Getting Pigeons to Nest

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BlessedGirl
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Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:48 pm

Two weeks ago one of my female pigeons got bloody and beaten up so I moved it to a different place. A day or so later I saw it had an egg in the nest box. I thought I should put her mate in there with her so I put the macho cock in there, too. The next day I found another egg but it was crushed on the floor. The birds wouldn't incubate the first egg. I put them back in the main pen with the other birds and no more eggs yet. I thought they would lay their next clutch in 10 or so days. What is the usual process? Any ideas why they won't nest?

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oldbeek
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by oldbeek » Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:47 pm

some young birds have a hard time learning how to be parents. Give them time.

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BlessedGirl
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:20 pm

It's been over a month and no more eggs. There's been some random holes in the dirt floor of my pigeon shed and the other day I saw a brown furry creature dart down the hole when I opened the door. Pretty sure it's a rat; I saw two of them in the other barn. So I poisoned them... my worst way to get rid of rats. I feel so bad for them! but it was the only way to kill them without catching the pigeons or the chickens. Hoping to see more pigeon eggs soon.

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deseeker
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by deseeker » Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:16 pm

I don't think I would use poison around your pigeons or chickens--they will eat the same poison pellets or poison grain the rats will!

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oldbeek
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by oldbeek » Sat Feb 26, 2022 12:10 am

I have a greater horned owl that cleaned out all my rodents. Last week he got into my coup and ate one of my best homers. I left the bob entry open. Oh well. I ushered him out the door. Owls do nests early in the year. probably feeding young. He has been here in my trees for 3 years now.

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BlessedGirl
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:16 pm

deseeker wrote:
Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:16 pm
I don't think I would use poison around your pigeons or chickens--they will eat the same poison pellets or poison grain the rats will!
Right. I put it down the rat holes so none of the other animals could get it. Thanks for the reminder though.:) When I was little I had a pet chicken and three chicks that accidentally got into mouse poison and died. My little heart was broken for a time.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by oregon woodsmoke » Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:56 pm

It is the middle of winter and egg laying and nesting slow way down when it is too cold outside to raise chicks.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Sat Feb 26, 2022 10:34 pm

That makes sense. Like chickens, I guess! If I could start over again I would establish a flock of pigeons before I even got a puppy. Then at least I could start training on birds when I had a mind to. But frankly I didn't know a thing when I got my puppy. (Not that I know much now either though lol.)

One of the farm dogs wiped out some of my birds, but maybe I'll get some more in a few weeks if all goes well. My bro is getting married so I'm planning to be in South Dakota for the wedding. My aunt said I can come get their wild pigeons. Hoping to have time some evening to raid barns. :)

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by RyanDoolittle » Sat Feb 26, 2022 10:55 pm

It's still early enough that you should look for racers in your area and see if they would pair some birds for you, that way you get the squeekers to fly. In the meantime you can modify your loft to make it pest and escape proof.

I never had problems with nesting in the winter and I am in Alberta where -30C is common. The trick is to make sure your loft has a clean supply of fresh air but isn't drafty, make sure the parents are well fed, well watered, and have Grit. Then run a light for 12 on 12 off or 14 on 10 off. The parents will keep the chick's warm.

Build your nest boxes so they are quiet large with a shelf in them large enough for a nesting bowl. The parents will lay the 1st set of eggs, the eggs will hatch and the parents will lay another set in a couple weeks. Before that happens move the 1st set of checks to the floor of the nesting box. The parents will take care of both sets and it will increase the speed of your bird production.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by cjhills » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:53 am

BG
You can't get pigeons to nest. They do things on their own schedule. It is pretty frustrating at times.
You need to have large nest boxes. They need to be tall enough so the cock can get on top of hen, the At least a foot high. Mine are 1ft deep by 1 ft high by 2FT wide. They need to have A place they can defend from the other cock birds. Also a place to start the second nest. If they have this they will start laying when ready. Cold is not a problem when the babies hatch. I have two now that hatched at -29F on the floor.
Like all birds they tend to fight over territory and the babies need cover when they get on the floor or the cocks will kill them. Just A piece of plywood leaned against the wall works.
Good Luck.......Cj

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:16 pm

Thanks for the helpful info. Do any of you have a picture of a well-constructed nest box? I don't think mine is ideal.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by RyanDoolittle » Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:30 pm

BlessedGirl wrote:
Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:16 pm
Thanks for the helpful info. Do any of you have a picture of a well-constructed nest box? I don't think mine is ideal.
Just Google Pigeon nest box or look at some of the breeder boxes on YouTube.

Honestly for what we do with our birds and how fast we want them to reproduce, focus on how they raise King Pigeons. People raise them for meat so everything is about optimizing hatches, nesting, and raising chick's.

I have bred them in milk crates with a 3 inch lip and a dog dish for a bowl. They don't need much. The more money you spend the less effort it is for you. You just need to decide when enough is enough. For me it was building really nice 24 inch wide, 24 inch tall, 18 inch deep nest boxes with removable fronts that had a door I could close to trap birds in. Doors were offset to other lofts (2 columns of nest boxes, left had doors on left, right had doors on right), and the boxes had a shelf that was 10 inches wide, ran front to back, and was 1/2 way up. I set the nest bowl here and dropped it when the next clutch was due. In the nest box I also had wire shelving on the bottom for feces to drop in and a tray that slid out for easy cleaning. They were really quiet nice and kept the birds happy. Then for bowls I used specific pigeon nest bowls with the coconut husk pads for easy cleaning. Everything had to be easy and fast. I wanted to spend time training my dog, not cleaning my loft.

