# Rescue the Rescuers



## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

We are in the process of rescuing an abandoned flock of over 37 pigeons.  Our family has never owned birds other than chickens and would love to hear any suggestions. These birds are so lovely. We have never thought it right to 'own' a bird or 'cage' a bird. Oh my gosh we love these pigeons! They are all so beautiful! We have one brooding with eggs! What do we do! We have caught 37 and have them in temporary cages until we build the loft over the next few days. It is hard to believe that someone could abandon them!! There are still around 15 or so to catch but we ran out of cages! Any feed back would be great. We are interested in learning more about pigeons and would like to hear about training or figure out if they've been trained. We did find 2 whistles on sight....HELP!


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Could you give us your general location in the event we have some memebrs nearly who could assist you?

Cindy


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

I'm moving my old post over to this thread:

Hi there and welcome to PT. Whereabouts are you located and what are the
circumstances surrounding this flock of birds. Did you move into a property
where they had been abandoned by someone? Are any of these banded birds?

Also, wanted to see if you have any pictures of the birds available? That would be great. Depending on your location, we could give you information on local
resources for supplies and the like when you have time.

fp


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## eric98223 (Aug 4, 2007)

yes please give up your location. and if you are on the same or neighboring property it may be very easy to get the others in once you get the loft built. behold the power of food!! lol also you hav found a very good place to find information and you have brought yourself into a family of people who are always willing to help. welcome.
Eric.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello and welcome to pigeon talk!

It is sad that these birds were abandoned, but they are so lucky to have you to rescue them and it is so touching that you already love them.

How far are you from their original location?

I am in the UK and we (pigeon talk members) have almost completed the rescue and relocation of a flock of around 30 white doves. They were about to be culled for perching on a roof top where they were not welcome.

Cynthia


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

Hello and welcome To Pigeon Talk. You Have Found A Place With Great People That Will Help You On Your Way With Pigeons. 
The whistles Could Have Been How He Trained Them To Know That He Had Put There food Out. Have You tried The whistles Yet To See WHat The Birds Do. Did The Birds Have A Loof they Where In Close By. If They Did They Could Be Going Back To There Old Home. About The Brooding Pair How Old Are The Eggs And Is This Pair in a Cage by them Self. If You Can Post Some Pictures Of the Birds The People On This Site May Be Able To Help You Find out What Breed They Are. The Guessing Game Is Always Fun. Which Can Help With The Type Of Info They Give. As Some Pigeons Have really Good Homing Skills And Other Breeds May Not. Some Fly Better Then Others So Knowing A Breed Can Help With Info Some. Also If You Don't Want To Many Pigeons Buy Some Dummy Eggs For Your Birds As 30+ Birds Can Easly Turn Into 60+ Birds If Allowed To Breed. 
Good Luck With Your New Pigeons and glad you took them in. With the Others Still Flying Free just Make Sure There Is Food And Water Out For Them And Hopefully They Will stay Around For You To Catch. 
Good Luck And Have A great Day,
Jennifer


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

*Thank you*

We are located in Southern Oregon and we are building a hime about 3 miles away from the location they were abandoned. It looks as if these people were really in to their birds at one time but why they left them is a mystery. We know the caretakers of the property they were renting for the past 10 years and left without notice...? Yes the birds had a large loof. There were several small logs used for perches and we plan to dismantle and build and upgraded version of this on our land. I went back today and there are still 17birds left we plan on gathering the last of them this evening. I am feeling badly because we have them squished in small cages but the caretaker wanted the mess completely cleaned by Monday. We hope to have something put together for them on our land by then as well. We have not tried the whistles, had to sterilize first but guess we should wait until they are out of the cages..? The brooding pair are together alone. Not sure about the age of eggs, we took only the warm eggs. Oh-my-gosh, they are beautiful I will get pictures asap Thanks to you all for your reply. I have never posted a thread and was somewhat confused as to how the process works...


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

Its So Sad When Poeple Do things Like this. But Its Always Nice To Hear when A Good Soul Step In To Help them. Guess Them Being Alittle squished Now For A few Days Then To Think Of What May Have Happed To Them If They Where Out On There Own Or what May Of happied if You Hadn't Taken Them. Good Luck with the Other 17 Birds And Can't Wait To See Your Pigeons pictures. Did Some Of The Birds Have Bands On There Legs. It Takes 17 Days For the Eggs To Hatch. 
Hope All Goes well For You And Your Birds. 
Jennifer


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

*more questions*

I have not looked to see about the bands but will check soon, my husband wanted me to ask how she we handle the relocation? We do not want them flying back to their old home. Should we keep them caged for a while, if so how long? We are using the same loft just relocating which I am hoping will help...any info would be great.
Thank you


