# Racing Feral P Questions



## qeracing (Jul 14, 2005)

I just rescued a pigeon that fell from the nest... It is probably 22 days old (I have a picture and posts on that on the other board) and I was wondering if there is a chart somewhere with what age they should start to fly, when to let them outside, and all that? If it is about 22 days, when will it start to fly or when should I start to teach it -how DO it teach it? The birds I have had to teach I usually just put in my hand and dropped my hand to the ground and let the wind catch them and they have figured it out-

Also, can a feral pigeon do racing or anything? I am going to at least learn with this bird and perhaps build a BIG loft and get some actual racing ones (when I move to a permanant home)... And, do I need a loft? Or is there something I can use that I don't have to build, I rent and the landlord wouldn't be to thrill with a big wooden structer in his yard!


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## sportsman (Apr 1, 2005)

That's how i started, i had a young feral pigeon. then i decided to get it friends and this year i finally got racing pigeons. when i had my feral pigeon, i would just play with it, drop it out of my hand like what you said and it would try to fly on its own when it about a month old. I had fun and it was a good learning expierence. when i first started, i had the young feral and another pigeon i had bought in a small rabbit hutch. I imagine that you could keep it in a smaller wood box w/ an open side or two or a cage as long as you let it out. good luck


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## qeracing (Jul 14, 2005)

Hehe, cool... Are the ferals very different than the racers? Mine is still like all disturbed by me  I feed it, give it water and pet it a lot and I just let it out in a safe enclosed area to see what it does and it just ran away from me and chirped all angry when I would grab it... I let it drop out of my hand a few times and it just flapped to break its fall... So, I guess we're a ways off from getting some air 

Too bad it is 22 days and not younger because I am thinking it will be harder to get it used to me... I work with horses, birds are VERY different as far as bonding, I always released mine and didn't worry about it but I want to keep this lil guy  Did you ever race your feral? That would be kind of cool..

I've got a dog crate I could use, but right now I'm keeping it inside in a box, I will have to at night anyway because we have bears, mountain lions and probably coyotes... It's safe in the day because I have my 2 dogs tied up by the cage and nothing wants anything to do with them. It is a big crate, one of the metal ones and my wolf-dog fits in it, so you know it is big


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## sportsman (Apr 1, 2005)

the feral i got looks a lot like one of my pairs except he is a little smaller and doesn't have as much muscle. I never raced my feral and a guy that i got some racers from said that they don't home as well as racers. 

I had mine inside until it was about a month old before i got its first friend so i had plenty of time to watch it. mine started to flap a lot, thats how i figured it was about ready to fly.

for bonding, i got mine when it was about a week old so it thought of me as its parent, it would only let me feed it. it is now a few years old and isn't afraid of me, if i pick up his mate he will fly over and land on me and start cooing, its pretty funning.
good luck


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## qeracing (Jul 14, 2005)

AHhh, mine ate by itself today!! I was shoving peas and corns down it and then it like, pecked at one when I was about to open his beak! So I put a bunch on my jacket and he ate!!!! It was SO COOL!!!! 

He can fly only a few feet off the ground so far.. Like a foot actaully, the girl who found it said it was a few feet off the ground trying to get to the nest but I haven't seen it... It is getting more comfortable around me finally, still runs away but I am hopefull that it'll get closer 

I would love to get some racers one day... And I want to build a loft  Heheh  These pigeons are kind of addicting aye?


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Congratulations*

On you baby pigeon. Sounds like your having alot of fun. I just love pigeons be it feral, show or racer. I have a little of everything. I guess you'd say I got it bad.


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Congratulations on becoming a member of 'pigeon folk'. 

Yes, they are addictive. We started out with one small loft and 6 birds in 1996. We have three separate buildings for our birds now - 6 "pens" in total, with about 120-150 birds. lol

Ferals are different from racing pigeons. Same species/family - but it's almost like comparing a donkey to a thoroughbred.  

As for your bird becoming 'bonded' to you -- it isn't the easiest thing to do with pigeons. We have several who will fly to us and land on our arms/shoulders to be fed peanuts - but when we try to pick them up, they will shy away. Babies that have been hand raised almost right from hatching will become quite friendly, and some folk here have some birds that like to cuddle, even it they weren't hand raised - but it takes time.

If you really want your baby to be a 'pet', hold off getting more birds. I've found that if there are a lot more birds around, the 'pets' prefer to spend time with their feather friends....  

A dog cage makes a good enclosure -- and as someone else has already mentioned, a rabbit hutch works well too. As long as the bird(s) have an area to get inside, away from the sun/rain/wind (drafts are REALLY bad for the birds), and a nice outdoor area to sit in the sun/rain (yes, I know - sound contradictory... lol.... but the birds do need shade, but they do love to 'sun', and to shower in light rain....)... anyway.... an indoor/outdoor home is what they love.

Yes, wild animals pose a big problem for our birds. The most we have to deal with up here is raccoons. Sounds like you have a bit more to think about! It's a good idea to keep your little guy in the house with you at night - at least until you can get a permanent location/home for yourself.


