# Is Blue Seal a good food source for pigeons?



## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Is Blue Seal a good food source for pigeons?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Are you talking about this website, for animal feed and pets?

http://www.blueseal.com

I just gave it a quick glance, it looks good, and it has been around since 1868.

The pigeon seed is a general seed for maintenance, not bad at all. You might want to add a little safflower seed and a little sunflower seed.(hulled)


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

will do ma'am but uhh one question

Do pigeons only eat plants, or do they bennifit from insects, or other kinds of meat here and there?


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## Buddy (Sep 7, 2005)

Oh no deadirishd!

sorry for butting in, but pigeons are vegetarians, they do NOT eat meat at all nor insects, seed and grit is a perfect healthy diet, with the occassional peanut as a treat (in fact I have been known to feed only peanuts to my Buddy, because she would not eat seed  is there something wrong with that pigeon or what?!) But yes, they are definately 100% vegetarians.

Buddy


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

mix in peanuts with seeds, than as each day goes by add less and less peanuts and more and more seeds..... or have you tried that?


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## pigeonmama (Jan 9, 2005)

Buddy,
I do have one little hen pigeon who will fight the button quail for an occasional mealworm when I take them out to the butt-butts. Foolish pigeon looks like she smoking a cigar when she has her mealworm in mouth.
Daryl


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Buddy said:


> Oh no deadirishd!
> 
> sorry for butting in, but pigeons are vegetarians, they do NOT eat meat at all nor insects, seed and grit is a perfect healthy diet, But yes, they are definately 100% vegetarians.
> Buddy


Hi Buddy,

Your not butting in, please feel free to add to the topic.

Although pigeons should not eat insects and bugs, when pigeons are allowed to forage, they will seek a little meat protein, in the form of snails and other things. We don't encourage this, because they can get worms from eating snails and other bugs. 

A little bit of protein from meat is okay, they do benefit from it, if you can find a good clean source. I haven't found one yet. I have a friend who feeds a tiny bit of fish to his birds once in a while.


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Trees Gray said:


> ...when pigeons are allowed to forage, they will seek a little meat protein, in the form of snails and other things. We don't encourage this, because they can get worms from eating snails and other bugs....


Would regular (twice a year?) worming take care of what they might pick up from snails or is avoidance strongly prefered?


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

the pigeon food i usually get at petco had a bag with a worm crawling in the bag today so i didn't buy it from there


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Alright

How about some...
cooked meat
meal worms
crickets
and a few roaches here and there.

I am into the herp world (reptiles, and snakes.) so I am used to feeding things like that.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

TerriB said:


> Would regular (twice a year?) worming take care of what they might pick up from snails or is avoidance strongly prefered?


Hi TerriB,

Although I would love for my pigeons to be able to forage in the sod, I would still be afraid they would consume something not only that will give them worms, but that they might eat something toxic in the soil. My neighbors use pesticides to spray their lawns and I don't, but because I don't we do have all those nasty slugs and snails and there may be run off from my neighbors lawns. It would probably do them more harm then good.

We have a neighbor in the back of us, who used malathion to spray his yard. Luckily my birds were inside, but I could smell it when I went outside and couldn't believe it! He didn't have a clue...or he would have warned us of what he was doing. He had chickens in the yard,(with an enclosed fence) and I knew it would only be a matter of time, and his chickens would all be dead. Within a month they died.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

DeadIrishD said:


> Alright
> How about some...
> cooked meat
> meal worms
> ...



I myself can't recommend any kind of bugs especially roaches, they carry disease. Maybe a tiny piece of organic pesticide free meat, but I myself have not tried that.

Pigeons don't thrive on meat source of protein, their diet is mainly seed, grains, and legumes. I understand the pigeon pellets some people feed their birds are nutritionally complete and have a little bit of meat protein in them.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Trees Gray said:


> Hi TerriB,
> 
> We have a neighbor in the back of us, who used malathion to spray his yard. Luckily my birds were inside, but I could smell it when I went outside and couldn't believe it! He didn't have a clue...or he would have warned us of what he was doing. He had chickens in the yard,(with an enclosed fence) and I knew it would only be a matter of time, and his chickens would all be dead. Within a month they died.



Hi Treesa, that's an almost unbelievable story. I'm sure he didn't understand, and fortunate for you and your beautiful birds that they were unaffected. What would that say to those who use malathion as a dip for pigeons??

fp


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi DeadIrishD, 

I agree with Treesa and the others here. Pigeons are mostly seed/grain eaters and eat very little animal life. The pigeon pellets are very good and are nearly nutrionally complete with small amounts of animal protein, and vitamins. If you feed your birds a well rounded seed diet, provide extra things like probiotics, ACV, garlic and a few others things, there is no need to consider offering your birds any kinds of insects you've mentioned. 

