Pigeon Food

[aeast8]

Brought my first 15 pigeons yesterday and was wondering what is acceptable to feed them. I had some left over "gamebird" pellets from my quail that I am using right now. I also found some "All Flock" at local feed store. Are these two ok to use? The gentleman that I bought the pigeons from says he uses "Land Mash" but I can't find it at store.

Thanks for the help.

[brad27]

i use a pigeon feed from my local feed store. $20 for 50lbs. they seem to like it.

are these homing pigeons or commons you have? if just commons, and you weren't going to keep them very long, i would just feed them what ever they would eat. if homing, i would look at getting a made for pigeons blend.

[V-John]

I have homers and they are getting whole corn. They have plenty of grit and it's worked for me.

[GUNDOGS]

We use mash, try TSC stores theres lots of them in kansas (i noticed your location)..if they dont have any in stock they will order it for you..but as was already stated by Brad27 if your not keeping them long feed them whatever theyll eat, you can get 50 pounds of scratch grain for 12 bucks at feed stores in your area, heres a link to call some....ruth

http://www.yellowpages.com/kansas-city-mo/feed-store

[gdog]

I normally buy whole corn and milo. Mix it up and good to go. Get 50lb bags of each for close to the same price as 1 bag of pigeon mix. This is for homers I've had for a long time.

[Brittguy]

I feed poultry starter/game bird pellets. 20% protein I think 3% fat. They do very well on this. At my mill it cost 13.50 a bag.

[wems2371]

I use to use gamebird crumbles. Then I went to chicken layer crumbles, which is about 2/3 the cost for me. I've mixed in cracked corn, although some folks don't agree with cracked corn, I've yet to have a problem. I've recently mixed whole corn with chicken scratch grains. The chicken scratch grain is oats, cracked corn, whole milo, & soybean oil. The birds really like it--except for the quantity of oats. They eat some oats, but there's always pure oats left at the bottom of the feeder, when it's time to refill.

Unfortunately I noticed the last time I picked up grain, that all the bags had the same price, but had been downsized from 50 lbs to 40 lbs.

[gittrdonebritts]

I use to use gamebird crumbles. Then I went to chicken layer crumbles, which is about 2/3 the cost for me. I've mixed in cracked corn, although some folks don't agree with cracked corn, I've yet to have a problem. I've recently mixed whole corn with chicken scratch grains. The chicken scratch grain is oats, cracked corn, whole milo, & soybean oil. The birds really like it--except for the quantity of oats. They eat some oats, but there's always pure oats left at the bottom of the feeder, when it's time to refill.

Unfortunately I noticed the last time I picked up grain, that all the bags had the same price, but had been downsized from 50 lbs to 40 lbs.

I Feed the scratch grains as well and when i noticed the oats not being eating I went and had my dad crack them for me and now they clean everything up, and I've always feed cracked corn without a problem I mix in some layer crumbles and the go nuts over it.

[c.rhea]

Strait barley with grit available to the birds. The birds fly great and stay trim. They wont over eat barley.

[ezzy333]

Strait barley with grit available to the birds. The birds fly great and stay trim. They wont over eat barley.

Nothing overeats barley. It is the poorest grain we have plus rather unpalitable. We feed a little barley in the pigeon mixtures sometimes so we can tell if they are getting enough feed. When they start eating the barley you know they are hungry. Plus it is just as good in dog or livestock feed. The one plus is it is hard to digest and consequently the carbs the animals get from it last longer in the gut.

Many flyers feed barley the day after a race to allow the birds to empty out the digestive tract and be ready for the good feeds that they feed the two or three days before the next race.

Ezzy

[SwitchGrassWPG]

Cracked corn and sunflower seeds.

[ezzy333]

Cracked corn and sunflower seeds.

I know some of you are feeding cracked corn and sooner or later you will get in trouble with your young birds. Plus I don't understand why you would pay more for a feed that will cause problems over just plain shelled corn.

For birds you are keeping for short periods you will be OK feeding corn in the summer but the birds do not want it if given a choice. They want a cooler feed in summer but then we eat the corn first in the winter. I would suggest for those of you feeding just corn that you buy the Layer Flock PELLETS and you can even skip the grit if you want.

Ezzy

[rapid fire]

I also feed layer pellets from TSC. No grit necessary and the pigeons are very healthy.

[V-John]

Not trying to get into an arguement over pigeon feed but I've fed "crumbles" and the one downfall to it, is that if it get's wet, I noticed it just turning into paste.

Whole corn is "bleep" cheap, I have a bag of grit that was given to me and there is no way I'll go through it, and corn is a good source of energy.

[ezzy333]

Crumbles do not work well as the birds do not like the fines in them. And you will get feed caking in the feeders if there is any left.

Ezzy

[mcbosco]

You might wanna try donuts. I walk by a deli everyday and the NYC pigeons rip the garbage bags open and fight over the jelly donuts.

[BoJack]

Feed what's good for them the same as you do for your dogs.Commercial pigeon feed- it has everything they need.They're an invaluable training tool,Take care of them the same as you do your dogs and other equipment. All whole corn is too hot in carbohydrates(especially in the Summer)and it adds extra weight.They do need it in the Winter for extra fat content.Scratch feed or cracked corn will cause canker in them. If you don't have access to commercial pigeon feed get 40lbs of wild bird seed at Walmart and add 20lbs of whole corn.You depend on them to train your dogs,they depend on you to feed them properly.They also need grit(red pigeon grit not chicken grit)grit is what helps them to digest their food in their gizzard.Properly fed birds stay healthy and perform for you better every day when you need them.

[AZ Brittany Guy]

Checkers Pigeon Chow

[nj gsp]

I've been feeding Layena Crumbles since last spring, and every bird I've had has done very well on it - chickens, pigeons, quail, chukar, and ducks.

[ezzy333]

I've been feeding Layena Crumbles since last spring, and every bird I've had has done very well on it - chickens, pigeons, quail, chukar, and ducks.

Its a good feed, but I want it in a short pellet. Hard to come by.

Ezzy