Baby pigeons getting beat up

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TM964x4
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Location: SW Idaho

Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by TM964x4 » Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:33 pm

So my homers have been nesting for the past few weeks and have hatched a few babies. The oldest baby is feathered and I believe trying to fly in the loft. Every time he comes down from the nesting ledge I find him pretty beat up. Head pecked bloody and wings too. This is the first time I've raised pigeons so I am curious if there is anything I can do. He's protected by his parents but when he comes down he gets picked on. I don't know who the culprit is but I don't want to lose the rest of the babies like this. Thanks for your help. TM

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Vision
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Re: Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by Vision » Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:02 pm

Your loft is over crowded. You need 5+ square feet of floor space per pair of breeders.

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Hattrick
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Re: Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by Hattrick » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:05 am

or you have to many males in the coop

Wildweeds
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Re: Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by Wildweeds » Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:41 am

You have an agressive cock in the mix that kills the young to get more action from momma IMO.I had that same problem and dispatched the bird I caught red handed at it and the problem went away.I don't know squat about pigeons but an old feller I'm buddies with knows a bunch,ex racer guy.I get my info from him.They will coexist just fine so long as you don't have an agressive cock in the mix.I called and asked him and he told me to figure out who the culprit was and make him a kill bird.I had an 8 foot square loft with 2 chambers(4X8).The breeding chamber had 5 pair and it wasn't long before the flyer chamber had 30+ birds in it all coexisting nicely.

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Sharon
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Re: Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by Sharon » Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:18 pm

I had a brood of ducklings. One was being killed off every week. Turned out that i didn't have enough food spots - only one. The biggest ducking would kill of ducklings that came to HIS feeder. I couldn't figure out why the birds were so thin. When I added 2 more feeders the problem ended.
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TM964x4
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:32 pm
Location: SW Idaho

Re: Baby pigeons getting beat up

Post by TM964x4 » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:13 pm

Thank you for the replies. I removed the little guy last night and put him in a wire cage in the shed to help him heal up. I think I have an idea who the culprit is so I may remove him and put the little guy back. Thanks again

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