# Acquiring pigeons



## Heinrich592 (Jul 27, 2007)

I have a few questions to ask, I'm a total novice to pigeons and plan to do a lot of research into food and shelter before I put any of this into action.

Is it best to buy the pigeons, or catch them from the wild? I don't really want high performance pigeons, just standard as pets, I'm not a racing enthusiast and doubt I ever will be.

To catch them from the wild is it wise to use food as an incentive?

If I catch a pigeon from the wild, will it be fully trainable? as its lived in the wild and may be suited toward them customs.

Would a greenhouse be a suitable storage location for pigeon boxes?

In my town centre there are lots of pigeons, they are classed as vermin, would it be possible to lure one into a container with food?

Do you leave the pigeon boxes open, or close them? I could close the greenhouse door if so.

How would I identify between the sexes?

Is it best to have two males or even two females , or a pair? I've read about people using wooden eggs to stop breeding.

Lastly, is there any building instruction sites, or shop sites for pigeon boxes?

Thanks Heinrich


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hello Heinrich. Welcome to Pigeon Talk. 

First off, it is great that you want to learn about the art of pigeon keeping beforehand.

There is much information you can learn right here on this site.

I myself have 8 pet pigeons that I now keep in a coop/flight pen.

It is not recommended you catch a pigeon in its wild free state, as you may be taking a parent or mate, and this would not be a positive thing to do.

I persoanally adopted some of my pigeons from other members here, and have a couple we rescued that were non-releasable.

We have a mated pair that gave us two additional, and yes, now dummy eggs replace the newly laid egg pairs, otherwise we would have an over-populated coop.

Pigeon are smart and can be trained...mine do have some talents.

As far as your other questions the answers can be found right here on Pigeon Talk.


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## abisai (Jan 30, 2007)

HeinRich . . you have a lot of questions. First of all welcome to the forum.

If the birds are wild - leave them as is. They will be happier if free. Unless of course you are saving them from peril.

Storage boxes? Do you mean nest boxes inside a loft? I like 24" long, 12" wide, 12 " deep. I like to keep the nest boxes open - unless you are trying to mate a pair, but close the loft door.

Usually the hen is smaller than the cock, and in non-white birds the irridescent neck coloring is most pronounced in the cock. If you mix a hen with a cock the cock will usually start to woo the hen by dancing and crowing. Or you can have a vet sex them.

Two cocks or two hens will be good company (they'll probrobly mate ultimately). Wooden eggs are used to control the population.

Yup, there are many sites dedicated to building lofts, nest boxes, perches etc. Just gotta search for them, I believe Rosewood lofts has a good site for simple loft building.

These are just some of my takes to some of your questions, you will find there are many folks here that will be more than happy to expound and give you full details, along with the "hows and why fors"

Good Luck

Ac


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

HEINRICH,Where do you live i have a few birds to give to someone here in southern california. GEORGE


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## Heinrich592 (Jul 27, 2007)

george simon said:


> HEINRICH,Where do you live i have a few birds to give to someone here in southern california. GEORGE


Hi, thanks for the offer, but I live in England 

Cheers anyway, good luck with finding them new homes!


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