condem a bird becasue they are jumpy or skidish around you, you don't know what happend to the bird in the past that made the bird like that. And just becasue the bird is skidish it doesn't mean their young will also be that way.



aarongreen123 said:


> sounds like a bunch of stuff to try. this might sound really dumb, but how am i ever going to tell the difference between one white bird and another? if i am to figure out which ones are tame or not i might have to band them separate cuz they all look white to me!


Once you have them for a lil while you'll get to know your birds and you'll be able to tell them all apart. Becasue they all are a lil dif in some way if you really pay attention. I have a bunch of white homers and I can tell them all apart.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jots jets said:


> renee i think your wrong i have raced homers for a long time and won many races,also flew doneks and rollers for years before that,its all in the breeding loft,a pigeons behaviorial traits are passed on very quickly so if you breed from wild birds you get wild birds.the smartest birds that win races or perform well are *always* the calmest,they are smarter because they know you are not going tu hurt them so unless your flying just to watch them fly which is also ok,breed anything you want but if you want to compete or have outstanding birds you need to create a family and that family can be excellant,champion pigeons look and act like champions.any good pigeon is bold calm and daring.and has an excellant physical structure,i have raised pigeons for almost 40 years and have dealt with almost everything you could imagine Jim


Jim.........what ever.........I'm certainly not going to debate or argue about this. *I'm not wrong........*I just have my opinion and you have yours.....that doesn't make you OR me wrong, just different.......every bird that ever won a race was not a calm bird.......so although it would be ideal to have a loft full of calm, tame birds....it's not a must to compete like you make it sound. My IF Champion is one of THE wildest birds I've ever had. I challenge anyone to get more than 3 feet from her and bring an oxygen tank when it's time to catch her......you'll need it. And the ones that will land on my shoulder or allow me to just pick them up???...well, I'm STILL waiting on their first win.  But you know what? I love them all and they are ALL welcome in my loft and no one will "be gotten rid of" just because they don't want to be my best buddy. 

_*And Aaron...............I apologize for highjacking your thread..........I'm done. 
Do hand feed your birds. Make them as calm around you as you can.*_


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

aarongreen123 said:


> how long is it ok to let them go without eating? i'm thinking a few days will go by before i get one to eat from my hand. is this any better for them than just letting them be wild? how do they go from having never eaten from a hand before to knowing that the hand has food in it? will i have to ease them into it or will they just be able to recognize the seed in my hand? sorry for the dumb questions but simple stuff escapes me


I sure don't want this to turn into some sort of "what I say to do is better than what they said to do" sort of thing. Use you're own judgement. If it's THAT important that your birds be absolutely calm and tame, then do what you have to do to get them way I guess, as long as it doesn't bother YOU to do "whatever that is"........to them. 
The thing is, the more time you spend with them, the calmer they will be and ALL of them will never be totally calm. It's just part of their nature. 
Look at the wild birds in the parks, cities, etc..........that people feed. You see pictures of birds standing and perching all over these people, but reach your hand out to pick one up and see just how many will allow you to do that. Some, but not many..........they'll scatter, only to come right back for more food. 
Your birds just have to learn that you mean them no harm. If you walk in the loft to just feed or catch them, then they'll learn to expect that from you every time they see you. If you go in for no other reason than to just sit and watch them without chasing or trying to touch them, they'll learn pretty quickly that you mean no harm to them and although they may not be "tame" in the real sense of the word, they will be much less leary of you. 
So, in short, spend time with them, learn to recognize them and let them learn to trust you.......it may take a while, for some and not so long for others. They are as unique as you and I.


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## jots jets (May 10, 2008)

*apology*

first renee please accept my apology for saying you were wrong,i guess i was just trying to emphasize my own opinion,every one does things there own way. i just find the birds way easier to handle my au champion number 1201 was never afraid of anything neither was my 6 time 1st place winner or my bird of the year,birds down from this family have won all over america they originated from Mr. Don Woodke who dominated the club for years,the list of race winners from this family is endless including 6 and 12 from thousands of birds in the gulf coast classic race in florida.lets please not argue and get back to trying to help one another Jim


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

jots jets said:


> first renee please accept my apology for saying you were wrong,i guess i was just trying to emphasize my own opinion,every one does things there own way. i just find the birds way easier to handle my au champion number 1201 was never afraid of anything neither was my 6 time 1st place winner or my bird of the year,birds down from this family have won all over america they originated from Mr. Don Woodke who dominated the club for years,the list of race winners from this family is endless including 6 and 12 from thousands of birds in the gulf coast classic race in florida.lets please not argue and get back to trying to help one another Jim


Accepted.  

sounds good to me.


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

As far as hand feeding goes try this, first get the birds hungry, cutting feed way down but not out, then after a while (a few days) you will notice the birds eagerly waiting for you to feed (like when you place food in their feeder they all sort of notice it and right away fly to get seed) Ok so you now have their attention, hopefully you also have been shaking a small can with seed in it each time you feed, ok you've done this and the birds know when they hear this, feed is forthcoming, now don't fill the feeder up at all, instead get chair to sit on for inside of the loft, start shaking the small feed can and then sprinkle a few seeds on the floor in front of you, those that are the hungriest and bravest will come first, soon all the birds will be on the floor trying to get seed, then when that small amount is gone put the seed in your hand holding it out to them and sooner or later the bravest of them will come for seed, then another, then another, then another, keep doing this for several days, they will start to lose their fear of you soon enough, but always leave them wanting more, never over feed them or you will be wasting your time, give them what they will eat up in say ten minutes time, adjusting for the amount of birds you need to tame, more birds more time! I must say you would never do this to your birds that are breeding and are on young that's a no no for sure! So give it a try and see!


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

The more you handle your birds the tamer to you they become. And as they mature they will settle more. Some birds are more wild. Some are not. As some people want a bird to try and want to exscape when handling it. Some want it to be calm and tame. It all takes time


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

*Less feed will make them tame*

Some of them might avoid and keep avoiding you , just their instinct I guess . For my opinion and experience; well as I recall, a lovely person say "Hunger is the name of the Game" you know who you are... If you really put yourself in pigeons situation, man is bigger and once they are all caged in a loft they have the instinct of being capture everytime you get closer to them, but minimizing the feed like others said will make them want to see you more and more (that's bcoz I got the food) not bcoz they like to see me as me...Make them know you are the master with the food. Once they are fed they all turn their back and fly away from you, aint that funny, sometimes I talk in my loft and say "you guys only using me" for food ...


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