# Anyone Feed Pellets? (My pigeon is crazy for dog food!!)



## missmadison (Jun 19, 2009)

Hello! It has been a while since I last visited here. In August, I had a lovely little pigeon join my flock (of budgies, finches, a canary and a starling). Pidge is smaller than most pigeons and took a long time to develop...but now he is a fully grown house bird and he pals around with my starling. They are the oddest couple (both flock birds, but with such different behavior!)

It is really difficult to find good pigeon mixes that are sold in anything less than a 50 lb. bag, so I went to the co-op and made up a mix of grains, peas, milo, small popcorn, etc. but Pidge seems to pick out only the smallest grains and is not getting a balanced diet. He completely ignores the larger dried peas. I thought he could not manage the big pieces....until yesterday....

I put my starling's dish of dog food out on the table and Pidge decided to look and see what it was. He immediately began to suck up the huge pieces of dog food at an astonishing rate! He LOVES dog food?! So since he won't eat my nice seed mix, perhaps pigeon pellets? 

He is not a racing bird. He is a rescued rock pigeon who flies around the house but does not need a 'performance' diet (however I want him to have the healthiest diet possible which is appropriate for a pet pigeon lifestyle.) 

Can anyone recommend pigeon pellets? If so, can they be bought in small quantities? I'm guessing if Pidge loves dog food he may like pellets!

Thanks!


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## lwerden (May 31, 2008)

If you can get to a PETCO they do sell Kaytee Supreem Premium Pigeon & Dove Mix in 5lb bags. The cost is around $6. It has all the esential vitamins in it along with being very high in protein. My house pidges love it.


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## windmill Ranch (Sep 18, 2009)

If you don't have a store near you that sales pigeon pellets. Chicken pellets will do just fine. Jim


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## Mindy (Apr 2, 2009)

I did the samething you did, I put my starlings food bowl out and the pigeons loved it also. So glad to hear you have starlings. They are great, amazing pets. 
For my pigeons, I buy the goya soup, in the bag, lentils, barley, split peas, yellow and green, brown rice and pop corn and mix it with some wild bird seed that has sunflowers seed and safflower and they love that mixture. min


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Squeaks gets his pijie seeds too, BUT, he also helps himself to the cat's dry food! *sigh*

So far, so good...this has been going on for years...

Love and Hugs
Shi


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

you can use gamebird pellets or chicken pellets or purina makes pigeon pellets called pigeon checkers... if you want to go all out harrison's has a pellet that is all organic and comes in a small round pellet called high potency fine, I feed my ring neck doves this with great results, it does last longer than you think as they do not need to eat but a teaspoon a day. If you find yourself mixing grain and pellet they will eat the grain first and leave the pellet, you will have to measure the feed then so they eat all the grain and pellet or else you will be wasting pellet, I find it easier to just give all pellet at free choice and give some treats like safflower and fine chopped kale and grated carrot for variety. if you do give a pellet they have to changed over very slowly as they may not recognize it as food at first, and you do not want them going with out food for any amount of time. here is a link to the harrisons http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/HIGH-POTENCY-FINE-5-lb-Bag/productinfo/HPF05/


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## missmadison (Jun 19, 2009)

Thanks for all of the suggestions! The problem with my seed mix is that Pidge only picks out a few grains and leaves the larger things such as dried peas, sunflower seeds and popcorn. (I actually think he mostly just eats the milo) He seems to have difficulty picking up the bigger pieces and leaves much of it behind. When I saw how interested he is in dog food (and how easily he grips it), I thought he might take a similar interest in pellets. 

I see Jedd's offer pelleted foods. I might try a small bag and see how he takes to it. 

By the way Mindy - yes! Starlings are superb pets. My pigeon follows Pepper (my starling) around and tries to do the things she does...which creates some pretty funny situations!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

missmadison said:


> Thanks for all of the suggestions! The problem with my seed mix is that Pidge only picks out a few grains and leaves the larger things such as dried peas, sunflower seeds and popcorn. (I actually think he mostly just eats the milo) He seems to have difficulty picking up the bigger pieces and leaves much of it behind. When I saw how interested he is in dog food (and how easily he grips it), I thought he might take a similar interest in pellets.
> 
> I see Jedd's offer pelleted foods. I might try a small bag and see how he takes to it.
> 
> By the way Mindy - yes! Starlings are superb pets. My pigeon follows Pepper (my starling) around and tries to do the things she does...which creates some pretty funny situations!


If they are over fed they usually do pick and choose, if they are hungry they eat what is given..


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> If they are over fed they usually do pick and choose, if they are hungry they eat what is given..


This is true. My spoiled birds are picky, but I save what they leave, and mix a few other things into it, and if that is what I put down, and they see that is what they are going to get, they eat it.


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## 1981 (Aug 9, 2006)

Pellets are good for pigeons because it have all the minerals and vitamins in there already so you would not have to feed the pigeon grit. Just remember that when you feed pellet or pellet with pigeon/dove mix, the birds dropping will be kind of watery.


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## StanelyPidge09 (May 22, 2009)

Hi MissMadison,

I recently purchased pellets from Jedds, called Herba-corn. Its all natural and contains onions and garlic which are known for being beneficial. He does not seem to eat it yet but we have been grinding it up super fine and mixing it in with his regular seeds. Then we will gradually mix it in in larger amounts. Our goal is half grain and half pellet diet. The shipping was not too bad either.


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## kbbigman (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi Miss M yep we feed our pidgies hen pellets just before they start breeding (the hens), whist they are paired up (all birds), then when they have babies they have a bowl of pellets each in their boxes that always have the pellets in which they find easier to pass to the babies, who then start off on a pellet diet, only when all the babies are weaned onto corn do we then start to remove it from all the birds til the cycle begins again the year after, ours also get their mixed corn feed as well whilst on pellets. When we start to introduce the pellets each year we feed a small amount of those then give the mixed corn once those have gone, like others post have said pidgies can be picky eaters, more so the adults, coz last year I introduced the babies we had to lots of new foods and they took to them straight away coz everythings new to them, where as with older birds they are a little slower to accept new foods but if given before their main feed will eat initially coz they are hungry and once the newness of the food wears off then they get used to it. Good luck with yours. M


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2010)

its true coversion over to pellets is a slow going process but in the end its got alot of what a bird needs to get its total needs met .. I feed half grain and half pellets to all my birds all the year thru, but its true if you are over feeding your birds they will not be to keen on coverting to pellets as easily


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