# Hand raise one or two?



## Boulregard (Mar 14, 2006)

hello everyone. I have been to this site many times but just recently decided to join. I have had pigeons for about a year and a half and love it. at one point i hand raised 2 baby pigeons becuase the circumstances required it. Unfortionatly one of my other pets got to the birds after about 2 months. I loved those birds and so i have decided to hand raise another. I was wondering if from your experience you thought it was better to hand raise one or two. I thought it might be good if they would have some company while i was gone but i wasnt sure if raising one would make a better pet. 

thanks for your ideas 

boulregard


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Hello and welcome to Pigeon Talk.
First of all as you know already, handraising any birds is a tough and full time job. If you have to do it for the purpose of having a tame pet, I can assure you there are plenty of sweet, tame birds out there.
Also handraising a pigeon doesn't guarante s/he will be tame.
Where would you get the babies from, do you have someone to provide them for you?

All we do cannot compare to babies being raised by their parents. The parents provide them with everything they need to become healthy adults. We cannot give them the enzymes and antibodies they get from their parents.
There always risks in handraising.
Maybe you can find a juvenile up for adoption.

Reti


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## LuisO (Nov 14, 2005)

for training I will raise 4-6 at one time. I will hatch them myself and raise them myself. These include, rollers, homers and lahores. I haven't tried any other breeds. This is the way I see it. They have more company when raised together and learn quickly. The more birds you hand raise the more in the nest/container you keep them in and the easier it is to keep them warm. They produce alot of heat and can pretty much keep warm enough without much help, thats of course after the first week or so until they get big enough.

Its so much more fun too to raise more than one bird at a time. They really do keep you busy though. Talk about cleaning the bin they are in no less than 3 times a day! LOL

Good Luck!

Luis


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## JGregg (Jul 28, 2003)

Many members have tame brids which need loving homes. I'd suggest contacting Terry Whatley, she gets a high volume of tame pigeons in. You may even be able to specify the breed of pigeon you want to adopt.

It'd be good to change the set up of your home to make your new pigeons safe from your other pets (you've probably allready done it).


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## LuisO (Nov 14, 2005)

Reti is also correct. Be sure you can provide the proper replacement food and prepare a good feeding, cleaning schedule for them. I am an experianced bird keeper/trainer so I do this all the time. And Yes, Reti is correct about some not being tame. Pigeons like many other birds other than parrots, dont really like to be petted or touched. My young birds will learn to perch on your hand, shoulder and head and feed from you hands very easily and on command. I also train them to fly to locations, but not every bird develops this. These babies I will be raising soon are all extra eggs the birds have had because I havent constructed the shed part of my loft yet. In any case if you decide to adopt a young squeeker of weaned age, I have also had success with them as well.

If you end up looking for a young bird and have breeders in your area this is what you should look for if you want tame birds:

The loft keeper should be able to go into the loft and pick the babies and adults up without much hassle. This summer was the very last time I purchased birds from any keeper who used a net to catch his or her birds....they ended up and still are terrified and hard to catch. Ask them how much time they spend with their birds and if they handle the babies often. You will be able to tell if they handle babies often if the baby is calm when picked up and doesnt mind being held in the proper fasion.

Take care and again Good Luck!

Luis


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## Boulregard (Mar 14, 2006)

Thank you for you advice but i would really like to hand raise a bird my self i guess i will do 2 then since Luiso said it was better to do more. so i guess that is better. I really enjoy hand raising my birds. It was the one thing that made me happy in a long time. And why dont they become tame like other birds. Shouldnt they bond with people if you hand raise them. My last ones did. maybee they just hadnt gotton old enough yet to be that independent. I dont know but i would really like to pass my own pigeons blood lines down. And i really wanna hand raise them myself. All other birds i have hand raised did just fine. THey might not get the very best of stuff but they will get a close second. I dont knwo if that sounds selfish or not but im not meening to be. I just really love having a hand raised baby. After my last 2 died when i left the cage open just the smallest bit and my ferrets killed them i was depressed for probobally like 2 months straight. i lost all my drive to live. my pigeons mean a lot to me. And yes i know how hard it is to hand raise birds i have done it many times. But thank you all for your advice. I really do appreciate it.


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## Camrron (Dec 19, 2005)

Boulregard said:


> Should'nt they bond with people if you hand raise them. My last ones did. maybe they just hadn't gotten old enough yet to be that independent. .


Raising up a pigeon by hand is no guarantee that they will bond with you. Mine was with me from the day he fell out of his nest and while we have a relationship of sorts he is still a pigeon, programmed to do pigeon stuff. He will happily sit on my shoulder, head, feet, etc but is also happy to peck ferociously at me at the first sign that I am invading "*his"* territory. He has no sense of loyalty to me in the way that people think of loyalty. For example like how a dog defends his master and yard or anything like that. He remains pigeon to the end.

So yes they do bond with you but not like mammals might. It's that simple for them I think. Sorry to dissapoint. Pigeons are pigeons and that's how it is for them. They are an independant creature unto themselves.

Cameron


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Boulregard said:


> I have had pigeons for about a year and a half and love it. at one point i hand raised 2 baby pigeons becuase the circumstances required it. Unfortionatly one of my other pets got to the birds after about 2 months.
> *I loved those birds and so i have decided to hand raise another.*
> I was wondering if from your experience you thought it was better to hand raise one or two. I thought it might be good if they would have some company while i was gone but i wasnt sure if raising one would make a better pet.
> 
> ...


Hello & Welcome.
Sorry to hear about the mishap with the first set of babies you raised.
Where do you plan to acquire this new baby, or babies, from? 

Cindy


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Boulregard said:


> Thank you for you advice but i would really like to hand raise a bird my self i guess i will do 2 then since Luiso said it was better to do more. so i guess that is better. I really enjoy hand raising my birds. It was the one thing that made me happy in a long time. And why dont they become tame like other birds. I dont know but i would really like to pass my own pigeons blood lines down. After my last 2 died when i left the cage open just the smallest bit and my ferrets killed them i was depressed for probobally like 2 months straight. i lost all my drive to live. my pigeons mean a lot to me.


Hello and welcome to Pigeons.com

Thank you for your interest in raising pigeons.

You have already gotten a lot of good information.

I have hand raised two baby pigeons who are pets, but have adjusted very well to coop life. The only reason they were hand raised is because they were abandoned.

I myself can't recommend taking babies away from the parents, as it is not their best interest. Do you think it is fair to take them from their parents?

If you have pigeons that you want to hatch their babies, why don't you allow them to raise the babies, and you can still have tame babies, by visiting them daily and becoming familiar to them. Once they are grown you can feed them out of your hands and they will know you well.

Sorry to hear your babies died...and can you guarantee these babies will be safe this time around?

I don't mean to sound harsh, just looking at it from the pigeons view point.


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