# how to house young pet pigeon



## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

My husband and I rescued a baby pigeon three weeks ago when he/she just had a few pin feathers. Now our baby is almost fully feathered, and we expect he will be flying soon. He's very tame from all of the contact he's had with us, and we have become quite attached to him.

Does anyone have a recommendation on how to house him outside once he can fly? We're thinking he should have a small coop or cage outside that he can nest in, but we want him to be able to fly around outdoors if he wants to.

Because he's so tame, we assume he won't forage well and is going to need a regular supply of bird food and water. Would acclimating him to his new housing arrangement for a while before letting him fly unsupervised be a good idea? 

There are cats and at least one hawk in our neighborhood.

Thanks,
Malonerous


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hello Malonerous and welcome to Pigeon Talk!

You are correct that your baby pigeon is well bonded to you and humans since he or she has been pretty much raised by you. I bet it is just as attached to you as well.

If you are gone to house it outdoors, please wait till it gets warm enough for it, as it has been used to indoor warmth.I use small animal cages for each one of mine. I also have a pigeon coop in my backyard that they live in, but if you only have your one, you may be able to find a low cost rabbit hutch or have someone build one for you. The important thing is, that the enclosure must have 1/4 inch hardware cloth attached to it to keep predators away from your pigeon. It should be in an area where it can't be toppled over, if you are going to house it in a large cage. Width is important so that it may flap its wings. Please provide 1 to 2 hours of exercise flight time if at all possible.

You were right again, that the pigeon probably won't forage for food, because he has been dependent on humans to care for him.

If your young pigeon is lucky to escape the claws of a hawk, as one of my pet pigeons did last year, he may still fly away in the midst of the escape, and get lost, or hurt.

Just my opinion, but if you say you have a hawk, etc, around, why subject your pigeon to this gamble? You can keep one pigeon in the house as a pet. Many of us do. Give it flight time in a safe room. 

If your pigeon is not homed, and does not know how to fend for itself, you stand to loose a pigeon you are attached to. 

A nice small coop, or a secure hutch would be nice, if you are going to keep him outdoors. Make sure he can stay dry, gets enough sunlight and is free from drafts.But if you allow him to free fly outdoors, it could be risky.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

malonerous said:


> Hello and Welcome to Pigeon Talk,
> 
> Thank you for rescuing this youngster.
> 
> ...


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## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

Thanks for your advice, Victor and Trees Gray. We have been letting him (her? --too soon to tell!) hop around and practice flapping in our hallway, but there hasn't been any lift-off yet.

How big would an coop/hutch/cage need to be for one pigeon? Would he be happier and safer we found a pigeon friend for him?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

For one or two pigeons you would not need anything bigger then a rabbit hutch type cage, as long as he has room to fly either inside or in a porch.

The bird would be happy by itself if you can spend time with it, if not it would be nice for it to have a friend. Give it time to grow up as it is good to know whether it is a male or hen.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hello again malonerous,There should be lift off any day now. Those little ones learn quite quickly, almost as fast as they grow up.

As far as the size, *Lovebirds*, (Renee) one of our respected members, has a formula that she recommends fpr the number of pigeons in a coop/loft setting. Here it is, quoting her:

3 X 2.5 = 7.5 X 4 = 30 divided by 15 = 2
Yep, one pair of birds.
__________________
Renee 

I have a coop that can be seen in my Webshots link, at the time I had 6...now 8. We are going to have to do some remodeling now. When my pigeons are caged at night, or when in the house, each one has its own small animal cage to sleep/eat in, but do get their flight exercise time. when indoors. The size is: 23 1/2 inches (almost 2 feet length) by 18 inches wide.I do not have hardware cloth around the cages, because they are never set outside without me being with them.It can be added for extra protection, if kept outdoors for sunning, if you can't supervise it.


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## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

*thank you!*

Thanks for the advice and photos. We'll work on buying or building something this weekend. I like the idea of having a larger enclosure outdoors and a smaller cage indoors. He has been living in a large plastic cat carrier with a mesh door, which is handy for transport.

Right now, he has been coming to work with me Mon-Fri and getting lots of attention during the day. He's on my lap right now, in fact. I doubt that this will be feasible once he's flying--I can't pigeon-proof the office. So, it looks as if another pigeon is in our future!


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