# Biggest Pigeon breed



## pigeonnewb

I was just wondering what everyone would say what the biggest pigeon breed is according to weight and size?


----------



## TheSnipes

The ones from the FedEx commercial?

 (sorry!)


----------



## george simon

The Victopia Crowned pigeon is the largest pigeon it about the size of a chicken go to Google and lookup the crowned pigeon this is a very beautful bird. It is on the endangered list people in south east asia eat them. .GEORGE


----------



## John_D

If you mean those bred by fanciers, probably the largest would be one or other forms of Runt, with the King and Carneau not far behind.

John


----------



## spirit wings

I know the modena is a heavy breed of pijn.


----------



## Skyeking

TheSnipes said:


> The ones from the FedEx commercial?
> 
> (sorry!)



  




John_D said:


> If you mean those bred by fanciers, probably the largest would be one or other forms of Runt, with the King and Carneau not far behind.
> John


That's the one I was thinking.


----------



## jbangelfish

*Large domestic breeds*

The largest in appearance has to be the Hungarian Giant House Pigeon as they are crested, have muffed feet and are somewhat loose or long feathered which adds to their already immense appearance. They can weigh 2 pounds or more. I believe they are also claimed to be the heaviest domestic pigeon.

There are several other breeds that are all very near or equal to the 2 pound weight as well. The Runt, Carneau, Show King, French Mondaine and Giant American Crest all come to mind as being around this size.

There are also many other large breeds but the biggest that I know of are listed above.

Someone mentioned Modenas but they are small to mid-sized at best. Their shape resembles Show Kings and French Mondaines and perhaps this is what people are getting confused about.

Lebanons, Syrian Swifts, Dewlaps and some of the Pouter breeds like the Dutch Cropper are also quite large but not 2 pounds.

The Victoria Crown is certainly the biggest of all but it really has no domestic close relatives. I don't know what they weigh but they are huge as pigeons go.

The extinct Dodo was a type of flightless pigeon and was probably the largest ever.

Bill


----------



## TheSnipes

jbangelfish said:


> There are several other breeds that are all very near or equal to the 2 pound weight as well. The Runt, Carneau, Show King, French Mondaine and Giant American Crest all come to mind as being around this size.


I saw some of those breeds at the NPA show, but also saw "giant homers" and I thought those were about the biggest pidgies I'd ever seen. Maybe it's just cuz they looked like your "average every day" pigeon on STEROIDS


----------



## jbangelfish

*Giant homers are large*

There are alot of breeds that qualify as large. I don't know how many but maybe 50 breeds or more could be considered large, compared to the average pigeon.

If you see the largest of all, maybe they should be called huge. There are several breeds, maybe 8 or 10 that are in the true giant category, maybe even a few more.

Bill


----------



## maryjane

jbangelfish said:


> There are several other breeds that are all very near or equal to the 2 pound weight as well. The Runt, Carneau, Show King, French Mondaine and Giant American Crest all come to mind as being around this size.
> 
> There are also many other large breeds but the biggest that I know of are listed above.
> 
> Someone mentioned Modenas but they are small to mid-sized at best. Their shape resembles Show Kings and* French Mondaines* and perhaps this is what people are getting confused about.
> 
> Lebanons, Syrian Swifts, Dewlaps and some of the Pouter breeds like the Dutch Cropper are also quite large but not 2 pounds.
> 
> The Victoria Crown is certainly the biggest of all but it really has no domestic close relatives. I don't know what they weigh but they are huge as pigeons go.
> 
> The extinct Dodo was a type of flightless pigeon and was probably the largest ever.
> 
> Bill


That is very interesting about the Dodo, I'm going to tell everyone that today lol.

My Betty Boop is probably a French Mondaine, at least according to George, who as far as I know has never been wrong.  Betty Boop is by far the largest pigeon I have, outweighing my large king pigeons by quite a bit. He is just huge and very muscular and heavy. Here is a pic of him:

http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/August2007/photo#5099868852306007058


----------



## jbangelfish

*Yes, I'm sure George is right*

It looks like a French Mondaine to me as well. On shape, I can't tell them from Show Kings but the color I believe is Mondaine. I think the Mondaines are just slightly larger than Show Kings also.

