# New to Pigeons!



## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

Hello! First time poster here. 

I've wanted a pigeon for quite a while, especially after I rescued a collared dove from a dog attack last November (he was successfully released this March). Since then I was on the look out for pigeons to adopt. 

Well living in the Rio Grande Valley (deep south Texas) I haven't had much success until this week!

On Wednesday I am going to pick up a 3 year old tame, feral pigeon. Apparently when she was a baby she broke her wing getting stuck in a small hole between two buildings. 

Despite helping rehab that collared dove, I am completely green about pigeons! I've read up on things they like to eat, how to care for them if they are sick, and spoke to my vet to see if he works with pigeons (which he does!). I think I am prepared on those fronts. 

My question is: how can I make this pigeon's life as comfortable as possible? Becuase of her broken wing, I expect it will be hard to get around unless she walks. And to keep her safe from danger, I do plan to keep her in my room most of the time (except to get some fresh air in the large chicken coup we are rebuilding when it's finished). 

Are there things pigeons generally don't like? Are there ways I can make my room easier to navigate for her such as ways so she can hop about instead of flying? And are there things that scare pigeons? (I've read that a lot of pigeons HATE brooms for some reason?)

Sorry for the long post but I am so excited to finally get a pigeon and I just want her to have the best environment possible!

Here are some pictures her current owner sent me:


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Bless you for rescuing this lovely bird! Reminds me so much of our beloved special needs bird, Phoebe. She had a broken wing and was nearly decapitated before we got her. She became a totally loving bird who was very happy.


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

Thank you! I hope that she'll be comfortable and I'll be able to give her a long and joyous life.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

MieythWolftear said:


> Hello! First time poster here.
> 
> I've wanted a pigeon for quite a while, especially after I rescued a collared dove from a dog attack last November (he was successfully released this March). Since then I was on the look out for pigeons to adopt.
> 
> ...


I would not recommend keeping a pigeon in your room, because they have a white dust or dander (feather bloom)that can be irritating if breathing in every day, ( some are allergic). they flap and shake and it just goes in the air and all over. I would keep him/her in a larger room with more circulation and a good air receiver with a filter. The pigeon will be wanting to court and choose a mate so if you are up for the job then this pigeon if held and taken out allot could see you as it's mate, nature dictates they mate and nest and raise young, so this will be good to do for the lone pigeon if your not going to get any more. It's a long commitment, pigeons live 10 to 20 or more years.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*They have sensitive lungs, so please do not keep bird near heater or AC, keep out of drafts of air, away from cooking with teflon, and do not burn candles around the bird. Pigeons do well with access to fresh outdoor air. We do have a list of indoor items under pet pigeon forum, to avoid.

If the bird is handicapped and can't fly, a nice cage that is wider-for room and space to walk, and off the ground will keep him less stressed, as pigeons like to be up high. The water and pigeon seed bowl should be secured to keep them from falling over.

Please use strong grade hardware cloth (1/4") for any openings, when building a coop, as predators can easily take a bird thru chicken wire, especially a handicapped one. *


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

Hmm. I am working on building an outside area for her, which I will keep her most of the day to get sunlight and fresh air. It shouldn't take more than a month to do, as we are also building a chicken coup and such. I just worry about her being out there when I'm not home/awake due her handicap and predators. There are lots of raptors about and we do have a few barn cats.

Do you have any recommendations for an air filter? All the rooms in my house are pretty similarly sized, so my bedroom is about the same size as any other place I could keep her. 

I do plan on finding her a mate though! I would rather adopt than buy from a breeder, and being in a very isolated place I have been having trouble with finding pigeons locally.


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

Thank you! I will go check those links out now. And I will write down the cloth on my supply list for my next trip to the hardware store!


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## Grizzly660 (Jul 11, 2015)

first of all I am no pigeon expert and do not claim to be. This forum can be harsh on people at times and I fear getting slammed by others for any info I give but here goes. Based on my pigeons and many many hours of reading I will say Pigeons make great pets every one is different and they absolutely adore people. Mine love a nice sized box at floor level to hide in with a shallow bowl with some soft clothes in it. Mine fly so I have boxes up high also. mine fly but would rather hitch a ride on my back or head. They don't mind being carried around either. One piece of advise I would give is unless you have a lot of time to spend with her get her a friend. Pigeons are highly social birds and normally live in flocks. Once she gets used to you she will consider you a flock mate but another bird is even better. If she will spend a lot of time inside she should have both UVA and UVB lights they need uv light from the sun to be healthy. Sun light filtered through glass dosen't have it. Watch droppings very closely they are your first sign of problems since pigeons will hide illness so they don't seam like easy pray to predators. diet is very important I try to feed mine seed mix some pellets and fresh fruit. Pigeons can eat most fruits BUT NOT AVACODOS!!! they are said to be toxic to pigeons(that's what I have read) mine don't mind much as far as being scared I can do most household things around them with out them freaking out. Just give her some time to adjust at first talk to her but let her get to know you a bit before you try to get close she will need some adjustment time. If she was hand raised since young it will be a lot eaiser. stress and change of diet and environment will alter their droppings so don't freak out if they aren't totally normal at first. Most of all enjoy the company of your new friend they can live over 20 years with proper care! and just for the record I love Texas have friends from Rio Grande City


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

I take people being a bit harsh about something they love is just a testament about how much they care and want the animal to thrive so it's no problem!

