# Breeding Wild Pigeons??



## kingdizon (Jan 14, 2013)

Has anyone ever heard of or even considered raising the offspring of two wild pigeons to see how they do?? I mean proper vaccines and medications would need to be established,but i would think that the offspring of a wild pigeon that was trained would be somewhat..tougher?faster? i dont know any opinions on this??


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

feral pigeons would do well hatched and raised in a loft, just like feral kittens would do well if rescued and brought up in a loving home. feral pigeons are from domestic pigeons brought here by humans and ecsapees and lost pigeons, there are no native wild pigeons(rock dove) here in the US.

sick and injured young feral pigeons hatched not in a loft and if rescued and cared for make very good pets and loft mates to other purebred pigeons. it happens all the time.


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## kingdizon (Jan 14, 2013)

spirit wings said:


> feral pigeons would do well hatched and raised in a loft, just like feral kittens would do well if rescued and brought up in a loving home. feral pigeons are from domestic pigeons, there are no native wild pigeons(rock dove) here in the US.
> 
> sick and injured young feral pigeons hatched not in a loft and if rescued and care for make very good pets and loft mates to other purebred pigeons. it happens all the time.


Ok thank you. Right on. Thats good to know. I wonder if a line like the Janssens could be made starting with a group of feral pogeons? Hmmm


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They do have better homing ability than most realize. And they're very smart.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

not sure if you mean wild pigeons or feral, but a couple of times people have brought tiny woodpigeon / collered dove squabs to my door that they have found. I floated them under my own birds until they were fully grown and i can say that even when seeing me on a daily basis from the day their eyes opened they retained most if not all of their wildness. They become tolerant of you in the loft/flight, but not in the same way domestic breeds do. And they certainly do not handle well (especially woodpigeons). it may be a different sory if they were to be hand raised by a human, but to be honest i enjoyed the satisfaction of setting them free once they were ready, and they do from time to time stop by the bird tables and look on perplexed! 
I have also in the past has sick feral brought to the door, hawk attacks and fishing wire meant they had a lengthy stay and they tamed down fine. I even had two ferals pair up and breed 1 young cock bird which was just like any other domestic breed when let out to fly.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Two years ago, I conducted an experiment such as you suggest. I obtained two eggs from a barn. First I observed the parents as much as I could, to make sure they were not banded and actually looked like feral pigeons.

Then I put those two eggs into the nest of a racing homer pair, in my loft. They raised those two ferals as their own, and I treated those two and trained them, as if they were two racing homers.

Bottom line is, they were much smaller than my homers, at the same ages. They also seemed to be more "wild". Harder to catch in the loft, and skittish around humans. Even though I obtained them as eggs. So those traits should not have been learned things.

I lost both young birds at 7 miles, when I trained them with my young bird race team. Both were banded and kept and raised no differently than my homers.

But I have heard of feral pigeons coming home from up to 40 to 60 miles, by others. I have never heard of any come home from further, although half breeds (homer x feral crosses), have been claimed to have actually won races. Myth perhaps.


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## kingdizon (Jan 14, 2013)

Hmm this is interesting. I only ask because maybe thats how everyone originally got started(WAY back when) and I was wondering if you could keep breeding and mixing homers and ferala until you had this...idk...superpigeon?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If raised by hand they are very friendly. Have 2 in my loft that were just a couple of days old when I got them, and they are tame as puppies. Two of my favorites.

Most of my babies will turn out however the parents are. They take their cues from them. Friendly trusting parents= friendly trusting younguns. Not friendly parents= not friendly babies. Happens every time.


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## kingdizon (Jan 14, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> If raised by hand they are very friendly. Have 2 in my loft that were just a couple of days old when I got them, and they are tame as puppies. Two of my favorites.
> 
> Most of my babies will turn out however the parents are. They take their cues from them. Friendly trusting parents= friendly trusting younguns. Not friendly parents= not friendly babies. Happens every time.


Yea see that's what I was thinking..that breeding a yb feral handraised and a yb homer hand raised and just inbred a few generations you could develop a new strain..I mean I have the youth to spend the 20 sum pdd years to do it...buuut I like..kinda dont want to for the next two decades


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Feral pigeon can home just as well as kept homing pigeons and just as quickly. I've had them return from well over 100 miles away.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

kingdizon said:


> Hmm this is interesting.* I only ask because maybe thats how everyone originally got started(WAY back when)* and I was wondering if you could keep breeding and mixing homers and ferala until you had this...idk...superpigeon?




All the pigeons we have in our lofts are descendants from the rockdove so people definitely started way back when with the wild specimen, The ones that have escaped in america and now live wild are exactly the same species as the ones in the wild in the UK with the only difference being human interferance at some stage in their developement,

Most the ferals in my city fly 20 miles a day for food out to the lake from the seacliffs and I believe these are very similar to racing pigeons in type, I am interested in seeing how some do in the races but got too many birds at the moment


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

The old story Of why go backwards to go forwards Is in to play. Why cross the line when all you have to do is get a few race bred birds. Yes feral can home up to a short distance some up to 150 miles. But get home slower . Each breed of pigeon has been cultivated towrds mans need and desire.. And fearls are the stage of reverted to wild type. In which unregulated breeding does . But if you wish go for it. Many a person including myself started with Ferals. and moved on from there..


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## kingdizon (Jan 14, 2013)

re lee said:


> The old story Of why go backwards to go forwards Is in to play. Why cross the line when all you have to do is get a few race bred birds. Yes feral can home up to a short distance some up to 150 miles. But get home slower . Each breed of pigeon has been cultivated towrds mans need and desire.. And fearls are the stage of reverted to wild type. In which unregulated breeding does . But if you wish go for it. Many a person including myself started with Ferals. and moved on from there..


I really have no intrest of raising racers at the moment. I only ask because I watch the feral pigeons at the waterfront fly around like all day. And I figured there had to be some kind of quality they have that domesticated homers dont right? And that quality could be bred into them to make something better? Idk it was a thought. I didnt take into account the natural sense of freedom the ferals would be born with.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Domesticated homers have all the same genetics as a feral except they have been select bred for the traits needed to make the strongest fastest, most fit version of the pigeon we know. So I do think ferals would be a step back, Sure you may pick up a gene or two that can help but to keep track of those genes and be able to combine them with the winning genes required to make a good homer would be something that would take more than ones lifetime to achieve, Best to ride on the succeses of the guys of the past and improve where we can.


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