# what to do with my pet dove/pigeons



## delbyann (May 26, 2009)

Hi! I have owned a set of dove/pigeon siblings for about three-four years now. they are currently staying at a family member's house since we are living temporarily in another state. They are my first birds ever. We are planning on moving back to our home state in about a year or so and getting a house. As soon as we have our own place ( not a rental) the birds will be moving back in with us. They are fairly young rock pigeon/ ring-neck turtle doves. I was wondering what type of housing arrangement would work best for these birds. They are pretty feral. Their father(a regular old wild pigeon) flew into my Aunt's sliding glass door and was stunned. She put him in with her other birds and when he came to, the next day, she set him free. He stayed in the yard and has lived in their chicken coop ever since. In between the coop and flying he made quite a few visits to his new wife and they surprised my Aunt with two cute hatch lings, which she gave to me. They're wary of pretty much everyone except me and they don't really like me all that much either. Should I treat them as homing pigeons once I build a relationship with them? OR should I keep them as pets in cages just large enough to flutter around in a bit?? Any info would be great. I've got about a year to learn all I can about these birds!


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## delbyann (May 26, 2009)

*Bands*

Also, can your buy personalized leg bands for full grown pigeons( just two...not 100) or is there any other way to have identification on them?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

If the ferals are flying free, that is how they should stay. the ring neck doves make nice indoor pets ,so I would get as large of a cage you can afford for them...as far as the bands go, yes you can get snap on bands in different colors, I think you need to buy at least 10 or more at a time, depending where you get them from, or some one may have some extras they could give you, If you have the ring necks it might not even be nessasary.


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## delbyann (May 26, 2009)

spirit wings said:


> If the ferals are flying free, that is how they should stay. the ring neck doves make nice indoor pets ,so I would get as large of a cage you can afford for them...as far as the bands go, yes you can get snap on bands in different colors, I think you need to buy at least 10 or more at a time, depending where you get them from, or some one may have some extras they could give you, If you have the ring necks it might not even be nessasary.



I wasn't very clear in my earlier post. I have two birds that are both hybrids. They are a mix between a rock pigeon and a ring neck dove. They are siblings. Currently they are being kept in separate smaller cages because when they were moved from their large cage into a smaller one they started fighting quite a bit. They seem to do fine in a large cage together though. The large cage is TOO Large for indoor use though. The birds seem feral..but they've been kept in a large cage indoors up until this past year. We had it set up for a few years and it wasn't working as far as space in the house goes. Sorry about any confusion.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Wow, hybrids are pretty rare, you got lucky!  I had a pair years ago and have a pair now but the recent pair look more like pigeons while the first pair looked like larger gray doves almost. My first pair were both males, with a female dove and black male pigeon. 

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=273963&postcount=11

The new pair is one of each, with a red/white feral/king mix for mom, and a ringneck dove for dad. We would love to see some pictures of yours. If you are able to build a roomy aviary/flight pen for them at your new house, that would be ideal. You can make something simple, using wood frame and wire that is 1/4 hardware cloth. It's very important to have such small wire as rats or mice can be devastating inside an aviary, and can cause diseases. 

Hybrids are, depending on who you ask, either 99% or 100% infertile, so if you want more pigeons, you'll have to get more. If not, these two would be quite comfortable in a nice pen that around five feet high, five long, and four wide--of course that is just a guesstimate and you can play around with it. The bigger, the better. I'm sure you're feeding them red grit but some people don't know they need it, so add it if you're not to help them digest their seeds. If you do get other pigeons, they will likely breed with them and though the eggs probably won't hatch, they will still enjoy making nests and sitting on them. Good luck and let us know, I'll be waiting for those pictures!


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## delbyann (May 26, 2009)

sorry it's taken me so long to reply. We're out of town and it's taken me a bit to get back to this website.

I really don't have any good pictures on them from recently. I can get my Aunt to take a few. They're staying with her while we're out of state. She does know about the grit  She raises all sorts of birds. I'm not planning on having more pigeons than these two but that may change later on. Thanks for the info... I'm excited to be having them move back with me in the next year or so. Any ideas on getting them used to me?


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Try giving them raw, unsalted peanuts as a treat from your hand and see if they'll go for that. Most of them love those. And just spending quiet time around them helps too, as they get used to you. Some people read a book out loud, or just talk to them, so they get to like your voice a lot. Good luck!


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