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

How To Handle The Move And keeping Them in Or Not Would really Depend On The Breed Of The Bird. If They Are Homing Pigeons They Will Fly Back Home. They Have really Good Homing Skills And If Your Only 3 miles From There Old Home Wouldn't take great Skills For Them To Make It Back. Some Other breeds Can Be Rehomed Some Say Keep them In A Month i Like To Keep Them In For About 2 Months To Be On The Safe side. Just Remember If They Are Of A Homing breed They Can never be Let Out Only There Young Will Beable To Fly Free As they will Home Themself To Your Loft. Do You Know Anything About The Birds Before You Got Them. Did The Other Owners Let Them Fly Free Any Or Where They Always Kept In The Loft. If They Have Club Bands You Will bealbe To Tell The Age of The Birds Off The Bands. There Is A Tread On Here about how to Read A Band Which May Help You If They Have Bands. Some Bands just Have #'s No Real Info On Them. 
Hope That Helps I'm Still New With Pigeons myself So May Info May Be Off Alittle. But Others Will Be along later To Help. 
You Have A Great Day ,
Jennifer


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

are You Catching Them Out Of there old Loft Or Are They out flying free. Do Hope All goes Well. 
You Have A Great Day,
Jennifer


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

What a sad situation, but the birds are lucky that they have you to take them in and care for them. For now, as soon as you get the loft put up, keep the birds inside. I (maybe we) will be curious about the bands on the birds and the ages. The band can tell you about the bird. My concern is, if this person had racing pigeons, he could have over time, brought birds into his loft from literally anywhere in the country. Those birds, if turned loose, would try to go back home, but home may be anywhere in the US. With this many birds, it's going to be very tough to rehome them all and expect to let them fly free and stay there at your place. So, for now, I would just keep them inside the loft. They will be fine and as soon as things settle down, you could post info on the bands and we could try to figure out just where some of these birds came from. As was stated previously, if these birds are NOT homing pigeons, but some other breed, it may well be that in time, you could turn them loose and they would stay. Good luck and again.......you have for sure come to the right place here at Pigeon Talk.


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

*no bands*

It looks as if they were free all day and they flew in at night Is there a site where I might be able to see photos of breeds, because there are several different looking birds in this flock....perhaps they are homing and knowing that the folks left them behind at home...?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Here is one link to different clubs and the breeds they represent.
http://pigeonracing.homestead.com/Clubsandbreeds.html

I'll look for more.


http://www.angelfire.com/tx/pigeon550/links.html


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

I know that a few of the birds in the flock look like the one shown in the lovebirdsloft


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## eric98223 (Aug 4, 2007)

i have 2 or 3 birds i have sucessfully rehomed and now i can let them loose but it always seems to take them forever to come in. I have one right now that has been roosting in a tall tree for two days (aaaaaaaaaarg) but foe the most part if they have been outside the loft you will probably have some issues. the only saving grace is that i hear you can home pigeons to a mobile loft of up to a 10 mile radius so if that is true and you are settling them within 3 miles you may get lucky. anyone else want to weigh in on that? im new also and you can only believe about half of what you hear.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

rumfam said:


> I know that a few of the birds in the flock look like the one shown in the lovebirdsloft


The Satinettes?


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

Yes they have the lovely feathery feet and crown and the colors are white with gray and black


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

Oh good I am really hoping they are not homing pigeons because I enjoy being with the birds-they are so calming
If they are capable of being rehomed we will try..I have had no luck finding a good site with photos of different breeds


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Where in Southern Oregon are you?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

rumfam said:


> Oh good I am really hoping they are not homing pigeons because I enjoy being with the birds-they are so calming
> If they are capable of being rehomed we will try..I have had no luck finding a good site with photos of different breeds


I posted a couple of sites in a previous post...........


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

Williams a small town near Grants Pass


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

I went to the sites posted and found no photos can you please give the link to photos if there are any on those sites, cause I couldn't find any sign of any...Thank you


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

rumfam said:


> I went to the sites posted and found no photos can you please give the link to photos if there are any on those sites, cause I couldn't find any sign of any...Thank you


WEll, you're right. Not many pictures there.............I've got to run. Click up top of this page on The Loft..........you'll find pictures there.


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

I have viewed your pictures Renee are these all homing pigeons cause if so we have some homing pigeons  Looking online I see that we also have some of what are called domestic pigeons, like you see in the city parks beautiful gray color with purple irredecent feathers around the neck area. Also some brown cuckoo-doves smaller cocoa colored birds so gorgeous! Are these all considered homing? If some are will they all follow the homings back to their old home?? What makes a homing pigeon? Breed or training...?