I offer my birds a good quality pigeon mix with all the good seeds then add about 15% pellets to this mix. I also buy separate seeds not contained in this mix such as sunflower, safflower, mung beans, pot barley, lentils and green peas and add these to my mix. A complete diet of seeds/grains, supplemented with vitamins/minerals will really go a long way in keeping pigeons healthy.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

feralpigeon said:


> Hi Treesa, that's an almost unbelievable story. I'm sure he didn't understand, and fortunate for you and your beautiful birds that they were unaffected. What would that say to those who use malathion as a dip for pigeons??
> 
> fp


Scary thought, because there are so many more people like him, I'm sure.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Dan, the answer is NO. 

maggie


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

Trees Grey says that it would be bennificial, but than even thought it is, I still shouldn't feed it to them.

and as for the roach comment, theres a tad bit of a diffrence between them, as the ones I have are captive bred, and carry no pesticides or parasites, as if they did my reptiles would be dead by now.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

DeadIrishD said:


> Trees Grey says that it would be bennificial, but than even thought it is, I still shouldn't feed it to them.
> and as for the roach comment, theres a tad bit of a diffrence between them, as the ones I have are captive bred, and carry no pesticides or parasites, as if they did my reptiles would be dead by now.


Bugs and insects can give the birds parasites and is not the beneficial protein I'm talking about.


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## Buddy (Sep 7, 2005)

I think that there is too many factors regarding parasites, I think it would be better not to feed the pigeons meat at all, they will still live a very happy life without that kind of supplement. As to your question about weather I mix seed with peanuts, I do but Buddy just swishes all the seed out of the bowl creating a HUGE mess, so now I just scatter some seed on the floor so Buddy picks that up instead, though she turns into psyco Buddy if she gets less than 5 peanuts!  

Buddy


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Trees Gray said:


> ...Although I would love for my pigeons to be able to forage in the sod, I would still be afraid they would consume something not only that will give them worms, but that they might eat something toxic in the soil. My neighbors use pesticides to spray their lawns and I don't, but because I don't we do have all those nasty slugs and snails and there may be run off from my neighbors lawns. It would probably do them more harm then good...


AACCKK!!! Didn't think of that! I wonder if that is what killed Piper? (
This weekend's project will be completely covering the grass area with those 12"x12" concrete stepping stones. Do you think that will be enough?

Regarding animal protein, I remember someone one here previously mentioning using crushed a good quality dog kibble. Haven't done that for a while, but I remember that Gracie loved it!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Hi Terri B. Pidgey did a post sometime back in the summer where he talks about not feeding his ferals on grass and uses something else that he can clean to feed them on. I sometimes worry myself sick over whether some of my little boys and girls will get some parasite in the aviary because the only thing separating them from the dirt are shavings. We are looking into what we can do to correct this.

A friend of mine ( who is the best rehabber in NC ) sometimes soaks Science Diet for Adults and gives it to her pigeons. I don't know if she ever breaks it up dry but she also carries a bag of it in her car and when she drives by a mall that has sea gulls in it will stop and throw out the dry dog food for them, and they gobble it up. maggie


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

I guess we all do the best we can and hope it's enough. Piper's mate, KD, was just out hovering in place. She certainly seems to feel fine. 

Many pet stores have small sample bags of dry dog food for a small fee if not free. That would be easy enough to carry in the car for when it's needed. Good idea!


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

TerriB said:


> Regarding animal protein, I remember someone one here previously mentioning using crushed a good quality dog kibble. Haven't done that for a while, but I remember that Gracie loved it!



This is an excerpt from the "sticky" thread Feeding and Safety for Feral Pigeons....this excerpt was written by Snowbird:

FEEDING AND NUTRITION 

written by Snowbird

My ferals don't get many tricks because it is too expensive or impossible to administer. For example they go through 60 lbs. per week of the 15% protein mixture that the prestigious Bay Cities Combine racing clubs use. It is a real pigeon seed mix by traditional standards. I throw a handfull (per 4 lbs of feed) of Newman's Own organics Dog Food- for seniors-all year long. I use it because it is small enough for most pigeons to eat and the first four ingredients are organic barley, organic rice, organic milo, and organic oats. It also has organic flax seed and for shame) organic chicken, plus a really extensive vitamin package. (18% pro; 8% fat) I worry about deficiencies with ferals and this product should eliminate that. However, many birds will not eat this-even starving birds don't recognize it as food. A few go for it and it is cleaned up with the seed. 


Linda


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## DeadIrishD (Sep 28, 2005)

as long as i can keep them healthy and happy than im happy


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