Gun Dog Forum

Ok, here is my dilema
Built my coop. Now i have 12 pigeons. I went to the feed store and told them i have 12 mouths to feed and they sold me a 40# bag of pigeon mix that costs 28 dollars. Now I do not want to spend that kind of money if i don't need to. Any suggestions. Can i just buy whole corn, and mix it with something else?

Also i didn't get any grit, do i need it? Forgot to ask about it when i was there.

As far as amounts. i am feeding about 2 cups total once a day (at night). Water is always available to them. Thanks

We feed our pigeons a game bird pellet. We have also feed chicken feed and a pigeon pellet. They have done well on all of them. I do not feed a grit, but my birds free fly on a daily basis and do get their grit from my driveway. I use limestone grit in the winter for traction on the ice in the driveway, that is what they are getting from the driveway.

I feed all mine milo, it has some whole corn in it but 99% milo. As far as a grit you dont really need to worry about it if you are going to be flying them. Pretty hard to kill a pigeon so dont get to worried if your doing everything right. Good luck!

are these things, milo and pellets, cheaper than my pigeon mix which came in at about 1.60 a pound. They will be flying probably 3 times a week, or so.

To put in perspective I spend about 60 bucks to fill 2, 50 gallon drums. That is about 12.5 bushels and will last me 3-4 months depending on how many birds I have at any given time. If you dont have a coop close you can ask at the feed store for bagged milo. That is more expensive than what I do, but still much less that 1.60 a lb. If your birds start reproducing then you will want to add some crushed oyster shell. I think I pay somewhere around $12 for a 50 lb bag, but they last quite a while and you dont need to put it in their feed everyday. Hope that helps!

I feed my quail, pheasants,mallards and pigeons the same thing- a mix of cracked corn and milo, with milo being the main ingredient. Sometimes in very cold weather, I'll mix in some soybeans. I used to feed a lot of millet, but prices have gotten outrageous on it. At my local mill, I pay $6.75 for the corn, $5.90 for milo and $7.75 for the beans, all in 50# bags. I hope to get a silo sometime this summer and cut my feed prices by 25% because I will be able to buy in bulk.

I feed my quail, pheasants,mallards and pigeons the same thing- a mix of cracked corn and milo, with milo being the main ingredient. Sometimes in very cold weather, I'll mix in some soybeans. I used to feed a lot of millet, but prices have gotten outrageous on it. At my local mill, I pay $6.75 for the corn, $5.90 for milo and $7.75 for the beans, all in 50# bags. I hope to get a silo sometime this summer and cut my feed prices by 25% because I will be able to buy in bulk.

Thanks

That is exactly the info i am looking for.

Though I get 10lbs more pigeon pellets for $10 less than you're paying and supplement with it, I'm in rice country, so rice is the mainstay of folks with lots of birds here. I load up on enough rice spilled between the field carts and transport trucks during its mid Summer and Fall harvests to last all year, but others buy cracked rice at the mills for a couple dollars a 50lb bag or sweepings for less. Don't know what grains are prominent in your area, but I'd look to where they're handled and ways to take advantage of waste.

Know that if you mix grains, or grain and pellets, in the same container, the pigeons will do their best to throw out everything but that which they like best until the favored feed is gone. Separate containers will help prevent such waste.

i feed my quial purina game bird chow $11 for 50 lbs last time i bought thats what i was going to use..

I buy gamebird feed at my local Theisens farm store, which I think was 50lbs at $16.99. I mix that 1/2 and 1/2 with a bag of cracked corn, which I think was about $6.50 for 50lbs. I say was, cause it's lasted me a long time...........and I have no clue what the prices have been jacked up to now. I currently have 10 pigeons, and they go thru about 1/4 to 1/3 of a milk jug scoop a day.............so my 100 lbs worth lasts quite a while. Don't forget to provide a little grit. Denise

I just bought a 50lb bag of Des mones 12% pigeon feed for 18.90 I will also add cracked corn at 7or 8 bucks a 50 lb bag.

First time I bought it, getting pigeons soon, almost done with the coop. Also got 2 metal feeders for 2.90 each.

I got a bag of scratch grains, cracked corn, milo and oats, the milo is what they eat first. They will leave the cracked corn and I believe I read on here that the cracked corn is hard on their gums or something. Next bag I get will be all milo probably. I did grab a cup of finer gravel and mixed it in with some of the grain as their grit.