I've actually written down a list of ingredients for her feed I am picking up today (wheat, yellow and green peas, barely, flax seed, soybean, raw oats, safflower seeds, and black oil seeds. I ready have corn and raw sesame seeds from my garden.) 

And I've printed out a list of toxic foods and taped it on my wall so that everybody knows what to keep far away from her. I will also probably have a similar list of toxic household items! Thankfully we don't use teflon (only castiron these days!) Nor do we clean with bleach (generally vinegar is the go-to cleaner, here)

I was aware of the lights and was on my shopping list for today. Hopefully I can find it! I'd not I hope she'll be okay waiting for a bit while I place an order.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pigeons do not metabolize sugars well and in the wild they do not eat fruit.

Side note: I have not noticed hardly any harshness on this site, only a few disagreements. If anything what I see on the site are people who are too sensitive to hear advice that is not sugar coated and then they call them harsh, but so far 99% of members as far as I've seen are caring and good people.


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## Grizzly660 (Jul 11, 2015)

I didn't mean any offence by the harshness statement but it did happen and had nothing to do with me not wanting to hear non sugar coated advise I can assure you that. I am a realist and call it like it is and can handle it in return and yes 99.9% of the time it isn't that way on here and it wasn't just me some more senior posters told him he was out of line to back off. IT happened again on another post two people went at each other pretty good over opinions of what was the right advise. I agree with him on the point that you should research any pets you are interested in before getting one and birds even more because they are complicated. I am not a breeder, racer or show bird fancier. I was walking around the building at work and found a 13 day old squab that had fallen 20 feet down onto concrete and was baking to death on a 90 degree day as its parent was scalping it. It was severly overheated in shock and bleeding. I couldn't just let it die like its nest mate right next to it. so I picked it up and put it in a box and took it home (at the time I figured most likely to die in peace). I live in the country and every body I called said let nature take its course its only a pest bird! they said they would euthanize if I didn't want to. I wasn't taking that for an answer I promised that little bird if it had the will to live I would do everything in my power to help it and give it a forever home. I asked for some help and got blasted for taking on something I didn't know anything about? so should I just have let nature take its course like advised? If so then I was wrong cause I didn't instead Ive invested hundreds and hundreds of dollars of my money into my little "pest bird" and I do read about them every single day and I have learned a lot about them.I may not be doing everything perfect but she seams really happy with my efforts.


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

Oh no I didn't mean anybody sounded harsh to me on this forum! I meant in general, if people sounded a bit stern it's generally becuase they care and are concerned! Reading this forum, I haven't found anybody that was being rude when giving advice!

Huh. That was the first I heard about the sugar metabolising issue. So many sites say that _small_ amounts of fruit once or twice a week was okay. My pigeon's previous owners, however, never feed him any fruit before so it's probably safe to assume it would be okay to not those to him?

The lady I got him from was losing her house and had to find all her pets new homes, so it was a very time sensitive issue!

I picked him up yesterday and we seem to get along pretty well! He even likes sitting on my shoulder (though he does have a hard time getting up their due to not being able to fly)


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## jj73 (Aug 20, 2015)

To Grizzly 660 .Godbless you mate.I beleive if you put your love into it,miricles can happen..Godbless you mate.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Yes, grizzly660, loved your story and photo. Thank you both for rescuing your pigeons. Pigeons are special,and people who love them are special too.


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## Grizzly660 (Jul 11, 2015)

Thank you both I am an animal person but never thought about owning pigeons or any birds for that matter. But then this happened and I am so glad it did!! I did get her a flock mate. I didn't want to buy one but much rather find another that needed a home so I found a local business that was looking to get rid of some they were going to euthanize so I caught this another another one.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Grizzly660, loved the story of your rescue, the baby was really lucky having found you. Thanks for the pic of this bird as well, it is really beautiful  

MieythWolftear, thanks for adopting the needy bird and also for a deep concern and so studying about what is good and bad for them. I am sure he will be happy in your care . enjoy your new buddy


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Cute pigeons and people!


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

@Grizzly660 she is so beautiful and such a lovely looking bird!


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## Grizzly660 (Jul 11, 2015)

Thank you my first one looks just like yours the second one (the white one) I just couldn't see her being euthanized just because she was born in a warehouse. It took a lot of patients but I caught her I don't have the relationship with her since see was older and wild but she gets more trusting of me every day. I hope her seeing my first one always landing on me will help her get to that point also but I also know she may never. How is yours doing looks happy just hanging out with you that's cool but becareful mine has done that since she was old enough to fly and for some reason she has just started pecking me in the face she hit my eye once and last night grabbed my bottom eye lid so hard it bled gotta read up on that. She comes to me and then does it I don't call her or anything it's totaly her choice to come and land on me so I dont know why all of a sudden she does it but it's kinda scary I need both of my eyes


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## MieythWolftear (Aug 9, 2015)

My pige is doing pretty well. I need to get him toys and stuff so he won't be pecking at my hands and try to give him some entertainment. 

He's pretty calm on my shoulder, but yeah, he did get my eyebrow, though I think he was trying to nip my finger and missed!

I think it's so amazing that you rescued your birds; the world needs more people willing to help out animals like that. I'd like to rescue an in danger or injured pigeon so my current little buddy can have a mate.


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