1. On the 4-H paper it says they will fly away but will come back home, I am a bit worried about that. Is it true and is there anything I should be worried about for that? If you buy them young keep them in the coop/avairy for about 9 weeks then after that you can let them fly out and they'll come back but NEVER feed them before they fly because pigeons usualy come back home faster when there hungrey. If you get older pigeons wait about a month before you release them outside as they still might remember there old home.
2. Any ideas of enclosures? A large SECURE avairy with a sheltered inside would be great for them, during the winter a safe heat lamp would also make the pigeons very happy, they also need perches & nesting areas. Some shavings or sand would be a good bottom material and just scoop it up every so often like you would do for horses.
3. I read something that said to have an opening for them to get out and fly back through, what I am concerned about that is cats... how do I keep them away from the cage? Should mesh be built around it? As for cats if the avairy/coop is well build there is no need to worry about cats hurting them, also for those openings I would not go that far .. that's mostly if you have racing pigeons, to keep things simple I would just build a door to open it when you want them to fly out.
4. Do they need to live together, pairs, trios, groups, or what? About 8 pigeons would be great to start off with, NEVER fly less than 7 pigeons because there is a greater risk of a hawk getting them .. the more pigeons there are the better they can spot a hawk before it attacks, ALWAYS leave the coop/avairy door open when you let them out to fly so they can fly back inside to avoid a hawk attack.
5. What are they fed? You can buy a regular pigeon seed mix but I always fed mine regular wild bird seed and dove seeds, you can also offer them treats like cooked rice, cracked corn, peas & carrots .. not bread as it's realy not needed for them, of course always give them fresh clean water. Chopped up garlic is also very good for them, hopefuly they'll eat it on there own, I would give them some garlic like once a month or more when there sick.
Any other information is appreciated. Thanx!!!
They have a life span from 15 to 25 years old.
The males always coo to mirrors.
They have been on this earth for millions of years, even before humans.
They can make GREAT pets and there's over 100 different breeds of pigeons on this earth!
Also the best flying pigeons are rollers, tumblers & hommers.
Show/fancy pigeons are horrible flyers, best to keep them in an avairy forever or clip there wings and take them outside while your watching them every second of being outdoors.
If you have anymore questions just ask .. I have owned many pigeons. :)
