# New pigeon owner! Any tips/advice?



## charliespigeons (Jul 15, 2016)

Hi there,

The other week I was lucky enough to have a gorgeous racing pigeon 'pit stop' at my house and took care of him as he was exhausted from the race and wasn't flying. I managed to contact the owner and the pigeon was returned home safely. I loved caring for him and was sad to see him leave. I then decided to buy two young homing pigeons. They are gorgeous birds and extremely tame. I have only had them for a few days and I have been told to keep them in the cage for two weeks before letting them out to fly so then they return to my house. at the moment they are living in a small cage on my balcony. I will be buying a small loft soon which I will put outside in my back yard as they don't seem to get a long and need more space. 

I don't know a lot about pigeons and would really appreciate some tips and advice on how to care for them and how to train the as they are still young. 

Thanks!

P.s is there anyway to tell the gender of a pigeon? And if they're opposite sexes will they mate?


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

charliespigeons said:


> Hi there,
> 
> The other week I was lucky enough to have a gorgeous racing pigeon 'pit stop' at my house and took care of him as he was exhausted from the race and wasn't flying. I managed to contact the owner and the pigeon was returned home safely. I loved caring for him and was sad to see him leave. I then decided to buy two young homing pigeons. They are gorgeous birds and extremely tame. I have only had them for a few days and I have been told to keep them in the cage for two weeks before letting them out to fly so then they return to my house. at the moment they are living in a small cage on my balcony. I will be buying a small loft soon which I will put outside in my back yard as they don't seem to get a long and need more space.
> 
> ...


First people do not fly only two birds around the loft, two can be none in a short time due to birds of prey. A flock of 10 or more are safer to fly because they work together to confuse and out fly the hawk. . More eyes to the sky. But
To train them to get back into their loft you need the loft first. So when you get it ,set them up in it and let them just settle in for a few weeks,always before feeding use a feed call, the same one every time and the same time of day,but keeping intrusions to a minimum.you want them to feel safe in their loft, not too much staring and made to feel uneasy. Then as they seem settled in and getting used to the routine look up trap training with a settling cage. When they know a feed call and come in to it from a settling cage and use the trap door without hesitation then you know they can use the door and know how to get in. After that you can let them come out on their own by taking away the settling cage in front of the trap door. But with all that said you need a loft first , I would not fly only two young birds that are cage kept.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Well if they are really tame then I think I would spend as much time with them as possible get them to eat from your hand, even in the new loft. Could you post a pic of them.
Dave


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Crazy Pete said:


> Well if they are really tame then I think I would spend as much time with them as possible get them to eat from your hand, even in the new loft. Could you post a pic of them.
> Dave


Agree. You want to spend time with them, and want them to be comfortable around you


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Wow, that is interesting that you bought 2 homing pigeons and that they are actually tame....I would like to know their background.

Sounds like they would make great pets, but I wouldn't be flying the 2 alone, as pigeons are safer flying in numbers. Two lone flying pigeons can be hawk bait. If you think you don't have any hawks in your area, think twice, they move in the area, once they know there is food around.*


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

I sold to a very nice man young homers. He was so focused on getting the birds used to him he over did it, new birds in a new loft need a routine, which includes the keeper of course, but over doing it and excessive handling like this gentleman did, made his homers do a flyer first time out of the loft. They did not come back. They just were not given enough time to settle in and see the keeper just doing the routine and playing it easy. Yes you can over do it. So,I gave him more young birds and I asked him to do just as I advised this thread. He had success when the birds were let out, no fly aways. These birds were not hand tame though, which is pretty uncommon with homing pigeons. I can bet these maybe very young, maybe too young if they act tame. Need more details on their age. Regardless flying them is not advised.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You can spend a lot of time with the birds, and offer treats or seed by hand and help them to get used to you, without overdoing and chasing them. No one is advocating that. But spending more time around them is good to get them used to you, and if these birds do appear friendly, then you want to do that. Just don't force them, or chase them. Being around a lot helps them to get used to your presence. This has worked for years with rescued birds, including ferals, who were anything but friendly, and they normally do come around.


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