# Daily Feedings of Ferals



## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Hello fellow pigeon people. I am curious about something, and seeing as you guys and gals are probably the most reliable group of knowledgeable pigeon folks, I will ask you a question. I feed my adopted flock every morning at about eight o'clock. They eat enough to display a noticeably larger crop than when they arrived. Many will be seen adjusting their crops so as to allow more room for additional goodies. As soon as they realize I am finished throwing grain for them, they take off and I do not see them until the next morning. I like this arrangement as there are many more people around the area after they leave and generally for the rest of the day. I was wondering if the food I give them in the morning will actually last them all day. I know birds have a high energy need, but how much do they actually need to eat on a given day? I would like to think they can go on with their pigeon duties without spending a lot of time seeking out meals. Making their lives a little easier seems like a good thing to me. What to you folks think?


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi goulian, 



It would depend on how much food per Pigeon you are dispensing...


What is the 'food'?


How much ( a dry quart? Or? ) do you put out for them, and how many of them are there?


If say each one is getting two Tablespoons of Seeds, that is doing well for them for their morning's graze, and would be a good portion of a day's needs, depending on the size of the Pigeons...and too, they have the rest of the day to enjoy other grazings and forragings.

If they are feeding Babys, of course they can or will or must eat a great deal more than when eating just for themselves, especially once those Babys are two or three weeks old...



Phil
l v


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Hi, Phil.

I actually forgot to realize that some of these are probably feeding young. Probably more of them than are not. I give them a mixture of unpopped popcorn, dried split peas, mung beans, lentils, and barley. I feed them twice, once on the way to breakfast and once about forty minutes later, on the way back. I carry the grain in a fairly large pouch and probably have enough to fill a quart jar, maybe a bit more. The average number of birds is between forty and fifty. The newest members of the flock, probably mostly young, stay at the outter rim of the flock and do not get as much as the bolder old timers. The ones who actually climb up on me or fly to my hand tend to get more than the others, as I tend to reward them for their trust in me. I have to admit that the time spent with the birds is the highlight of my day. I get a kick out of the looks I get when walking after feeding them when it rains. I am sometimes covered with muddy and wet little pigeon foot prints. 
Take care, Phil, and thanks for your reply.


Mike


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello,

According to the Flying Vet racing pigeons eat one tenth of their body weight in grain daily and by my reckoning the average weight of a feral pigeon is 300gms, so 30 gms a day would be the average. 

Feeding them early in the day is a good idea, hopefully they eat and go, so don't attract as much notice. They will also forage elsewhere during the day which will reduce any dependence on you as a food source.

Cynthia


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

goulian said:


> I was wondering if the food I give them in the morning will actually last them all day. I know birds have a high energy need, but how much do they actually need to eat on a given day? I would like to think they can go on with their pigeon duties without spending a lot of time seeking out meals. Making their lives a little easier seems like a good thing to me. What to you folks think?


Yes, pigeons can live on one meal if they have to, but I think they probably go out and forage later in the day. The parent birds will actually stuff themselves quite full, as I have seen with my parent birds, then they drink and go feed the babies. They probably hope to keep a little in their crops for themselves too.

Pigeons can live on about a tablespoon of seed a few times a day, parent birds will eat around the clock.

I think feeding them before the crowd comes out is perfect for them and their safety. The less they are noticed the better for them.

Thank you for making life a little easier for our noble feral flock.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Mike,


What you describe sounds good to me.


It is a nice Breakfast for them definitely, and it is best for them to also find other grazing places after...for themn to fly and cover territorys for their day.


My own feral flock here, if I do not either feed at dawn or dusk, the size of the flock waiting starts to grow and can soon become well over a hundred, which can start to court troubles from people, as the Pigeons will remain waiting for hours or all day even, for the feed time.


So, both by feeding at dusk, and feeding only so much, I try and see to it the flock who is waiting stays aorund 30 to 45 Birds.