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## qeracing (Jul 14, 2005)

How far can you usually get a feral to range from? And there is no way other than dna to sex them, right? I don't want to give it a name because I dunno what it is  Hehe...

Well, today was good  I was rolling peas on the floor and letting him chase after them and eat them  Then he ate a bunch from my hand, I swear, he ate like 35 peas/corns... Do they ever eat too much? I figured he would just eat what he needed  Should I let him exercise after he eats? Or probably start letting him out before so that he learns if he comes to me, he gets fed? That makes more sense I think  Haha, a TB to a donkey... 

Okay, and behaviors... Cause I am used to parrot affection... He like, opens and closes his mouth like he's licking his lips almost... It seems kind of like a consideration thing, but I dont know.. And then his chirping, I dunno if it is good or angry, ha, I guess I will know sometime once we've gotten to know each other better 

I will wait for more pidgies until I have a loft and permanent place  Then I totally will buy some racers and try to apprentice with someone cause I dunno WHAT I am doing haha  I just love animals and this whole pigeon thing is SO SO SOOOO awesome... Very strange, but VERY cool..

Do they have some good clubs in Cal? I am from Santa Monica area, so if I move back that is where I will be having my loft and pidgies  Heh.. And not so many hawks there, out here there are like a zillion, I'm SO scared to even think about letting it fly out, but it is a bird and that is what it was born to do so at least it would die happy :/


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

About 20yrs ago I read an article about a guy up in, I believe it was Ontario Canada. That had started his own line of racing homers from the wild feral pigeons he caught as part of, get this, his wild pigeon removal service. From what I remember it took him a few years of breeding but was finally able to take feral pigeons, breed them and have fairly decent racing pigeons out of the feral stock. Seems to me it would be easier to go out and buy the best birds you can obtain for the money and get a jump start. At least that way you know you have birds that have ether been breed out of racers or have raced themselves. You dont have to start from scratch.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

I am sure you could get any bird to home from around your yard. Except swallows who migrate - they do come back though


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hey do you thing we could get the swallows to trap?


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

I will have to build them little doors and stick them on the tunnel enterance. With signs of course enter and exit


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## sportsman (Apr 1, 2005)

I was told, by an older guy that feral pigeons, that they can home only about a hundred miles, don't know if thats true though. and for sexing, you can what till they are mature and then you can kind of tell, helps if there is another bird, but if its a male, he will be more agressive. I named mine chirp, because he always squeked when i was around, I didn't know if he was a male or female when i named him. When i first started out, i read that pigeons will eat too much if you let them, but I would use your own judgement, you could feel his crop and see if it feels like it is too full. As for flying, they say use a whistle when you feed so he knows that means food, then when you let him out before you feed him and want him back, just whistle. with mine i didn't know that, but we had bonded so much, that he just flew in circle around me, if I stopped, he would land not far from me! 

I would go out to a library and get some books of pigeons, when I started, i didn't have a clue as to what to do, I was even trying to feed it oat meal, which it did not like. the books really help, I learned how to tell if a male and female where pairing up, everything. And yes it is very fun, first year i had only two birds, turned out both males, end of second year had three pairs, had a few chicks but none made it to maturity. Now this is my third year, have a few pairs of racers and more coming, a few pairs of common pigeons, and a pair of fantails with hopefully more coming, and several chicks!

just look aroung on the web for a club, or if you go to one of these sites, they will find a club close to you, they are like the head quarters of racing clubs.
http://www.npausa.com/
http://www.pigeon.org/
good luck


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

sportsman said:


> I was told, by an older guy that feral pigeons, that they can home only about a hundred miles, don't know if thats true though. and for sexing, you can what till they are mature and then you can kind of tell, helps if there is another bird, but if its a male, he will be more agressive. I named mine chirp, because he always squeked when i was around, I didn't know if he was a male or female when i named him. When i first started out, i read that pigeons will eat too much if you let them, but I would use your own judgement, you could feel his crop and see if it feels like it is too full. As for flying, they say use a whistle when you feed so he knows that means food, then when you let him out before you feed him and want him back, just whistle. with mine i didn't know that, but we had bonded so much, that he just flew in circle around me, if I stopped, he would land not far from me!
> 
> I would go out to a library and get some books of pigeons, when I started, i didn't have a clue as to what to do, I was even trying to feed it oat meal, which it did not like. the books really help, I learned how to tell if a male and female where pairing up, everything. And yes it is very fun, first year i had only two birds, turned out both males, end of second year had three pairs, had a few chicks but none made it to maturity. Now this is my third year, have a few pairs of racers and more coming, a few pairs of common pigeons, and a pair of fantails with hopefully more coming, and several chicks!
> 
> ...



Great start ! But, let's get serious. You are a Natural Racing Pigeon Man !! Let go of those "Play" pigeons...and get serious with your "Racers" !!!!


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Are you just trying to save money by starting with the feral pigeons? If so, get in contact with your local clubs, there is almost always someone willing to let some older breeders and or late hatches go to someone just starting out.


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