# pigeon care advice for a flightless pigeon?



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

i don't know if I'm posting in the wrong place, but I have a pigeon who has a crippled wing, he can't fly at all, I've had him for 2 years not, we rescued him and couldn't find anywhere that would take him. 

I just want to know if pigeons play with toys, what kind? 
What would be a good enclosure to get him, I'm looking at chicken coops because they're bigger and have places to nest, but does anyone know anything more about what he should have in his enclosure?

What is good food to feed him?

He is alone, should I give him bird company? (not in the same cage but in the same room?)

He is only inside right now because I don't have a safe outdoor situation for him to be in. 

How can I tell if he's stressed out? If he's happy? Content? Frustrated? Nervous?


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Still think this might need to be moved to the Pet Pigeon/Dove forum, but let's leave it here for a bit and see if you get the responses/info you need.

Thank you so much for rescuing this pigeon and for making the effort to see that it has the best life possible with you.

Do you have any pictures of the bird that you could share with us?

Terry


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

TAWhatley said:


> Still think this might need to be moved to the Pet Pigeon/Dove forum, but let's leave it here for a bit and see if you get the responses/info you need.
> 
> Thank you so much for rescuing this pigeon and for making the effort to see that it has the best life possible with you.
> 
> ...



I do have some pictures of him, here ^^


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Thanx for rescuing this bird and giving him a chance at life.
He looks nice.

Pigeon's best toys are perches. They love jumping up and down on them and coo around. But your pigeon can get unbalanced while jumping from one perch to another as he has a crippled wing. So space your perches near to each other. You can give him soft stuffed toys and some straw with which he will cuddled and play. Nothing that is hard and can tip over and hurt him when he jumps over it.
A pigeon can live comfortably in a 2 square feet cage. Cage should be made from mesh wire for indoors living so that his wings/neck(happened many times before up here) couldn't get caught in a bar type cage. For outside, hardware cloth should be used+a wooden coop attached to it so that he can move to shade/enclosure and sunlight when he likes to.

Pigeons are grain eaters. They sell many types of pigeon mixes(feed) online for the purpose. Please google pigeon supplies. + they must be given grit to digest the feed as they don't have teeth to chew, just gulp seeds down their throat.


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

subdivisions; said:


> He is alone, should I give him bird company? (not in the same cage but in the same room?)
> 
> How can I tell if he's stressed out? If he's happy? Content? Frustrated? Nervous?


Pigeons are very social birds. Infact they feel sad when they are kept alone. They would coo constantly for a mate after they settle themselves at a new place. You may adopt a rescue or buy him a mate. Pigeons are very sexually active birds. They love billing and courting, If you surely know he's a HE then get him a SHE. Then they will be happy, staying with eachother. Its upto you,you wan them to increase in numbers or wanna hatch control, by tossing their real eggs away and replacing them with fake ones when hen lays.

Pigeons are good actors. When they get sick they pretend to act as if they are fine. They only show signs of mild illness when they are really ill. But when they get ill,they don't eat/drink/poop normal as they do when they are healthy. They sit fluffed up with heads tucked down in shoulders and show less activilty. Their bodily gestures also change and may get weird when they are ill. Main thing to look for are the droppings,which change when pigeon is ill. Best is to get them tested,if one suspects something wrong.


----------



## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm really not sure of what toys they like , but I do remember a stray birmingham roller which came to my home use to steal my dogs ball . It was the same size as a tennis ball but it was more like rubber with a santa clause pressed into it and when you squeeze it it makes that irritating squeeking noise . My dog destroyed the squeeking component of the ball , but this roller would push the ball round the yard and then flair his tail feathers dragging them along the ground as if he was courting it , finally he would jump on top and make lervvvve to it ....it was so funny ...but this bird did love that ball.