That was a great set up if you have the room. If you have a small loft you can use milk crates screwed so the opening points out and a 2x4 across the front for a lip. The birds don't care.

The bigger design is nice because other birds can't get to your chick's when they are growing up and the parents still care for them.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by cjhills » Tue Mar 01, 2022 7:44 am

BG
I don't know how to do photos on here.
They are basically a box. The size is 24" wide 12" deep and 16" high.
I only put fronts on when I breed racing birds. That is so you can pair them and breed the birds you want. Hopefully to improve your racing birds. For training you don't need that.
I use nest bowls. with sand in the bottom.
They will nest in the corners on the floor.
Look up pigeon supplies on line.........Cj

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:53 pm

Okay, sounds good. We have some wooden crates in our barn that will probably work. They already have a lip. I just need to put something between the slats in the side. I do eventually want to build myself an honest loft with a floor, though. My current shed is an old homemade chicken tractor. It keeps the predators out, but not the pests. Maybe if my summer isn't too busy I could try make one like these (with my brother to cheer me on! :D ). But the dog will come first.:) If any of you have an idea where to find good plans I'd appreciate input. I want something at least 4'x8' (which is about what I have right now).
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by RyanDoolittle » Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:29 am

The Red Rose Loft plans are golden. The only thing I would change is to go 6 feet wide instead of 4 and I would add a sliding door in the middle. This way I could separate young birds from my breeder birds.

Good birds are the secret to training dogs. To have good birds you need good breeding stock and take care of them properly. Don't skimp on the loft, the care or the brood stock.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by RyanDoolittle » Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:30 am


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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Tue Mar 08, 2022 11:21 am

Thanks for the link, Ryan. That's nice they have it out there because it's rather difficult to find plans with all the details included. I never really built anything significant out of wood before, so that's what I needed.:)

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Fri Mar 11, 2022 11:56 pm

Well finally my pigeon laid another clutch of eggs! Yay! Her nest is quite a sight though. It's in the corner of the coop on the floor and on a Velveeta cheese wrapper. I think the former rat occupants hauled it in. Funny. :lol: She's doing a good job of staying on her nest this time. I gave her the extra egg from last time, so hopefully all goes well and we'll see if it's fertile or not. Her cock dude doesn't seem to be helping her incubate them at all, unless he's just doing it when I'm not around.

(Pretty sure I've got the rats beat now. The second round of rat poison isn't going anywhere.)

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by cjhills » Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:47 am

BG.
The cock birds generally sit on the eggs from about midmorning until midafternoon.
The hen can hatch the eggs on her own if it is not too cold, but raising the babies is tough. I don't know how it will work if three eggs hatch. The baby's growth rate is amazing and they are nearly full grown in a month. The cock birds feed them when the female starts a new nest. They need milk from the female to get their start, then both parents stuff them full of food. The babies are absolutely ugly.
No matter what you build for them to nest in some like the floor. I hate that. If you live where it is cold you should have straw or some sort of nesting material. They are not great nest builders but will do fairly well in extreme cold.
Again you should lean a piece of plywood or some thing against the wall when they leave the nest, so they can hide from the cock birds. Strangley the cock birds won't chase them if they can hide.
Good Luck. But remember pigeons will do what pigeons do and sometimes it is not fun..........Cj

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Wed Mar 23, 2022 11:41 am

The hen kicked the third egg out of the nest. She must've known it wasn't fertile, but she is still sitting on the other two eggs like a champ. I only have 4-5 days left to meet those ugly creatures you speak of, CJ. 😛

No, my area isn't particularly cold, just mostly soggy all winter long. I think the birds should be fine because the ground isn't even frozen right now. Thanks for the tips!

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by cjhills » Wed Mar 23, 2022 6:50 pm

You should probably put some sort of nest material in there on the floor. Straw, Hay, leaves or pine needles work.......Cj

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:20 pm

Okay, I'll see what I can do.

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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:43 pm

Yay! They hatched.😊 I'm so happy. They definitely look funny, but I sure like them. You can see the Velveeta cheese wrapper down there. It looks like their mama took advantage of the hay as well :)
IMG_1670[1].jpg
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Mama
IMG_1518.jpg

Papa
IMG_1527.jpg
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by Garrison » Tue Mar 29, 2022 1:17 pm

BlessedGirl wrote:
Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:43 pm
Yay! They hatched.😊 I'm so happy. They definitely look funny, but I sure like them. You can see the Velveeta cheese wrapper down there. It looks like their mama took advantage of the hay as well :)
IMG_1670[1].jpg
.
Mama
IMG_1518.jpg

Papa
IMG_1527.jpg
Don’t go naming them and falling in love! You need them for your dog, and some will inevitably need to make their last flight :( .

But it is really cool when you get them in good flying shape, releasing them from a good distance and having them beat you home. Pretty neat animals.

Garrison

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BlessedGirl
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Re: Getting Pigeons to Nest

Post by BlessedGirl » Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:29 pm

Nah, I won't... unless they name themselves (which sometimes happens, haha). Once the population gets out of control I'm going to butcher the extra ones, but that won't be for quite a while, I'm sure. I'm just so glad they finally are multiplying!

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