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Bless you, Rumfam for taking in all these pigeons. They'll be okay in cages until you can assemble a proper loft for them. 

Try this link to the NPA's (National Pigeon Association) web site. http://www.npausa.com/index.htm
If you click on "Affiliated Clubs" there are some web sites that have pictures. 

Sounds like you have a mix of breeds. There is an inexpensive book you can buy in most pet stores or from Amazon.com. It's Matthew Vriends' "Pigeons" and is part of the Barron series of pet care books. It contains good information on pigeon care basics, basic loft construction and it also has a nice color photo section of many of the different breeds. Enjoy your new birds!


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

I am finding pictures but nothing that tells the breed. i think a book would be best...How do I know if we having homing pigeons? Do we just wait until we release them to find out, should we release them. I really do not want to cage these magnificent creatures...!


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> . I really do not want to cage these magnificent creatures...!


If it comes to that, please don't feel that you are doing them a disservice.

I have several unreleasable pigeons in my aviary, including a number of former rcing pigeons and they are perfectly happy in captiivity, particularly if they have a mate and a prime nesting spot.

Cynthia


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

rumfam said:


> I have viewed your pictures Renee are these all homing pigeons cause if so we have some homing pigeons  Looking online I see that we also have some of what are called domestic pigeons, like you see in the city parks beautiful gray color with purple irredecent feathers around the neck area. Also some brown cuckoo-doves smaller cocoa colored birds so gorgeous! Are these all considered homing? If some are will they all follow the homings back to their old home?? What makes a homing pigeon? Breed or training...?


Homers are bred to be homers. Your feral pigeons (park pigeons) have some homing ability but it's been bred into the race birds and they have a greater homing ability than the ferals. All of my birds are racers/homers, except for the Satinettes of course.  Also, what you are calling domestic birds could very well be homers OR ferals. The gray color you refer to is called a Blue Bar and that is seen in just about all breeds of pigeons. So the color really has nothing to do with whether they are true race birds or ferals. Hope this is making sense??


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

Thank you Renee, we are still searching and finding more data there are so many breeds. i guess we'll just have to wait and see how these were trained...


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

Once You Get Some Pictures And Post Of The Birds They May Beable To Tell You Want Breed they Are. Plus think We All love the Whats that Breed Game. There Are Some People On Here That Are Really Good At It. 
So How Did Getting The Last 17 go. Hope All Went Well And There Now Home With You. Yes I Think A Book With Pictures Of Breeds Will Work Better. When I Was looking For Pictures Of Diffrent Breeds I Had To Know The News Of The Breed And then Look. then You Find Breeders That Have Birds For Sell. Other Then Those Sites. There Wasn't Just One Page With the All the diffrent breeds If You should Have Any Luck please post it On Here. 
Have A Great Day,
Jennifer


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

Hi RUMFAM, I am waiting for you to post some pictures,I have my Encyclopedia of pigeon breeds all 790 pages at my side and am ready to go at it,so if you can post picts please do so, I enjoy doing this its a lot of fun for me. .GEORGE


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## rumfam (Aug 5, 2007)

I will get photos in today. We had to build a cage to hold some of the birds we in order to get the other 17. We have built it and have emptied 2 small cages. Tonight we will gather the last of the birds and continue to dismantle their loft. Check in later this evening for the pictures I have get to work....Thanks again


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

george simon said:


> Hi RUMFAM, I am waiting for you to post some pictures,I have my Encyclopedia of pigeon breeds all 790 pages at my side and am ready to go at it,so if you can post picts please do so, I enjoy doing this its a lot of fun for me. .GEORGE


Well, there you are...George knows 'em all!  As for worrying about keeping them in a loft indefinitely, try not to. Many of us have former racers/homers who aren't let out to fly. I would suggest building a loft as big as possible for them just in case. You may want to build one and then after they're settled (and you've had a chance to breathe), build another one so there's plenty of room (maybe one for the smaller and younger birds). Of course, that's if you are able to do so and have the room and such. You mentioned some darker doves... doves aren't usually kept with pigeons as the pigeons will often bully them around. Doves are pretty easy to tell apart from pijies as they don't strut and coo as pigeons do, but bow up and down or "laugh". They will be much smaller in size, too. If you do have some doves you might want to set up a different enclosure for them. Just trying to give you some ideas, not scare you with a lot of work!  Hope all goes well and thank you for going to all this trouble and work for these lucky birds. I know you'll love them.


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