Pigeons in cold weather

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ezzy333
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Pigeons in cold weather

Post by ezzy333 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:08 am

Been hovering around zero and below for a few days and during that time I have had 8 set of babies hatched without any problems. he older babies are doing fine also. Wanted to note this as we often have people wondering about the birds ability to handle heat and cold. My lofts are have open windows and open eves but they can get out of the cold drafts though not sure they all do. The biggest difference is they are eating nearly twice what they were in more moderate temps and I am feeding extra whole shelled corn. Last night we hit 10 below towards morning with a 15 mph wind.

Ezzy
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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MJB64
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by MJB64 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:58 pm

Do you measure the food or is it a self feeder?

Mike
"Endeavor to perservere."

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ezzy333
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by ezzy333 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:01 pm

MJB64 wrote:Do you measure the food or is it a self feeder?

Mike
I hand feed twice a day for most of the birds. I have found that I get better results and more efficient results from the hand feeding as has been true with all the different animals I have worked with over the years. I do try to keep the breeding birds on a full feed during the laying and producing cycle, The older race team get a level tablespoon of feed in the morning and a heaping spoonful in the evening of a mixed grain feed while I have been feeding a mixed grain feed to the breeding birds in the morning and an 18% protein pellet in the evening. This allows me to keep the protein level higher during stress periods such as laying, feeding, and molting. However, during the racing period the racers get a higher carb and fat feed while racing but then go on a higher protein regime in the fall when molting takes place. And of course the young growing birds are kept on mostly grain but a higher protein mixture till we start racing them.

More than you wanted to know I am sure.

Ezzy
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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DeLo727
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by DeLo727 » Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:58 am

Good Post. I've been curious about the windows. Its extremely cold where I live and I built my small loft with no windows at all. Just the screen bottom for ventilation. This is my first run at pigeons so once I get a few squeakers I want to put a door in but wasn't sure. All you read about is avoiding all drafts but clearly you aren't too worried about it and I feel a lot better.

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Bacon1676
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by Bacon1676 » Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:26 am

How do you keep the water from freezing? Do you water them twice a day or do you have some type of heater?

donne
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by donne » Tue Jan 19, 2016 8:47 am

Thanks ezzy, good info. My birds get extra feed during the cold weather too. The question about the water is good too. My lofts are too far from electricity to have heaters so they only get watered when they get fed. Seems like they are more interested in bathing than drinking too!
No nesting happening either. Doesn't matter, No chicks made it to maturity anyway. Lost my best breeders last winter. Don't know what the problem is there, but that's a topic for another post. Guess I just got bad parent birds................

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ezzy333
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by ezzy333 » Tue Jan 19, 2016 10:48 am

I use heated dog dishes with a cover a couple of inches above them to keep the birds out of them. You can get by with no real problem if you water when you feed and then throw it out about 30 minutes later before it freezes. I do like to have them have water available when they ae feeding babies but it is not essential.
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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Tooling
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by Tooling » Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:03 pm

Timely thread..lol

Don’t really have much to contribute other than possibly comforting others whom may be in the same boat as me.

My wife

The animal lover & vet tech / receptionist

The one whom indignantly proclaimed that she was NOT going to be left taking care of the pigeons when I got them for dog training upon pups arrival 3 yrs ago.

I wholeheartedly agreed to her terms.

They have now all been given names and I am forbidden to “mess with the cages” and the way “she has them set up”

Let’s see, there’s Barney, Peeps, Little Peeps, Momma, Big Gray, LuLu, Sadie, Jimbo, and a myriad of other names that I can’t keep up with.

We have one Quail that stays around for his beautiful morning music..his name is Fred.

Now that my bride is the caregiver, I have been informed that everything will be just fine and this dog training thing with the birds will remain free of any marital difficulty provided that I do not shoot Barney, Peeps, Little Peeps, Momma, Big Gray, LuLu, Sadie, Jimbo, and a myriad of other names that I can’t keep up with..including Fred, the Quail.

Fred has lived a charmed life with us for more than two and one half years where he has endured our harsh MD winters in his cushy Quail palace outdoors just fine.

My lovely bride has been concerned with Fred because she thinks she heard him sneeze…and it has been cold. 30+ :|

Against my suggestion to reconsider her planned course of action due to the stress involved, my well meaning bride decided she was going to move Fred to the heated garage where he will be “much more comfortable”.

Fred is dead

I lol’d and now I’m the bad guy!

..poor Fred

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Bacon1676
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by Bacon1676 » Wed Jan 20, 2016 6:06 am

How many birds do you have Ezzy?

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ezzy333
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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by ezzy333 » Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:30 am

Bacon1676 wrote:How many birds do you have Ezzy?
Without counting I think there are about 25 breeding pair plus 25 flyers and young birds. That is more than I need and some will have to go after the breeding season. Always hard to decide what to get rid of as there are a lot of well bred birds with impressive pedigrees. There are probably 10 of them that were imported from Europe and a several more out of imported stock. I have 4 families but usually end up trying a new one every year trying to improve my stock. For the past few years I have kept the first 2 rounds of youngsters to fly and have raised a bunch afterwards for people who want birds to start a loft as well as some for our dog trainers, I have probably sold somewhere near 200 or more the last few years. Since I can't get out and do as much in the field anymore I have added to the birds. But that has to stop also as there is only so much loft space and also time and energy to care for them properly.
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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Re: Pigeons in cold weather

Post by DonF » Mon Feb 08, 2016 2:38 pm

In my homer loft are two sliding glass windows covered with wood slats. When it get's cold, the windows are closed. Left open is an training door for trapping birds. It's on the no wind side of the loft going out into a 16x20 flight pen and even if birds did roost over there, not much wind could get to them. For water I cut a hole in the floor and put an MTY coffee can in it with a 40W light in it, water doesn't freeze then and water is out of where any draft could get to it. I like the idea of heated dog bowl's. Do they have thermostats in them to shut them off when it's not freezing? That was a problem for a long time here, used to get 20* and below every day during the winter. Even if you had to pay $25 or so each for pigeons, they are worth it. Get 6 or 8 pairs, settle them in a loft and your gonna have to shoot birds next year to keep from being over run. Good post Ezzy!
I pity the man that has never been loved by a dog!

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