They will eat different grains at different times of the year. Winter they pick out the shelled corn. I never use cracked corn. When it gets hot they will pick out the peas. They produce a lot less heat. You should have a seperate little feeder for the grit and keep it in front of them.I like to keep them hungry enough that they don't seperate the feeds and waste the ones they don't want.

Ezzy

Izzy...why not cracked corn?

The last two 50lbs bags I've bought were cracked (rolled?) corn and barley...which I read was a good food from another forum(?) I was buying pigeon mix, but it was pretty pricey.

Check out this thread.

http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/viewto ... &sk=t&sd=a

gdog wrote:Izzy...why not cracked corn?

A pigeon doesn't need it cracked, its normally more expensive, the fines and dust ceated when cracking is wasted as the pigeon won't eat it, and the corn will pick up moisture and mold or spoil a lot quicker when it is cracked. I think if you watch your birds eat you will see them pick up the whole orn first.

Ezzy

I have zero first-hand cracked corn experience but have seen the loss of squabs attributed to cracked corn's edges damaging their tender craws. (Presumably after being transferred before the parent's gizzard and grit took said edges off. Dunno. Do know I had no such losses when whole corn was my primary feed.

Thanks for the info. I need to go pick some feed up today and will get a bag of milo and whole corn this time around.

Boy do you guys get cheap feed! I feed mine hen scratch and it runs about $12.50 per 50#. Been reading where some of you guys feed layer mash to increase egg production. Think I might use some of that next or give them some pellets I already have. I always thought you got them and threw them some kind of grain and that was it. I've tried pigeon feed and it took awhile for them to eat the peas so I quit that. Also used to get red medicated grit but for a reason I no longer remember, quit. Now I give them crushed granite same as my chickens and they eat it up good. Someone said oyster shell. What does that do for them? I have a bunch for my chickens.

Nice thing about pigeons is even a moron can raise them. I've been doing it for years and never low on them, not sure what it takes to kill one feeding it. I have learned a great deal more about them on this site, thanks to you all. I even am using the cider vinegar now.

Don,
What does cidar vinegar do for the birds. By the way, I hope to start my loft this weekend and get my birds soon. The pup will be ready to pick up May 30. Thanks for all your help Don!

Rick Hall wrote:I have zero first-hand cracked corn experience but have seen the loss of squabs attributed to cracked corn's edges damaging their tender craws. (Presumably after being transferred before the parent's gizzard and grit took said edges off. Dunno. Do know I had no such losses when whole corn was my primary feed.

The feed the parents eat and regurritate along with the pigeon milk is nevr gone any further than the crop. Once it goes down from there they can not bring it back up. Most of what they feed is a curd produced by the crop and looks a little like sour milk, hence the name, pigeon milk.

Ezzy

Is it not recommend to let them free feed after i have contioned them to fly and they know to return to my coop? I will be getting younger birds and i will do hte daily feedings in the evenings to get them used to a certain time and that way they are not full when i firsts start to let them out....but once i finish that can use my pipe feeder and leave about 20 lbs in......?

shoule i leave the grit in a seperat container or throw it in with the feed.

Seperate Luke. Free choice it.

Ezzy

luke0927 wrote:Is it not recommend to let them free feed after i have contioned them to fly and they know to return to my coop? I will be getting younger birds and i will do hte daily feedings in the evenings to get them used to a certain time and that way they are not full when i firsts start to let them out....but once i finish that can use my pipe feeder and leave about 20 lbs in......?

From a practical, training bird vantage, the only problem with free feeding is that your birds may not be as anxious to get back in the loft as quickly as hungry ones, thus lingering outside, exposed to predation and perhaps irritating neighbors. MIne usually have free access to pellets, but knowing once-a-day feedings of grain they prefer await gets them back in PDQ.

cocdawg,

I don't remember what they said it does. it's a tip I got off of here. If it works I couldn't really tell but it doesn't hurt aa thing. I've been giving it to them and my chickens since I read about it. My chickens are laying thru molt! Don't know if it is anything to do with the cider vinigar tho. But it does make me feel better that I'm doing something other than feeding them, watering them and cleaning out the coop every month.