I have a friend that keeps homing and rollers. He does it for the love of the birds and doesn't compete or send them long distance. He lets them out st home and trains them etc and often releases the homing at his parents grave site becuause his dad loved to watch them.
I would always be worried about them if I kept them and participated in long range racing also.
The breeder I bought my two doves from had had rollers and homers and fancy pigeons. He let the rollers out for us to watch while we were there and we watched until they came in. He knew his stuff but the more he talked I didn't like some of his thoughts and ways of disease prevention etc. His birds were beautiful and amazing though. The doves belonged to his wife and were kept separate from the pigeons.
The background on pigeons is interesting! I believe it is still more popular in the U.K. Than in the USA however I do see dove keepers and pigeon keepers here and there!
They are precious birds. Mine are pets and I now have four soon to be five unless I sell / give number five away. If I keep this chick then this spring I will allow them to hatch another clutch form my sister. She wants one or two.
They are such good parents. Pan is a very bossy mate and father bit he is a good boy. Tink is more mellow and such a devoted mother. I feel so bad when she is waiting for fake eggs to hatch. She takes it so seriously.
Would you mind sharing what those methods were for disease prevention? I know that there are sprays or something that they use to treat for mites and lice or something... ?
I am still learning the differences between different breeds. It's a whole other world from parrots I think! You're right about the popularity in the UK, but it does seem to be pretty popular here still. I'm just having trouble connecting with people who do rescue etc. I'd rather rescue pigeons/doves than buy them. I know that there are squab farms out there too, but I don't know where. I'd offer to take a few that were destined to be culled. Still can't get any birds right now either way though :'(
People with white ringneck doves sometimes make a business out of them. I'm not sure what I think of this. I don't agree with releasing them which some do because they can't find enough homing pigeons and then the doves get sick and lost and die because they have poor eye sight and are not meant to be released in that manner.
I heard they were used for the 911 anniversary for example when they couldn't find more homing pigeons.
Another thing they do is use them for weddings either for display in a cage ( hopefully) and not releasing them but again some do and it is devastating.
The smart people with doves in aviary are simply devoted pet owners or rescue doves and or pigeons found from above situations from pigeon and dove projects.
I was told that most of the "doves" released at weddings were actually homing pigeons because as you said the doves can't find their way home.. and being white, they're extra vulnerable to attack from predators.
I did ask in a racing group about the worry of some of the pigeons not making it home... it seems to be an inevitability and they take the losses as part and parcel of the hobby. I'd be so upset to lose one!
We had tumbler pigeons at the shelter last summer. They were a bonded group of 3, but if they had been singles, I probably would have taken the one home, he was exceptionally affectionate and cuddly. Absolutely gorgeous! But he had two girlfriends and were a life long bonded group. We tried and tried to adopt them to people who came looking for birds with having small children, they were perfect, maybe a little messier with cage cleaning, but hey all birds are messy, its just how you deal with it and prepare for it!!
They ended up going to a group that does educational programs and such, they have been a huge hit!! They were all white / black theme for the group.
Couple pics of them all dry and fluffed up and my buddy all wet when I gave him a bath, still snuggling up!!
Those pictures were precious. They are such pretty birds. I'm glad they have found a good place to live out their days.
Beautiful birds in that pic!
My next bird/s will be a pigeon. Not sure the breed...I prefer a functional beak and body type. That rules out American fantails, and the extreem short faced birds. Would gladly adopt a wild type (the "dirty" city pigeon) too, if one needing more of a home became available. I'm set up for outdoor birds - lots of hoop house green houses and rabbit enclosures out back. We are running out of space in the house.
I just recently saw the ones with the big eyes and tiny beaks.. they look so weird!! And there are a bunch of breeds that can't even fly properly now because they have been bred just to look at.. Personally I don't like the look of a lot of the so-called "fancy" pigeons and I wonder what kind of lives they must have if all they do is go around from show to show like that.
Pouters are weird, they look like a ball on a stick:
I've been reading that king pigeons make great pets--they're the ones usually bred for meat:
Otherwise there are the homers, rollers, tumblers, tipplers... I don't even know the difference between these four just to look at them. OH! I don't know about their flying ability but modenas are neat, although they look "squished". They have the shape of a chicken:
But again, if they can't fly then I would feel terrible for them.
Of all my indoor pets, the canary is the messiest, the floaty goldfish causes me the most worry, the rat enclosure takes the longest to clean, and the snakes are the easiest.
I don't know if it works for bigger birds, but I use fleece to line the bird cages (just like the ratties). I shake them out in the morning, and use the other side. Fleeces with both sides dirty go into a laundry bag. They get a quick scrape and shake outside before getting washed. Works well, at least for small bird poops - before I was always running out of paper.
Just have to be careful because pigeon poop can become dangerous as it dries, or so I've been told. You don't want to breath it in when you're scraping.
