# need advise please white pigeon



## sephyuk (Sep 20, 2012)

i have raised a white pigeon since he was 3 weeks old, Things went great to start he was very sweet would sit on my lap ect. he showed himself to be a boy, and he moved away from me he lives indoors with us but seems to seek out toys to be with i can handle him but he bites and hangs on to my hands sometimes he stops and i massage his head and he goes limp and closes his eyes and seems to enjoy. he goes into his house and moans for hours however if i put my hand in he goes made trying to atack me why does he do this. why will he not come to me for affection how can i become his mate in his eyes. he is only 7 months old will he ever stope biting me . I have tryed to put him out side for some part of the day but he just wants to get in. help


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

When you put your hand in his 'house' he interprets it as an invasion of his territory and seeks to defend it. 

Pigeons rarely seem to view a person as a whole being. They recognize faces and keep them in their 'photographic memory', and understand who is 'good' and who is 'bad', but human hands are almost always seen as a separate and potentially dangerous creature. 

I have a white blind pigeon here, and she or he (still not sure  ) was very affectionate until she 'grew up'. Now, she will sometimes nestle in my lap, but if I touch her with a finger she will usually try to bite it.

So many of our rescues, once they were no longer totally dependent upon us, have become fierce little featherballs 

Our problem is that we cannot know precisely how a pigeon understands its surroundings and other beings within them, and it is always tempting to view their responses in terms of human emotions and responses.


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

sephyuk said:


> i have raised a white pigeon since he was 3 weeks old, Things went great to start he was very sweet would sit on my lap ect. he showed himself to be a boy, and he moved away from me he lives indoors with us but seems to seek out toys to be with i can handle him but he bites and hangs on to my hands sometimes he stops and i massage his head and he goes limp and closes his eyes and seems to enjoy. he goes into his house and moans for hours however if i put my hand in he goes made trying to atack me why does he do this. why will he not come to me for affection how can i become his mate in his eyes. he is only 7 months old will he ever stope biting me .* I have tryed to put him out side for some part of the day but he just wants to get in. *help


Not a good idea to let a hand raised bird outside who has no knowledge of how to forage for food or how to avoid predators.


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## BFG (Mar 6, 2012)

Quazar said:


> Not a good idea to let a hand raised bird outside who has no knowledge of how to forage for food or how to avoid predators.


I've heard this over and over now but... mine are hand raised and spend much of the day foraging outside, and yes, avoiding predators. They spend time with other pigeons and when the group is spooked, they fly away with them. When another bird tries to invade their home, they fight them off. They forage all over the garden and beyond, and they always stay together and fly off at the slightest sound.

How do they know how to do all this?

*Because I let them out.*

When I did keep them in for a few weeks in their new home, they became more depressed than I've ever seen them.

If they are over-protected and never allowed to roam outside, then of course they'll have no idea how to forage for food or avoid predators. I appreciate your advice being given to people but please understand that you are contributing to your birds' lack of real world know-how. Not everyone's birds are that dumb.

What happens one day when they get out? Mine are fine. Yours won't be. 

Does that make your method better? I fail to see how. 

BUT... each to his own. Lets not go around telling people that they are wrong because they don't do things exactly like you think it should be done. I'm just tired of this "don't let your birds out" rubbish. This is not aimed at you but a few people who keep complaining about others letting their birds out. They are birds. They want to fly and interact with others. It's natural.


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

BFG said:


> I've heard this over and over now but... mine are hand raised and spend much of the day foraging outside, and yes, avoiding predators. They spend time with other pigeons and when the group is spooked, they fly away with them. When another bird tries to invade their home, they fight them off. They forage all over the garden and beyond, and they always stay together and fly off at the slightest sound.
> 
> How do they know how to do all this?
> 
> ...


Actually, if a bird is handraised, or indeed a young rescued feral then they are that dumb as you put it, because they havent learned from their parents HOW to do it.
They can learn this behaviour at a later stage from being around other birds, but they need to do it in a safe enviroment.
If you wish to let a bird out that has not learned this, then they must go through a soft release program or their chance of survival is VERY slim, especially in an area where there are a lot of hawks about.
If you cast your mind back to one of your own topics, you will remember commenting that your bird learned to forage from another youngster that had obviously learned from its parents. You had locked them up together first and In a way that was a form of soft release as the birds accepted each other in a safe enviroment first, although had they not, i'm sure the outcome would have been both violent and different.
Interesting that you note your birds chase out other birds that are not part of the flock !!!
This is exactly what happens when a released bird tries to join a flock without any previous interaction, leaving IT to become the prey if a predator should attack.
Also, a single bird (especially white) is a prime target for predators.

It is an entirely different situation for those that keep a loft of birds as opposed to a single rescue that has been hand raised and acts like a pet so I stand by my statement as I'm sure many others here would to.
And for your info, I actually disagree with not letting birds out to be free IF it is possible, but letting them out inexperianced is a recipe for disaster.


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