There is also a Swiss Mondaine but they are more long and Utility King body style.

George has the same book that I have and it is the best reference book of pigeon breeds that I know of. I've read it so many times that I don't refer to it very often but sometimes I can be stymied too.

Bill


----------



## Pigeonpal2002

The Giant Runt is the largest domesticated pigeon (by weight) in captivity that is a descendant of the rock dove many generations removed. 

Runts typically weigh 2.5-3 lbs. The one in the Guinness World Book of records weighed nearly 5lbs. Seems as though the reference to this is gone now unfortunately, at least I can't find it anymore.

My runts are light for their breed with each weighing slightly over 2lbs.


----------



## ezemaxima

Here's some info:

Victoria crowned-pigeon (Goura victoria)

Crowned-pigeons are the largest pigeons in the world at approximately 74cm (29 in) long, immediately distinguished by the spectacular crest of lacy feathers on their heads, for which they earn their common name. Widely regarded as ranking amongst some of the most handsome of all pigeons, the Victoria crowned-pigeon is a large steely blue-grey bird with deep maroon plumage below, a pale grey wing patch and striking red eyes. However, the true splendour of this bird comes from the magnificent adornment of its white-tipped, fan-shaped crest, so large and beautiful that it has sadly attracted widespread hunting of the species.


----------



## re lee

Crowned pigeon, giant runt, french mondine, swiss mondine, carnue, show racer, giant homer, these are basicly the largest breeds. The crowned pigeon is protected and is found in a few Zoos. They really do not look like any named breed of pigeons. But fall in the family. Modenas today are as big and some bigger then show kings. Body type is near the same. Utility kings are much different in type then show type kings.


----------



## jbangelfish

*If that's true, they've gotten bigger.*



Pigeonpal2002 said:


> The Giant Runt is the largest domesticated pigeon (by weight) in captivity that is a descendant of the rock dove many generations removed.
> 
> Runts typically weigh 2.5-3 lbs. The one in the Guinness World Book of records weighed nearly 5lbs. Seems as though the reference to this is gone now unfortunately, at least I can't find it anymore.
> 
> My runts are light for their breed with each weighing slightly over 2lbs.


2 pound runts are what I remember but breeders have evidently worked on their size. It is really the only thing that sets a runt apart from other pigeons, it's sheer size. Otherwise, they look pretty normal, or at least they used to. What do they look like now?

It's funny how show people change a breed to suit them as they have done with many. Show Fantails have become freaks that have difficulty flying, walking or even seeing where they are going. They didn't used to be that way.

I've seen at least two people talking about large Modenas as well. What happened to them? They used to be cute little stubby guys with an attitude.

Show people never cease to amaze me. The ego of having the biggest or best always winds up changing the breed or making an extreme exaggeration of what it began as. I understand the developement of a breed but it almost always seems to get ridiculous.

Bill


----------



## Pigeonpal2002

jbangelfish said:


> 2 pound runts are what I remember but breeders have evidently worked on their size. It is really the only thing that sets a runt apart from other pigeons, it's sheer size. Otherwise, they look pretty normal, or at least they used to. *What do they look like now?*
> 
> Show people never cease to amaze me. The ego of having the biggest or best always winds up changing the breed or making an extreme exaggeration of what it began as. I understand the developement of a breed but it almost always seems to get ridiculous.
> 
> Bill


The runts I've seen (in person & pictures) look pretty much like regular pigeons. As you would know...they don't have muffed feet, crests, or strange colour patterns. They are just big, plump birds with very broad chests. Legs tend to be shorter than a "normal" pigeon, beaks are a little shorter as well. Mine have a very subtle "ruff" around their ears...just a few feathers that kind of stick out there. Feathers in general are kind of loose "fitting", not tight and contoured like a racer.

