Pigeons

[serce2]

Sorry if this is a duplicate, could not find any pure pigeon threads

 

So, pigeons, doves, any other columbidae. Anyone own them as a pet? Anyone breeding them? Love them? Despise them?

 

I don't own any pigeons myself (too big to have roaming around the house), but my grandpa owns some. Most of them are at least partially white and so cute!

 

Personal favorite breed: Indian Fantail

[SecondStarToTheRight]

That Indian Fantail is quite beautiful.

I love birds. Doves are so soothing.

My dad got so excited years ago about the idea of rock / homing pigeons. He constructed a large aviary outside with plenty of light and shelter, fun things for them to do. He set them free after a time and was crushed they never came back home.

[catstaff]

Back in the 1980s, my family took a cross-country trip and we got to meet several relatives along the way. One great-uncle in Iowa raised racing pigeons of some kind, which I thought was pretty cool.

 

Other than that, I've only known the ubiquitous city pigeons, more properly called the rock dove. I have to admire the little beggars for their adaptability. So many other critters fled or died off when people moved in, but not those guys. They just sort of shrugged and said, "Yeah, we can do this," and adjusted to living with us. When I lived in Massachusetts, the family used to go to Salem Willows Park pretty often, and naturally there are flocks of pigeons and seagulls hanging around in hopes of handouts. I was always able to coax a few of the pigeons to perch on my arms and eat from my hands, to the delight of my daughter and any other little kids who were watching at the time.

[Syaoransbear]

I own two ringnecked doves. One is 21 years old, his name is Burt:

 

 

He has a lady friend name Sora who is all white. They lay infertile eggs together.

 

I totally love pigeons and doves. I think they are funny and adorable. I loved the pigeon dating simulator Hatoful Boyfriend.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Syaoransbear

[sh20000sh]

I heard my parents had raised pigeons before I born. Actually, wild pigeon(which we can see them at park) made their nest at my parents' apartment.

[andromedae]

There's a few pigeons living in my backyard. They're kind of cute, I think, but they can get noisy at night. They nestle below my bedroom window.

[Laureleen]

We have 3 bird feeders and bird baths in our garden which the pigeons love. I love seeing them and sometimes I hear them in the morning which is cute. Their "coooo" reminds me of being a kid. Pigeons and doves are great. <3

[Starscream]

I own one, standard run of hte mill pigeon, feral egg, raised with a tamed pigeon. its 6 years old, pain in the butt. Love to death.

[DaniBoo]

My old neighbors used to own quite a few pigeons. They were sweet little things, they used to walk around my backyard when they were let out for some flight time. Loved hearing their little coos too, very soothing.

[serce2]

That Indian Fantail is quite beautiful.

I love birds. Doves are so soothing.

My dad got so excited years ago about the idea of rock / homing pigeons. He constructed a large aviary outside with plenty of light and shelter, fun things for them to do. He set them free after a time and was crushed they never came back home.

Did he buy adult pigeons? I believe you're supposed to have them either as kids or while they have kids, so they have an incentive to return.

 

Palomacy is a cool charity to check out if you're into wildlife and helping birds.

 

Unfortunately, it seems like the city I love doesn't allow keeping pigeons (but it has no limits on chickens). Park feeding, here I come.

[AngelKitty]

Never kept pigeons or doves, but they're one of the few birds I like. In particular, I like mourning doves.

is so soothing and nostalgic. We had a lot of mourning doves where I grew up, so I always used to hear that distinctive call whenever I played outside as a kid.

 

We also had pigeons (rock doves), and I always liked their shiny necks.

[CYDA LUVA83]

There is a mourning dove nest outside my bedroom window that is reused every year by (I think) the same breeding pair. They're wonderful to hear and honestly I'd love to have a couple pigeons as companion animals once I have steady employment. They're less intimidating than the parrots that come to our local avian vet, and not as big on screaming.

[Cinspawn]

Our old neighbours had pigeons! I love all birds so pigeons too I also like the ones that live in the city. They all look so different and beautiful.

 

We have a pair that lives on the balcony we don't use, and whenever I move the curtains they stare at me like "are you gonna kick us out??"

 

I always thought it was spelled pidgeon by the way. But I guess not.

[TCA]

On the one hand, I think they're super adorable.

 

On the other hand, they're super delicious.

 

Once I have the space and resources, I may get some pigeons of a variety that makes good food, name and love the breeding pairs and also raise delicious birdmeats that I can ensure had a great life and were humanely killed.

[serce2]

On the one hand, I think they're super adorable.

 

On the other hand, they're super delicious.

 

Once I have the space and resources, I may get some pigeons of a variety that makes good food, name and love the breeding pairs and also raise delicious birdmeats that I can ensure had a great life and were humanely killed.

Even though I adore rock doves, I don't really mind the idea of utility pigeons. Never tried pigeon meat though.

I know King Pigeons are bred for meat, but they're so gosh darn adorable it's hard to see them as anything other than a fancy.

 

There's a cool idea spreading around cities to create a sort of luxury coop for street pigeons to stay and nest in. This allows people to control nesting and in general give the birds a place to hang out instead of the streets. The pigeons can "pay rent" in the form of eggs, like a farm, and everyone benefits

[Switch]

my family housed a rescue pigeon for a little while. he was so cute i miss the little guy

[Dark-Shadow]

I love pigeons!! don't have any but i think they are cool.

[Pinch of StarDust]

As a kid I had pigeons, a flock of 67. Dad build a pigeon coop in the 2 car attached garage with a fly way in the garage window. The nesting boxes had sliding doors at the rear so I could easily clean them. The main coop was off the garage floor. The coop floor was about waist high with a wide door so I could lean in to scrape the wooden flooring clean.

 

We lived in a 2nd ring suburb at the time. When we moved in it was a village with about 20,000 residents. When I moved out 20 years later it was a city of 100,000 people.

 

I loved my pigeons

 

I've had parrots since 2000 who live in acrylic "cages" in the house and they are not flighted...meaning I clip their flight feathers so they can't fly.

 

edit: spelling

Edited November 30, 2016 by Pinch of StarDust