# Is Birdie ready for a companion?



## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

Well, our hand-raised baby pigeon is looking all grown up. He no longer squeaks, and is growing beautiful iridescent feathers to replace his first grey neck feathers.

He lives outdoors in a 2'x3' cage under a roof overhang. We bring him into the house for fly time every night (he loves to land on my husband's shoulder). I have let him outside a couple of times while I was working in the garden. We were initially afraid that he would fly away, but as it turns out, he follows me around wherever I go.

This little guy is so sweet--I'm thrilled to have made his acquaintance. Because he's locked up in the cage all day, we worry that he'll get bored, and have been thinking that it would be good for him to have a companion. 


We think he's male, because he has been doing some displays of puffing up and cooing while dipping his head. He also sometimes pecks at our hands when we put him back in our cage.

Should we get a female pigeon, on the assumption that we have a male? What happens if we're wrong, and our baby is just a very assertive female?
Will pigeons fight if they don't get along?

Thanks in advance for any advice. You were all very helpful when we were trying to decide how to house him.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Well .. you kind of can't go wrong here. If Birdie is a male, he will be thrilled to have a female companion. If Birdie is a female, then she and another female should get along just fine.

Terry


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## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

*can two males peacefully coexist?*

So... what happens if I manage to locate a female friend for Birdie and she (the friend) turns out to be a "he?" From what I've read, plenty of experts have been fooled when trying to assess pigeon gender.

Would it be a problem to keep two males together?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

malonerous said:


> So... what happens if I manage to locate a female friend for Birdie and she (the friend) turns out to be a "he?" From what I've read, plenty of experts have been fooled when trying to assess pigeon gender.
> 
> Would it be a problem to keep two males together?


That depends on the personalities of the birds. I have some males that are extremely aggressive and do not tolerate other males well. Then I have other males who are pretty laid back and get along just fine with other males.

Terry


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## Matt D. (May 12, 2007)

What you need is a pigeon racer. I am 14 and i have been flying pigeons for 14 years it takes my about 2 seconds to decide if it is a male or a female and am almost always right with on exception my whole life. And what u need to to build him a kit box. These are small (A.K.A. cozy) wooden boxes that can be easily exessible and are perfect for 8 or 10 birds watch this video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K_U_WaZ-mRg


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Perhaps you can wait until the bird reaches adulthood/maturity. Then you should be able to tell by his/her personality if he is a boy or girl. You can help determine his/her gender by placing a mirror next to him/her, where he/she can see himself. His/her reaction, or lack of will help give away the gender.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

malonerous said:


> Well, our hand-raised baby pigeon is looking all grown up. He no longer squeaks, and is growing beautiful iridescent feathers to replace his first grey neck feathers.
> 
> He lives outdoors in a 2'x3' cage under a roof overhang. We bring him into the house for fly time every night (he loves to land on my husband's shoulder). *I have let him outside a couple of times while I was working in the garden. We were initially afraid that he would fly away, but as it turns out, he follows me around wherever I go.*
> This little guy is so sweet--I'm thrilled to have made his acquaintance. Because he's locked up in the cage all day, we worry that he'll get bored, and have been thinking that it would be good for him to have a companion.
> ...


Welcome to our site!!

Just a comment about letting him outside. There have been sad stories of pijies who were allowed out and then were attacked by a hawk or other predator. You can never be too careful!

You can also get him a bigger home. Some members buy toys for their birds too. However, a LIVE companion would be best. Many people only have one pigeon but a lot depends on the circumstances.

We will look forward to your updates and hope you find a wonderful companion. There are many lovely pijies needing a good home!

HUGS and SCRITCHES

Shi
& Mr. Squeaks


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## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

Trees Gray said:


> Perhaps you can wait until the bird reaches adulthood/maturity. Then you should be able to tell by his/her personality if he is a boy or girl. You can help determine his/her gender by placing a mirror next to him/her, where he/she can see himself. His/her reaction, or lack of will help give away the gender.


Birdie looks a lot like your blue bars!

He (?) will sometimes peck at a mirror, but is usually disinterested. He does a great puff-up-and-coo routine for my husband, but for some reason rarely does it for me.


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## malonerous (Mar 6, 2007)

mr squeaks said:


> Welcome to our site!!
> 
> Just a comment about letting him outside. There have been sad stories of pijies who were allowed out and then were attacked by a hawk or other predator. You can never be too careful!
> 
> ...


I do worry about something happening to him. We have been debating the relative risk/merits of letting him be free to fly in a taller/wider space than our kitchen.

I have high hopes for the pidgie diapers mentioned in another thread--if he had diapers, we could let him spend more flight time in the larger rooms of the house without worrying about the upholstery.

In any case, we think he should have a companion as soon as he's ready. It must be lonely for him/her to be all alone without having someone of the same species to interact with.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

It would dpend on how much time you spend with the bird. And geting another will take a lot of the "tameness" away.

If keeping "one" I would keep it inside in a parrot cage where it can see all the movement in the house and close to a window so it can see outside. It can easily be trained to come and go through an open window and will ussually stay in its cage. If it doesnt it will ussually sit in one spot in the room wich you can cover with paper for the poops.

Luckily bird poop is easy to clean - let it get dry, pick it up and scrub away the bit of residue.

My pigies are in a loft outside but the parrots inside can make a bit of a mess, although you can tell when they are going to poop so a lot of the time I can rescue the carpet or the couch


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