A mirror can offer them some stimulation too ...I have a balanese mirror with doors under my back verandah and there are a coue that love to swing on the doors trying to work out who the bird is in the mirror .

just a couple of suggestions for you


----------



## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

By the way ...I forgot to mention he is a real cutie , thanks for uploading the pictures of him


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

brocky bieber said:


> Pigeons are very social birds. Infact they feel sad when they are kept alone. They would coo constantly for a mate after they settle themselves at a new place. You may adopt a rescue or buy him a mate. Pigeons are very sexually active birds. They love billing and courting, If you surely know he's a HE then get him a SHE. Then they will be happy, staying with eachother. Its upto you,you wan them to increase in numbers or wanna hatch control, by tossing their real eggs away and replacing them with fake ones when hen lays.
> 
> Pigeons are good actors. When they get sick they pretend to act as if they are fine. They only show signs of mild illness when they are really ill. But when they get ill,they don't eat/drink/poop normal as they do when they are healthy. They sit fluffed up with heads tucked down in shoulders and show less activilty. Their bodily gestures also change and may get weird when they are ill. Main thing to look for are the droppings,which change when pigeon is ill. Best is to get them tested,if one suspects something wrong.



Hmm, well, I can see how getting him a mate would be problematic for various reasons. For one, he's crippled and I feel like the female pigeon might pick on him, It's not exactly a paranoia, when I used to watch the pigeons feed at the bus stop I'd see slightly injured ones that I couldn't catch getting bullied out of eating all the time. I also cannot have baby pigeons, I just don't want to breed them, and I wouldn't want to put the female pigeon through risk of egg binding at all either, I understand it would be necessary for breeding purposes but in this case it would just not make sense.

Do you think he would be okay if I had a pigeon as company for him in a separate cage but still in the same space? Or is getting him a cage mate absolutely necessary? I feel it's risky to get him a cage mate and was hoping that having a bird or two birds in his presence would still make him happy, but if you're absolutely sure that will not work then I will consider getting him a cage mate.


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

brocky bieber said:


> Thanx for rescuing this bird and giving him a chance at life.
> He looks nice.
> 
> Pigeon's best toys are perches. They love jumping up and down on them and coo around. But your pigeon can get unbalanced while jumping from one perch to another as he has a crippled wing. So space your perches near to each other. You can give him soft stuffed toys and some straw with which he will cuddled and play. Nothing that is hard and can tip over and hurt him when he jumps over it.
> ...




Thank you very much for the advice on getting toys, yeah he does seem to like perches a lot, I also got some bricks and he really likes to jump on those as well, because I read that pigeons were originally cliff dwellers, I thought it might feel comfortable for him to also perch on a flat surface. I am going to see if I can't get some long perches that can fit in the cage that will be hanging low that he can play on.

If he cannot be outside I should at least put him in an area that is exposed to sunlight indoors, you're right, I'm sure it would benefit him greatly, I do take him into my backyard to walk around during the day for a little while, under my watch so that there is no trouble from any possible strays or coyotes. It's a pretty enclosed yard but I don't feel safe keeping him back there unsupervised, there are tons of feral cats and coyotes that love to roam around our neighborhood at night. I'm sure the fresh air makes him feel better too, do you think keeping him inside is bad though? Should I try to build a reinforced sort of enclosure for him to be outside? I just want him to be safe but if I'm making him unhealthy by having him indoors please let me know


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

whytwings said:


> I'm really not sure of what toys they like , but I do remember a stray birmingham roller which came to my home use to steal my dogs ball . It was the same size as a tennis ball but it was more like rubber with a santa clause pressed into it and when you squeeze it it makes that irritating squeeking noise . My dog destroyed the squeeking component of the ball , but this roller would push the ball round the yard and then flair his tail feathers dragging them along the ground as if he was courting it , finally he would jump on top and make lervvvve to it ....it was so funny ...but this bird did love that ball.
> 
> A mirror can offer them some stimulation too ...I have a balanese mirror with doors under my back verandah and there are a coue that love to swing on the doors trying to work out who the bird is in the mirror .
> 
> just a couple of suggestions for you



You have a beautiful pigeon ^^ I'm really thankful for your advice, I gave him a few extra cat toys that I had and he seems to take interest in the ball with a bell, he can easily pick it up and throws it around, and seems to like these fuzzy balls I got as well, I'm hoping to get some more variety for him so that he stays stimulated, thank you again


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

subdivisions; said:


> Hmm, well, I can see how getting him a mate would be problematic for various reasons. For one, he's crippled and I feel like the female pigeon might pick on him, It's not exactly a paranoia, when I used to watch the pigeons feed at the bus stop I'd see slightly injured ones that I couldn't catch getting bullied out of eating all the time. I also cannot have baby pigeons, I just don't want to breed them, and I wouldn't want to put the female pigeon through risk of egg binding at all either, I understand it would be necessary for breeding purposes but in this case it would just not make sense.
> 
> Do you think he would be okay if I had a pigeon as company for him in a separate cage but still in the same space? Or is getting him a cage mate absolutely necessary? I feel it's risky to get him a cage mate and was hoping that having a bird or two birds in his presence would still make him happy, but if you're absolutely sure that will not work then I will consider getting him a cage mate.


Who wants to live alone? A pigeon...especially would never want to be alone. They are social birds and love to live in pair/flock. And are one of those birds that stay loyal to their partner and mate for life until accidental separation/death do their part.
A mate can help him forget his handicap. They will stay happy together once they get paired. When you get a mate for him,putting her in a separate cage first would be the best method to introduce them. This way they won't hurt eachother and will get paired smoothly.
Fanciers do keep pigeons separated. So its upto you if you wanna keep them in separate cages next to eachother or together. You may use a big cage with two sections divided by narrow bars type wire so that they can bill and preen eachother but don't mate. But this way they won't live their lives to their fullest. They will be happy to be next to eachother but SAD that they couldn't have pleasure of "that"

If you would give them good feedmix+grit+supplements then your hen may never face such problems that you fear for.


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

subdivisions said:


> Thank you very much for the advice on getting toys, yeah he does seem to like perches a lot, I also got some bricks and he really likes to jump on those as well, because I read that pigeons were originally cliff dwellers, I thought it might feel comfortable for him to also perch on a flat surface. I am going to see if I can't get some long perches that can fit in the cage that will be hanging low that he can play on.
> 
> If he cannot be outside I should at least put him in an area that is exposed to sunlight indoors, you're right, I'm sure it would benefit him greatly, I do take him into my backyard to walk around during the day for a little while, under my watch so that there is no trouble from any possible strays or coyotes. It's a pretty enclosed yard but I don't feel safe keeping him back there unsupervised, there are tons of feral cats and coyotes that love to roam around our neighborhood at night. I'm sure the fresh air makes him feel better too, do you think keeping him inside is bad though? Should I try to build a reinforced sort of enclosure for him to be outside? I just want him to be safe but if I'm making him unhealthy by having him indoors please let me know


I'm so happy that you care for him so much.


Well,people have lost their pigeons not only to cats,dogs etc. but also to ariel predators like hawks. A few days ago a hawk attacked Greener(my pigeon) when he was sitting next to me, some 3-4 feet away. Hawks may even try to take away birds from your hands/sitting on shoulders,head, vice versa. All I wanna say is,your pigeon has a crippled wing already(Im sorry) he won't be able to fly to save himself in an attack situation. Best not to let that happen
So best would be to provide him with an enclosure in which he can have access to shade as well as sun so that he could access them when he needs to and be safe from any sort of predators. He can be let out indoors.

Daily an hour or two of fresh air and sunlight is required so that he can absorb vitamin D from sun's rays and stay fit and fine. A cage near the window would be awesome


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

brocky bieber said:


> Who wants to live alone? A pigeon...especially would never want to be alone. They are social birds and love to live in pair/flock. And are one of those birds that stay loyal to their partner and mate for life until accidental separation/death do their part.
> A mate can help him forget his handicap. They will stay happy together once they get paired. When you get a mate for him,putting her in a separate cage first would be the best method to introduce them. This way they won't hurt eachother and will get paired smoothly.
> Fanciers do keep pigeons separated. So its upto you if you wanna keep them in separate cages next to eachother or together. You may use a big cage with two sections divided by narrow bars type wire so that they can bill and preen eachother but don't mate. But this way they won't live their lives to their fullest. They will be happy to be next to eachother but SAD that they couldn't have pleasure of "that"
> 
> If you would give them good feedmix+grit+supplements then your hen may never face such problems that you fear for.



