# How long it takes pigeons to call your coop home?



## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

Hi everyone,
I'm New at this so I just got some Homer pigeons for my coop that i just built and i'm just wondering How long before i can let them out and fly and hope they come back?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

It depends. Were they adult birds that were already homed to their previous loft?

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

Yes, there adult birds, and no i dont think they have a loft. Cause I bought it from a trapper


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, either you need to fill in a little more detail or confirm what I think you just said: you're saying that these birds (can't guess the number) were obtained from someone who trapped them from wherever? Let me ask you this... do these birds have bands around their ankles?

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

I have 3 of them, and they have no band on them.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You see, it works like this: Adult birds who have homed to their original loft may have a real difficult time homing to a new loft. Birds have been held captive in a different loft for years and escaped and returned to their original home. Other birds have been taught to consider the new place as home within a few months.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Okay, then. Let me ask a different question: what makes you think they're homers? True homing pigeons are... kinda'... "man made" so to speak. They are a blend of various pigeons but have been bred over the last 100s or 1000s of years to maximize both the homing instinct as well as the athleticism that defines their ability. They can look quite similar to ordinary pigeons, but they are a tad different under the hood where it counts.

Is there any way that you can post a picture of these birds?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I see that you were looking at another thread where someone was asking what breed of homer he had and had posted pictures of the birds. Those pictures are excellent examples of true homers. If you look closely, you'll see the abnormally large ceres (the white portion of the base of the upper beak) that is characteristic of homers. There's a couple of aspects to that which may be important to a true homer: 1) an enlarged air scoop for breathing in a lot of air over a long exercise period (homers often do 600 miles in a day on big races); and, 2) the big nose--it's believed by some scientists that their sense of direction is in their beak.

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

I see well its dark out side so i'll have to do that in the morning and post it up. Thanks for the info


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Actually, all pigeons have a pretty good idea which way home is. I've heard it said that you can take a feral pigeon from an underpass 50 miles away and it'll probably be back within the day. I can personally vouch for a such birds being taken away as far as 20 miles and making it back. Anyhow, the reason I'm telling you this is for your information because I want to ask you another question--were you intending on racing these birds or did you get them just for fun?

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

No, i dont intend on racing them its just for fun and to look at.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, then, it doesn't matter so much. Do they look more like normal pigeons than the ones in the pictures on that other thread?

One of the reasons that I've gone through all of this is because it's a lot easier to re-home the feral birds than real homers. These birds probably are homed to some place like an underpass or something like that--just not a loft. It will take awhile before they decide that this is the place to be but if the food is good and plentiful and the water is always clean and there's adequate protection from the elements, they might decide that this is home pretty quickly. Is it possible for them to see outside very easily?

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

Yes, they look those of the other thread. And yes, they do see outside easy. 
I change there water everyday and make sure they have food. But the only thing that sucks right now is that its very cold at night and theres a snow storm coming in. Are they going to be alright?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, they can take the cold but they don't do well in damp and draft. Can they see outside easy because there's an open screen, bars of a cage or a glass window that you can close against the weather?

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

I have a window with a screen. I probably have to find away and take care of it tonight before i head to bed. Only thing is that the its cold enough the water for them freezes.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You see, they're not really designed to take sitting out in the open as such. If your loft resembles an open, screened in aviary or chicken pen, it's too open for that kind of weather. They do best in a building that can be sealed up against the intrusion of water and weather. The biggest reason that water is a problem is because it supports the growth of germs that we don't want as well as fungi. If that's going to be a problem, then it would best to go ahead and bring them inside (got a garage?) to a better environment during the storm.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You can dump the water for the overnight freezing and refill it by day if that's a problem. Later, you can rig up something like a heat lamp and maybe solve that problem. Do they have indoor lighting in the coop?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You might be able to put a board or even cardboard up in the window to keep the snow out. I would go attend to that, though.

Pidgey


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

Yea, i think i'll have to put them in the garage for now until the storm passes


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Sounds like the best way to go under the circumstances.

There are things that you can do to help convince them that this is the best place to be--you can feed them treats that they'll either love or learn to love fairly quickly. They really like safflower seeds which you can get virtually anyplace that sells wild bird seed. They're small white seeds that resemble sunflower seeds in structure. That is, they've got an outer husk with an inner nutmeat that's high in fats. Pigeons love them, or learn to fairly quickly. Once you've gotten them addicted, you can use them to make friends by way of making them eat them out of your hand.

Pidgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Big Bird and welcome to PT. Thought you might be interested in this
link to the resource section if you haven't already found it:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

I believe you can get heated waters at some of the Pigeon Supply Houses,
there's a link to listed links for those as well.

fp


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## BIG BIRD (Dec 20, 2006)

Thanks for the info i'll keep that in mind. its late i'm going to bed. Talk to you later.


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