Recently, my neigbor started feeding them mid day, without my knowing it, with my feed.


Really, I would not mind a bit, but I would walk outside, and I swear, it was getting to be two hundred Pigeons covering my roof and the roof edges lengths, and this is too dangerous as for attracting City Inspectors or other trouble makers, so when I found out how come the flock was growing so much, I had to explain to my neighbor how this could rebound badly for the Pigeons, and he layed off.


Where do you live?


Phil
l v


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

I am living just outside of a military base in the Republic of Korea. I feed the birds across the street from where I live. They do not arrive as a single flock, but gather as one or two pairs at a time, over a hour or so period of time. By the time I get there, they are patiently awaiting their breakfast. Well, patiently awaiting only applies until they see me, then it is an airborne circus of flying pigeons. They are just too excited about thje upcoming feast to contain themselves and fly about wildly until I approach the feed zone, when they drop out of the sky and surround me on the ground. I get a rush every time I see them doing that.

I don't expect any problems with the local folks here as they don't really as they don't show up in numbers until I and the birds have departed the area. The few who do see me with them seem to enjoy the sight of an American covered in flapping pigeons.

I hope the flock does not get much bigger in size, but it seem inevitable that it will, as a new bird or two joins every few days. I will wait and see.

Take care, everyone, and I am looking forward to talking to you again.


Mike


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

*New Milestone With Feral Flock*

Hi, Everyone.

I have met a new milestone concerning my feral friends. Today, while walking to the feeding area, the flock did it's usual greeting by flying around just above my head until we reach the food zone. However, three of the birds landed on my hands when I put my arms out. I have been putting out my arms for some time, but with no landing success...until today. It sure is cool to walk along a sidewalk and have birds fly to your arms as you walk. The really cool thing is that they approach no one else except the friend/friends who are normally there when I feed them. This pigeon stuff is great. If more folks took the time to look at pigeons instead of "flying rats", they may realize that these birds are quite interesting.

Take care, All.


Mike


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Mike,

I'm glad to hear you have such a loyal following.  

Pigeons are loyal and make wonderful friends. You will probably have many more sitting on your hand and arms before you know it.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

good to hear from you Mike...keep up the good work with your efforts there, and the pigeon feral effort too.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Mike, I enjoyed your posts and hope you can post more pictures of your flock. They do recognize people. My husband feeds many on his morning walk and they recognize him. He has even tried approaching them from a different direction, at different times and they will still fly to him sometimes more than a block away and "accompany" him to the feeding site. He has said it is almost embarrassing when they walk behind him or hover over him all the way to the site.

Aren'' they just the best!


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh definitely...


When I go to the 7-11 five blocks away...if any of 'my' feral Flock happen to be there, they follow me back home in case I am going to put some Seeds down, or, to wait a little while untill I do.


I was tapering back how much Seed, and also waiting till just before Sunset, in order to manage the size of the Flock at around 40 Birds or so, to taper it down more as I get closer to moving...w

Well, I still am doing this, but my neighbor did not know I was doing this and started feeding them mornings and mid-day ( with my Seed which I keep in a parked Van ) to where in no time we had way over 100 Birds perched on the roof edges, "waiting" all day long...and that is not so good...so, I figured out he had been doing this, and I explained to him how it had to stop, for the flock to get small, stay small, then gradually get used to no Seed at all...and he understood, so all was cool with that.

He will have to move soon, just like me, so it is not as if anyone will be here to continue to feed them.


Oye...


Love, 

Phil
l v


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Hello, again. I have another event on the feeding of my ferals. I use the term "my" loosely, as they are not mine in the sense of your homing pigeons or Rollers being yours. However, in my heart they are mine.