Ok, you are right, I think I will look into getting him a mate/friend that I will keep separate but close to him at first, if they really get along and nobody bullies the other then I'll see if I can keep them together. I'm still worried about the eggs being fertilized though? I don't really want baby pigeons, and I don't think I could handle constantly tossing possibly fertilized eggs ever time they are laid, does anyone know if pigeons have a specific breeding season I could keep them apart during or do they breed year round?


----------



## Coconut (Oct 20, 2013)

subdivisions said:


> Ok, you are right, I think I will look into getting him a mate/friend that I will keep separate but close to him at first, if they really get along and nobody bullies the other then I'll see if I can keep them together. I'm still worried about the eggs being fertilized though? I don't really want baby pigeons, and I don't think I could handle constantly tossing possibly fertilized eggs ever time they are laid, does anyone know if pigeons have a specific breeding season I could keep them apart during or do they breed year round?


You can use dummy eggs so when the hen lays, you take her eggs and replace them with the false ones. The pair will sit on them for a while, give up, and then the cycle will start again. I'm new to all this too and looking to get my pigeon a mate! 

This has some more info: http://www.pigeonrescue.org/birds/care/pigeon-dove-birth-control/

My pigeon likes attacking an old sock that I have tied a knot in, although I'm careful there aren't any loose threads. He also has a plastic stool, and a plastic box with paper shreds in it that he likes jumping in!


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

Coconut said:


> You can use dummy eggs so when the hen lays, you take her eggs and replace them with the false ones. The pair will sit on them for a while, give up, and then the cycle will start again. I'm new to all this too and looking to get my pigeon a mate!
> 
> This has some more info: http://www.pigeonrescue.org/birds/care/pigeon-dove-birth-control/
> 
> My pigeon likes attacking an old sock that I have tied a knot in, although I'm careful there aren't any loose threads. He also has a plastic stool, and a plastic box with paper shreds in it that he likes jumping in!



Ok, I think if it will make him happy, I will look into getting him a mate/friend. ^^ 

I will heed your advice and first put them next to eachother instead of in the same enclosure, I was wondering if you knew anything about finding pigeon breeders? I'm wondering if there are any in the Tucson, AZ area? Does it matter what breed of pigeon I get as his friend? I know that feral pigeons are closest to homing pigeons as far as looks/and such but just wondering, since he was a feral pigeon (He doesn't really act very feral now but idk)


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

subdivisions; said:


> Ok, you are right, I think I will look into getting him a mate/friend that I will keep separate but close to him at first, if they really get along and nobody bullies the other then I'll see if I can keep them together. I'm still worried about the eggs being fertilized though? I don't really want baby pigeons, and I don't think I could handle constantly tossing possibly fertilized eggs ever time they are laid, does anyone know if pigeons have a specific breeding season I could keep them apart during or do they breed year round?


When an egg is laid, there's no life in it. Life appears in it after 3-7 days of incubation. An egg can be discarded right away when its laid by replacing it with a dummy egg without feeling the guilt of killing an innocent life. On the other, side think positive that yur doing this for the health of yur present birds. 8-10 days of mating+18-22 days of sitting on eggs,its almost over a month's time for your hen to eat,replenish and take rest while sitting on eggs to start over again.
In nature pigeons start breeding with the onset of spring and breed till late summers normally. But in captivity pigeons may keep breeding all year around. But its advisable to not to let them breed especially in moulting season.


----------



## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

subdivisions; said:


> Does it matter what breed of pigeon I get as his friend? I know that feral pigeons are closest to homing pigeons as far as looks/and such but just wondering, since he was a feral pigeon (He doesn't really act very feral now but idk)


Fancy pigeons don't mind what breed their partner is of. But feral/wild pigeons MAY show a hesitation and fear. A (blue bar) homing pigeon or tippler pigeon will be the best choice for your bird.


----------



## subdivisions (Jan 4, 2014)

brocky bieber said:


> Fancy pigeons don't mind what breed their partner is of. But feral/wild pigeons MAY show a hesitation and fear. A (blue bar) homing pigeon or tippler pigeon will be the best choice for your bird.



ok, I do see colored pigeons/brown pigeons that are feral a lot but if a more grey/traditional looking pigeon might make him more comfortable I think I'll go with that just to be safe


----------

