# Pigeon Pellets



## sfhunter98 (Jun 19, 2014)

Has anyone tried the Purina Pigeon Pellets and is it any good? I've heard many pros and cons with pellets vs seed but would like to hear from someone who uses it. My stores here only sell the pellets now and I've read it is a more balanced diet. How hard is it to switch from seed to pellets. Mine don't seem to like it much.


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## ejb3810 (May 21, 2012)

I don't use Purina brand, but I do feed pellets. For the last two years I have fed almost exclusively pellets. I use Game Bird Breeder and Game Bird Grower pellets. The pigeons do very well on them, and I think it is excellent for raising young birds.
The only disadvantage I see is loose droppings which makes for a messier nest box or perch and floor.


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

Hey!

I have Purina Nutriblend Green. I have been feeding them since last week. But as on the bag says, mixing it with any other grains may terminate the balance that the pellets are set for. 

um, I did notice my birds not taking to the pellets the first day... after two to three days they would finish every single pellet given to them. I have about 45 pigeons. They just need time to settle the pellets as food.

The nutrition the Purina Nutriblend pellets provide is great... has minerals, calcium, etc... so, in my opinion... Purina pellets are a good set... if you have the money...

Now I say that b/c in my experience with the Purina Nutriblend pellets, they are digested very quickly within the pigeon. The pellets soften quickly after contact with water and passes through the pigeon's crop right into the stomach... so, the pigeons will be demanding for more food/pellets and that means more money out of your wallet. The cost of the Purina Pellets (50 lbs) here in NC is $25. Pricey for some one who does not race.

Grains will take time to digest and will keep them full for a longer time. 

But as a review on how well the pellets are. I give it a 7/10. 7 just b/c I do not like the fact how it is digested so quickly. 

Hope that helped a little bit.


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## Doig (May 18, 2013)

OH I forgot to add.

Droppings are 4x larger.


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## ozarkbill (Aug 17, 2008)

*pellets*

I've tried them a few times but I have to starve my birds to get them to eat it. I mix my own with grains, safflower seed, sunflower seed, and some wild bird feed from walmart. They fight to eat it and always trap fast.


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## sfhunter98 (Jun 19, 2014)

Thanks for the help! Hopefully they will start eating it.


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## ironman1st (Jan 4, 2013)

*Pellets*

I have used Purina pellets and a pigeon seed mix, half and half for over a year. Birds are very healthy and happy. They eat the seed first and do not hesitate to eat the pellets.


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## Lovelace (Jan 10, 2008)

Well I used the gold for all of 2013 young bird season and the birds did not fly good at all
so I back on grain now. Just letting you know I experimented and messed up my hold season.


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## Kastle Loft (May 7, 2008)

This sticky has a lot of info and debate about pellets:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f14/grains-fuel-and-pigeon-racing-42660.html

I personally used them for 18 months but went back to grain which I explained on page 3 of the thread above.


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## sfhunter98 (Jun 19, 2014)

Kastle Loft said:


> This sticky has a lot of info and debate about pellets:
> 
> http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f14/grains-fuel-and-pigeon-racing-42660.html
> 
> I personally used them for 18 months but went back to grain which I explained on page 3 of the thread above.


Great article... I'm done with pellets. They do nothing but throw them all over the floor. I will mix my own grains.


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## yvang69 (Dec 29, 2013)

I use a lot of pellets, but mix with other seeds. This helps my breeding and youngs to grow extremely healthy. I use mainly what is call flock raiser. I can tell you one thing, and that is my young birds are just superior quality.


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## KEVJAM815 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm no expert & I don't race, just enjoy watching the birds & think it is neat the way they fly around all day & happily go back into the coop every night. All I feed is Purina Pigeon Chow Checkers and have very healthy great looking birds that breed like crazy.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

Lovelace said:


> Well I used the gold for all of 2013 young bird season and the birds did not fly good at all
> so I back on grain now. Just letting you know I experimented and messed up my hold season.


I have used the Green and Gold pellets for the last 2 years but mostly for winter time feeding and for breeding pairs both in the off season and breeding season . I feel these work wonders for this use and you don't need to worry about birds getting fat over the winter and its easy to feed with no worry about vitamins and additives , although I found that the birds especially the one's feeding babies need grit and pick stones even though the bag tells you they don't . I continue to mix the pellets in with a grain mix when racing as an gage to monitor the amounts of feed . Birds seam not to over eat on the pellets and will stop eating when the have enough . I'm not always home to feed and my daughter and wife take on this responsibility for me and to make it easy for them I just have them keep food in the feeders at all times . Treats are given on Wednesday and Thursday before a race to build up the fuel reserves for the trip home . 

On the racing side a good friend in our club tried to race old birds on these pellets and he has a good line of birds and a winning record before using the pellets . After 5 races this year he finally had to admit that those pellets just aren't enough for racing pigeons and switched backed to grain and his birds started to improve again. I will continue to feed these pellets but not as a sole ration as recommended on the bag.


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## yvang69 (Dec 29, 2013)

I highly recommend mixing with other seeds to help with the droppings being more solid. When purchasing the pellets I prefer not buying the medicate and instead buying the non-medicated, somehow they like non-medicated more and helps with less waste. I feed pellets mostly on new hatchings to full grown, but don't highly recommend for flyers, makes them too fat to fly.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

The pellets for pigeons purina offers are two different kinds. one is purina pigeon chow/checkers which is a pellet. the other is a round extruded food the size of a pea which pigeons seem to be more attracted too, it is called nutriblend gold and the green.. one like the green has more protein in it so you can add to the gold or lower protein for your needs, it was developed for the racing hobbiest. 

I have used both and always go back to grains, the droppings are just too much. the nutiblend was not worth the cost for non racing birds. 

IMO the pigeon chow pellets are probably the same as an all stock pellet or even poultry pellet. ,it is a cheaper feed.


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## sfhunter98 (Jun 19, 2014)

I have a big bag of pigeon checkers that I would like for them to start eating. The problem is to actually get them to eat it. They've been fed seed their whole life and will the recognize the pellets as food. I don't want to starve them till they eat it.


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## pigeonflier (May 4, 2014)

It will only take the pigeons one day to figure out that the pellets are food!!


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## luckyloft (Oct 21, 2006)

I have been feeding Purina Green and Gold for around 3 years now.I follow the directions on the bag.I feed it for racing and breeding.I use it for the convenience I will admit.If I had the time and money I would mix my own grain.But for me I have to let purina do it for me.Cost me $24 a bag. Jeff


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

sfhunter98 said:


> I have a big bag of pigeon checkers that I would like for them to start eating. The problem is to actually get them to eat it. They've been fed seed their whole life and will the recognize the pellets as food. I don't want to starve them till they eat it.


what you do is add just a small amount of the pellets with their grains and increase it little by little untill it is all pellet. when there is more than 50 % pellets they will still ignore them if they are fed well. they really have to be very hungry to to eat them, if any other grain feed is with them they will eat that first and leave the pellets. 

what i did I would leave the pellets in the feeders untill they got hungry enough to almost finish them, without adding any new feed . I think if you don't want feed left in the feeder one may want to feed only pellets, or only grains instead of mixing the two..


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