# pigeon diet



## Rocky17 (Mar 23, 2005)

I am trying to convince my neighbor that pigeons need a balanced diet. Together we have about 60-70 birds. Purina pigeon mix has gotten very expensive.About $20 a bag. That is for seed and a mix of peas. It takes a lot to feed our birds. His entire family, father, grandfather (from Turkey) etc., have raised pigeons on wheat alone. For grit they feed crushed brick. I am afraid feeding them only wheat will weaken them and stress them. I don't know how to convince him otherwise. He says they had few problems with raising them this way. I'm afraid it will cause a lot of problems in the long run. Our birds are already stressed from being so crowded. He does not want to get rid of any birds. He really loves them. Any suggestions? I saw a video on one of the links on PT where a breeder of homers said he used all sorts of seed and added a dove feed from Wal-Mart to that. He said about $8 a bag. I thought we could continue to feed pigeon mix and supplement with the dove food to stretch it. I don't know. Marie


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Rocky17 said:


> I am trying to convince my neighbor that pigeons need a balanced diet. Together we have about 60-70 birds. Purina pigeon mix has gotten very expensive.About $20 a bag. That is for seed and a mix of peas. It takes a lot to feed our birds. His entire family, father, grandfather (from Turkey) etc., have raised pigeons on wheat alone. For grit they feed crushed brick. I am afraid feeding them only wheat will weaken them and stress them. I don't know how to convince him otherwise. He says they had few problems with raising them this way. I'm afraid it will cause a lot of problems in the long run. Our birds are already stressed from being so crowded. He does not want to get rid of any birds. He really loves them. Any suggestions? I saw a video on one of the links on PT where a breeder of homers said he used all sorts of seed and added a dove feed from Wal-Mart to that. He said about $8 a bag. I thought we could continue to feed pigeon mix and supplement with the dove food to stretch it. I don't know. Marie



There are a million different mixes that you could feed the birds, but wheat won't cut it in the long run. Will the birds live? yes.........but will they be healthy?........no.......and if they are overcrowded, it don't matter what you feed them, there's going to be stress and health issues. About 1/2 of our members feed Wild Bird seed from Wal-Mart and add corn, safflower seeds and peas. I've heard the even the wild bird seed had gone up in price. I suppose it's a bit less expensive to do it this way. It certainly won't hurt the birds and it will be WAY better than just wheat. It also wouldn't hurt a thing to cut the pigeon mix with wild bird seed and forget the corn and safflower seeds and peas.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

The Pigeon Mix I purchase runs about the same for me, it's a 50lb. bag of pigeon mix for the birds at home. The seed mix I purchase for the ferals costs about $5.25 for a 20lb sack, so a bit cheaper though the reason I get the Kaytee wild dove mix is because they are more convenient for me to deal w/on the feral route where I deliver to the local flocks. Wheat alone isn't a balanced
diet and can really put a stress on their health along w/the overcrowding.

You could call around to racers, breeders, clubs in the area and see if there
isn't someone who has shipments of the pigeon mix trucked in and then sells
to others in the area. A fellow in this area does this and it cuts almost $5.00
off the retail price of one fifty pound sack of the premium mix. If this were a possibility then your neighbor could perhaps load up on one run and save some money and time schlepping.

Now what you might do is get something like Red Cell or WinsMore and add
to their water to make sure they are getting the vitamins and minerals that
they need. This might help to offset the wheat only diet, but it would of 
course be better to get the nutrition directly from the food.

I'd take a look at this crushed brick thing though. Is there any way of guaranteeing what's in the crushed brick?? Here's some interesting information from this link:

http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/EarthGuidelines.html#Brick

** Some American brick manufacturers are making brick with sewage sludge. Sludge material is mixed with clay normally used in the manufacturing process. The resulting brick is equally attractive and strong. Another alternative material for brick production is petroleum contaminated soils. Such soils, when combined with clay and fired at very high temperatures, yield brick which is free from hydrocarbon contamination. These techniques are not currently being used in the Austin area. *

I'd be concerned about where he's purchasing the brick from and what materials went into the manufacture of the brick. I'd also be concerned 
about the verification authenticity of what the contents are.

fp


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## Margarret (May 3, 2007)

*Pigeon diet*

That is very expensive feed. I buy our feed from Jedds which is about 17 dollars for the fancy conditioning mix, and at the feed store locally for about 12.50 a 50 lb. bag for pigeon mix. Where are you buying your feed?