I don't breed runts myself, or any other pigeons. The person I got my first few runts from is one of the largest breeders of runts in Ontario, Canada. He sells them all across Canada and supplies people in the USA too from what I've heard. He sacrifices good care though in order to produce many birds. 

The last time I was at his place (a number of years ago), he had a huge number of very large red and black runts. Some of these birds were massive compared these runts I have now. These were likely males because the females I've seen tend to be noticeably smaller than the males. 

I can't comment too much on the breeding practices of "show people". It would seem that they breed progressively though. Taking the best from each breed and building upon that of course. Runts are large birds, so then breeder s would naturally choose the large stock to breed with other large birds. 

I just wish I could find that picture and reference to the 5lb runt, that was a huge pigeon!


----------



## jbangelfish

*That's the way I remember them*

They have always been very large but apparently they've gotten even larger.

I've only had one runt in my life, when I was still a kid and as I recall, it was very tame. I have a picture of my little sister, holding it on her hand when my sister was maybe 8 years old, making me a teenager at the time. I just remember how huge the pigeon looked on her hand and this bird was a hen.

Bill


----------



## DEEJAY7950

maryjane said:


> That is very interesting about the Dodo, I'm going to tell everyone that today lol.
> 
> My Betty Boop is probably a French Mondaine, at least according to George, who as far as I know has never been wrong.  Betty Boop is by far the largest pigeon I have, outweighing my large king pigeons by quite a bit. He is just huge and very muscular and heavy. Here is a pic of him:
> 
> http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/August2007/photo#5099868852306007058


With out a picture to compare a regular pigeon (homer) picture to what some consider large pigeons it is very hard to see a great difference, so maybe someone could take a picture side by side of a standard pigeon and a King or runt if anyone has any! We need a scale for comparison!


----------



## jbangelfish

*Like a bantam vs a pigeon*

The giant breeds of pigeons are around the size of bantam chickens, if that helps. More than twice the size of a standard sized pigeon.

Bill


----------



## Pigeon lower

Indian Fantails can be big too.


----------



## Pigeonpal2002

DEEJAY7950 said:


> With out a picture to compare a regular pigeon (homer) picture to what some consider large pigeons it is very hard to see a great difference, so maybe someone could take a picture side by side of a standard pigeon and a King or runt if anyone has any! We need a scale for comparison!





jbangelfish said:


> The giant breeds of pigeons are around the size of bantam chickens, if that helps. More than twice the size of a standard sized pigeon.
> 
> Bill


Here is a short video of my two hand raised runts when they were about 3.5-4 weeks old. They grew slower than normal, partially because they were hand raised and also it would seem because they are a different breed. They are much larger than this now.

The very beginning of the clip shows them next to their foster dad Dotty, a feral pigeon. A kind member of this forum agreed to hand raise a set of offspring for me and because my runt pair at the time were just unable or incapable of doing it themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-rEPxefNS4


----------



## TAWhatley

Gosh! I had forgotten how very, very cute Ricky and Lucy were as babies .. also had forgotten just how big they were at such a tender age! Thanks for the video, Brad! Dotty and Pearl definitely had their work cut out for them with those two!

Terry


----------



## james298

The largest domestic pigeon raised by breeders is the VALENCIAN TENAT PIGEON from Spain
birds weight at 3-5 pounds.They are listed in Levis book of pigeon breeds.


----------



## tinytim

*Big runts*

I myself have raised 3 pound runts before. To get them I had to either foster one of the babies out to a pair of large utilty kings or throw one egg out and let the runts just raise one. I couldn`t get large runts if I let them raise two. I started with big birds also. The runts I have now I haven`t had long. Maybe two pounds or a little more. I hope to get the size up, they are to small for me. Almost 40 years ago a man in Greenville Ms. had runts so big they couldn`t fly over a three foot fence. They never got off the ground when I saw them. They made my three pounders look kind of puny.


----------

