# feral in loft



## lordcornwallis (May 2, 2010)

hi has anyone ever brought a adult feral pigeon in to there loft and kept it and how did it react?


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## EgypSwiftLady (Jan 14, 2008)

We have a few adult ferals in our lofts BUT they are all handicapped and they have settled in very well, most even have mates.

I would not keep a feral that can fly & be set free captive. Do you have one that can not be released?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

lordcornwallis...I sense a story here...why don;t you tell us about the feral you are asking the question about. What are the circumstances?


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I have two 2010 banded ferals that I am training with my young bird team. I am going to try and race them. I obtained eggs from a nest in a barn and switched them with some of my racers eggs. I took the two feral eggs and gave the feral parents one racer egg.

One of them is actually entered into an auction race our Combine is having this young bird season. I put it into the auction and told everyone that if they bid on it, they are idiots as it has no chance and is a feral pigeon (they all recognized it as one anyway). I then bid ten dollars for my own bird.

Wouldn't you know it. Another flyer bid fifteen. I had to pay twenty to get my bird back.

No, I don't expect to win. But I am going to give it a good try.

I will post some picks on here of my two feral youngsters when the weather breaks. It is raining cats and dogs here. I can't wait until I get into actual training tosses with my ferals. I have always wondered what they would and could do.

Should be enlighting.


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## lordcornwallis (May 2, 2010)

the story is thus , i feed ferals every thursday during my break at work. i seen one with a peak crest and thought i would like him, alas i would never take a healthy pigeon out of the wild just for pleasure it aint right so there is the story.


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## yopigeonguy (Oct 22, 2009)

could you ntake a pic for us, you said a it had a peak crest, maybe this is not a feral, but a stray!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

lordcornwallis said:


> the story is thus , i feed ferals every thursday during my break at work. i seen one with a peak crest and thought i would like him, alas *i would never take a healthy pigeon out of the wild just for pleasure it *aint right so there is the story.




Good thinking.


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## lordcornwallis (May 2, 2010)

he aint no stray i will try and get a pic for yous . his father may have been a jan arden racer lc


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## Matt Bell (May 5, 2010)

I kept a few feral pairs as foster parents, they are good for feeding out youngsters. Work especially well for the fancy strains that have problems feeding young due to beak size.

As for the gentleman training out the ferals...if you are single toss training I would be surprised if they make it past 35 miles but good luck to you, let us know how it ends up.


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## Symbro (Oct 28, 2005)

normally i got squeakers in my loft... i'd spray them for mites let them eat for a couple days... then usually they would not trap again the next time i let my birds fly... i never intended to try to keep them... but after spraying for bugs i didnt mind them getting some extra food/water/safety.

they didnt really seem to be that much more wild than my own birds... lol... but what bird wants to be caught and sprayed?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Symbro said:


> normally i got squeakers in my loft... i'd spray them for mites let them eat for a couple days... then usually they would not trap again the next time i let my birds fly... i never intended to try to keep them... but *after spraying for bugs i didnt mind them getting some extra food/water/safety.*they didnt really seem to be that much more wild than my own birds... lol... but what bird wants to be caught and sprayed?




That's really kind of you.


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## cvarnon (Mar 8, 2010)

Wait... why did you auction a bird that you didn't want to sell?


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## Keith C. (Jan 25, 2005)

I have a friend that had a feral pigeon fly back twice to Dayton, Ohio from the Texas/Mexican border.
Cvarnon, race clubs often auction off the right to collect the winnings for birds for specific races. When the pot is split the original owner, current owner and highest bidder for that race may all get shares of the winnings.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

lordcornwallis said:


> hi has anyone ever brought a adult feral pigeon in to there loft and kept it and how did it react?


That depends on how it was raised. I have a young feral bird hand reared by someone, who needed a home, he does well in my coop.


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

Has anyone ever raced a feral? How did it fare?


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## Symbro (Oct 28, 2005)

imagine taking a wild horse... and racing it against a race horse. or a coyote and racing it against a greyhound.

racing pigeons have been breed for generations to be faster and better... ferals occasionally get cross breed in the wild when a homer gets "lost"

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to the OP... many of our mutations happened in feral flocks. the birds captured and breed to try to reproduce the effect.


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