Margarret


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Margarret said:


> That is very expensive feed. I buy our feed from Jedds which is about 17 dollars for the fancy conditioning mix, and at the feed store locally for about 12.50 a 50 lb. bag for pigeon mix. Where are you buying your feed?
> 
> Margarret



Margarret, for comparison purposes, what brand and any other information
do you have on the mix that you purchase. I get Winner's Cup Pigeon Feed
and jump around on the protein percentage. They seem to like 19% Supreme....this product is from the Seed Factory in Ceres, CA.

fp


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Marie, The feed I buy is also from a feed store and is packaged in Oregon. It is 14.7%, 50lb bag and is about $12.75. 
Do you have a feed store in your area? That might be the best place to buy.
Pigeon grit is about $10. for 50lb and last a long, long time.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Lovebirds said:


> I've heard the even the wild bird seed had gone up in price.


No kidding! A 40 bag of the Bird Basics Wild Bird Seed Mix that Petsmart carries went from $7.99 a week ago to $10.49 this week. Petco had their 40 pound bags of the Kaytee Wild Bird Seed Mix on sale for $9.99 .. regular price $13.99 ... YIKES! At the local feed and tack, a 50 pound bag of the economy pigeon mix runs about $17.00-18.00 don't remember for sure. Around here it almost pays to make an 80 mile round trip to Norco to buy bird supplies even with gas at around $3.43 a gallon and not bothering to count the extra 2-3 hours it takes over buying locally.

I use a LOT of wild bird seed mix as I also feed it to the ducks at the park, so the price increase of late is not amusing in the least.

Terry


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## Rocky17 (Mar 23, 2005)

I thank you for your responses. We have 2 feed stores near us. Both Purina brand and we buy the cheapest of the two mixes they have. I would love to be able to find the feed you buy at your prices. We could certainly afford that. I'll start tonight searching for these feeds near us. I wonder if buying from Jedds, if the price of shipping wouldn't drive the price up again. The search is on! About the brick, thanks fp, for that info. I'll be sure to show that to him. If anyone else has any ideas I welcome them. Marie


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

TAWhatley said:


> .......
> 
> I use a LOT of wild bird seed mix as I also feed it to the ducks at the park, so the price increase of late is not amusing in the least.
> 
> Terry


I dropped $90.00 @ my last feral food run and couldn't believe my eyes at the
register. That's twice a month, so in no time it will be at $200.00. Whenever
the gas prices go up, it seems that every product on the shelf of every store
I shop at for whatever reason goes up as well. Let's hear it for synchronicity.

fp

Marie, can't encourage you enough to call pigeon clubs in the area because
they will have the low down on where the pigeon feed is and where it's the
cheapest. I love Jedd's, but the shipping w/any order @ Jedd's is pricey,
so I can't imagine it getting better for someone out of state. Might try
Global's, they are in Georgia:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9455

You might also compare prices w/New England Pigeon Supply.


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## Margarret (May 3, 2007)

fp,

Right now I'm feeding Jedds, Royal from Leach Grain and Milling. It is 19%. I think it was about 17.50 fir 50lbs. We just made a run to Jedds a couple of weeks ago and have100lbs. We live about 70 miles from Jedds and have to go to that area for other reasons from time to time, so load up on pigeon supplies when we go. I think the cost of shipping grain would be very pricey.

We have a number of feed stores in our area. I will have to go by to get the name of the cheaper feed. Will try to do that in the next couple of days. But I know I can get regular feed for about $12 a bag. I'll post again when I have more information. I'll see if they sell wild bird seed as well and how much it is.

Margarret


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Margarret said:


> fp,
> 
> Right now I'm feeding Jedds, Royal from Leach Grain and Milling. It is 19%. I think it was about 17.50 fir 50lbs. We just made a run to Jedds a couple of weeks ago and have100lbs. We live about 70 miles from Jedds and have to go to that area for other reasons from time to time, so load up on pigeon supplies when we go. I think the cost of shipping grain would be very pricey.
> 
> ...


Margarret, that would be great...

fp


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Just for kicks, I checked with Jedds to find out how much it would be for 50lb of their pigeon feed. It wasn't bad, $13.30 I think. The shipping was $58.00.
WOW!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Charis said:


> Just for kicks, I checked with Jedds to find out how much it would be for 50lb of their pigeon feed. It wasn't bad, $13.30 I think. The shipping was $58.00.
> WOW!


HOLY COW! I can understand, though .. weight and dimensions ..

Terry


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Our racing club here buys directly from the plant at wholesale prices, and the 50 lb bag has gone up to 18.00 a bag, way too much for my budget.

Where are you guys getting this seed at 13.00???


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## KIPPY (Dec 18, 2003)

Petmarts wild bird seed mix went up from $7.99 to $10.99 in a week. I usually get that then mix it with a bag of the safflower and peas.
I asked the manager why in went up 3 bucks in a week and he had no clue.


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## Flying_Pidgy (Apr 26, 2006)

KIPPY said:


> Petmarts wild bird seed mix went up from $7.99 to $10.99 in a week. I usually get that then mix it with a bag of the safflower and peas.
> I asked the manager why in went up 3 bucks in a week and he had no clue.



i HOPE its because more people enjoy having pigeons around! if thats the case then im ok with it


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