# New to Pigeons please help



## ragdoll2411 (Aug 11, 2015)

Hello, I do hope someone will be able to give me some advise.

I have never owned pigeons but grew up as a child with my neighbours racing pigeons so have always had a love of them. 

Im now in my late 40's and a few months ago my partner who is in pest control unfortunately had to do a pigeon shoot in a warehouse which he hated as he likes pigeons. The guy with him shot down a nest and 2 baby pigeons were in there, one died and the other was still alive and he didnt have the heart to shoot it so brought it home to me. I done some research about rearing a baby pigeon and 3 months later I now have a resident pigeon who I have called Pip and I love him/her to bits.

I was a bit worried that he/she would get lonely so went and got two pigeons off a friend who has tumber pigeons. One was mainly black in colour and the other one a white mottled one. The all got on together but my feral pigeon pip did keep his/her distance a bit from the other two but they would always hang around together and go off for a fly.

I had the other two pigeons for about 2mths but very sadly the black one which we found was a male as he mated with the white one, dissapeared about two weeks ago and has never returned and we have never seen him since, the white one who he had mated with has also now left home and has been gone just over a week, she has popped to the garden a couple of times and sat with Pip but has not come back. Im absolutely devastated and feel sorry for Pip who is now on his/her own again.

My question is should I get some more birds as my friend has another two ready to go, but as his birds are tumblers are they not staying with my pigeon because she is a feral pigeon or was that just really bad luck these other two pigeons left home? Also is there any way I can find out the sex of my feral pigeon and I would like to know is its a boy or girl and desperately want to get a mate for him/her.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## naresh j (Jun 27, 2014)

thank you for saving pip, faith in humanity restored...
sorry for the birds...if your friends house is nearby and this pair was flown there then they must have returned there.
pip ,maybe is thinking you as his mate,so he is keeping distance from other birds. had it happen with my handraised male. in my opinion you should get some birds[probably a mate]to be around pip, he will be more happy around pigeons. if you post a pic of pip, people could guess if he is male or female, but just a guess.


----------



## ragdoll2411 (Aug 11, 2015)

Thank you for your reply. My friend lives around 10 miles away and hasnt seen them come back and the female one is still around here but just not coming back to nest, its so sad as I do get very attached to my pets. Im struggling to sex Pip, tried to watch her when we had the other two pigeons and im swaying more to Pip being a female because she didnt try to mate with the female pigeon we had or show any of the courtship rituals but there again the male pigeon we had didnt show any affection to her is she is a girl. I guess I will go and get the two tumblers my friend has ready for me but may see if I can get 3 then I will have an even number of 4 pigeons which might be better. I find them absolutely fascinating to watch and thankfully Pip still hasnt gone completely wild as she will fly down and sit on our head or sit on the arm of the chair next to us outside, but sadly she wont let me cuddle or stroke her anymore and shakes when I put my finger up to her. The only time I can pick her up now is when she is roosting at night but then she attacks me first and coos (which I guess is a sign of aggression) but once I have got her I can settle her on my lap and stroke her and then she likes it.


----------



## naresh j (Jun 27, 2014)

most of the fearls there are cross of homers and other domestic birds....so i think pip wont get totally untame. if pip was a 3-4 month old male, he should have cooed around the female,its a good sign that pip can be a female. did you ever seen pip coo like this [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt1kaZ9SE3Y ] out of this cage?? mostly male coo like this around female. and yah its really a good idea to get 3 birds!!...


----------



## DoveSvN (Apr 4, 2013)

Thank you for taking care of Pip. Most people wouldn't have done what you did.  


Anyway, there are a few ways to determine a Pigeons' gender. But these methods are not 100% accurate. The first method is pretty much just by looking at the bird and its behaviour. Did Pip coo and dance when you brought the other birds in? Or did they do it to Pip? 

The size of the bird can also shed some light on the gender as well. Males usually tend to have slightly bigger heads and more prominent appearance, and in some cases are a little taller as well. 


If you still can't point the exact gender, then I suggest placing Pip in with another pigeon that you're going to pick up from a friend. Separate them from the others and closely observe their behaviour. If nothing interesting happens, swap your friend's pigeons and try again. It shouldn't take long for Pip or the other pigeon to begin their cooing and dancing, depending on whichever is the male. 


The last method I could think of is something I tried and was successful with. I played a video of a female pigeon in front of my Rufio when he was 6 months old because I was still not sure what gender he was. I was certain this was gonna fail, but to my surprise, he reacted and began cooing to the female in the video. 


I hope that is hopeful. Please post a picture of Pip and we might be able to tell something. 

GOOD LUCK!


----------



## ragdoll2411 (Aug 11, 2015)

thank you for your kind reply.

Unfortunately Pip made no noise or interest at all when I got the other two pigeons, Pip would hang around with them but kept her distance because if she got near either of them they would chase her away (especially the male pigeon). I did notice when the female visited our garden the other day, Pip flew up on the roof with her and cooed, but didnt do a dance or anything.
I dont know how to put a picture on this site.


----------



## DoveSvN (Apr 4, 2013)

ragdoll2411 said:


> thank you for your kind reply.
> 
> Unfortunately Pip made no noise or interest at all when I got the other two pigeons, Pip would hang around with them but kept her distance because if she got near either of them they would chase her away (especially the male pigeon). I did notice when the female visited our garden the other day, Pip flew up on the roof with her and cooed, but didnt do a dance or anything.
> I dont know how to put a picture on this site.



When you open up the reply box, you should be able to see a 'Manage Attachments' option below the box. Click that, click Choose file and select the photo you wish to add. 

Hope that helps.


----------



## ragdoll2411 (Aug 11, 2015)

This is my pet feral pigeon Pip sunning herself on my partners head.


----------



## naresh j (Jun 27, 2014)

pip is really beautiful...and she does looks like a domestic and wild pigeon cross because she has few white flight feathers and around face. to me she does seem like a female, but it is really hard to say. 
white female is probably searching for her mate!! can you catch her somehow?? if there are hawks around, its not safe for her!!


----------



## DoveSvN (Apr 4, 2013)

I would say that's a female just by looking at the head. But don't take my word for it. I might be wrong. Place Pip inside a cage with another pigeon and see what happens. Hopefully that will give us answers.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

ragdoll2411 said:


> Hello, I do hope someone will be able to give me some advise.
> 
> I have never owned pigeons but grew up as a child with my neighbours racing pigeons so have always had a love of them.
> 
> ...


When people fly their pet or domestic pigeons outdoors there is always the risk they won't return, for many different reasons. Domestic non homers may get lost if go too far, or try to go home if let out too early and get lost, they get eaten by birds of prey, hit power lines and the list goes on. The only way to avoid it is to keep them in a loft and not fly them. I would say it may be better choice to get young unflown homers no more than 49 days of age and raise them there , and you can fly those which the Xferal bird can flock and fly with, that is IF you still decide to fly your pigeons knowing all the dangers.


----------