Anyway, while feeding the flock this morning and very old man using a cane stopped by to watch. After seeing me hold out my hand while several birds land on it to eat, the old man held out his hand and was noticeably disappointed when no bird even approached his hand. Seeing this, I gave him some feed to put in his hand. Still, not a single bird landed on it. Several flew up and looked, but refused to stop there for a bite of breakfast. Again, the old man show signs of dissapointment. It was obvious that he really wanted to have a "bird in the hand" so to speak.

I then went over to him and put my hand out very close to his. Immediately, several birds came to me and ate. Shortly after, one pigeon, followed by another, landed on the old man's hand and ate the corn. The look of pure joy that the old man's face showed was overwelming. I think he realized that the birds did not land on his offered hand because they did not know him, but when my hand was put out so close to his, they birds realized that he was not a threat and took the corn from his hand. It was almost like I had let them know that it was alright to eat from this old man's hand. It could be just my imagination, but it looked that way to me.

I suppose the old man will be telling his friends about the birds tonight. Another friend of the pigeon was made today.

Take care all, and see you later.



Mike


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

That is SO GREAT, Mike! How very kind of you!

You are ONE TERRIFIC PIGEON AMBASSADOR!

Thanks for posting and letting us know!

HUGS and SCRITCHES TO ALL

Shi & Squeaks


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

That's a lovely thing to have done, Mike! I'm sure the old gentleman was thrilled.

Terry


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Hi again,

I seldom get something to post two days in a row, but something happened today that I would like to share. While feeding the pigeons, three older Korean folks stopped to watch, each smiling while watching. They did not try to get the birds to go to them by holding out their hands. They seemed content to watch as the pigeons ate from my hands. Soon, I noticed a piece of thread handing from the foot of one of the birds in my hand. My friend, who was beside me, noticed it also and placed his hand over the back of the pigeon, then picked it up and turned it over on it's back. Sure enough, several feet of tough thread was wrapped around both feed. It was easily removed from one foot, but was too tightly wound to undo it from the other. I carry, for just such occasions, several tool in the bag along with the food. A pair of scissors, a file, a pair of tweesers, handy wipes (for the occasional accident, hehe!), and a small plastic case with various tiny tools which may prove useful. Well, while the three Koreans watched, I took out the scissors and after several minutes of careful manipulation, cut the thread away from the pigeons foot. As I put the thread in my pocket, the three observers began to clap their hands and were definately impressed that I should take the time to free the bird of its unwanted thread. I was surprised that such an act would cause the obvious approval of the bystanders. 

Another thing worth mentioning is that the pigeon, from the time it was picked up, to the time it was released (about three or four minutes),did not attempt to escape or struggle at all. It just layed on it's back peacefully waiting for the thread removal operation to be over. Then, when it was released. it returned to the flock and continued eating as if nothing had happened at all. The other birds watched the whole time and it did not phase them that one of their own was in the hands of a human. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Oh well, have a great day and continue doing that which you do so well..... caring for pigeons.


Mike


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Great story. I appreciated reading it. Thank you.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Yes, that was very cool.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

WELL DONE, MIKE!!

Thank you for posting your "adventure!" You are certainly a CREDIT to pigeondom!!

Hugs and Scritches to ALL

Shi & Squeaks


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Mike, 



Nice Work..!



Get some thin blade Cuticle Scissors next time you are at some med supply or drug store...the very thin blade kind, one can slip the point of the blade paralell to the winds of the thread around Toes and so on, and lift a little and snip the Thread then, allowing the Tweezers to have a thread 'end' to grasp for gently unwinding in whatever direction it needs to go.


'Neosporin' is good to have also for some of these, where once one has all the thread/hair/filliments off, one can massage in a liberal amount of the Neosporin as a nice final gesture.

Sometimes skin or scar tissue has grown over deep winds, and these winds will pull out in un-winding just fine, pulling through the scar tissue or other grown-over-aspect, if slowly and patiently and to make sure one is going in the right direction, and it has to be done of course, so...the Neosporin is a nice final topical antibiotic to use.


Best wishes!


Phil
Las Vegas


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