I have two fledgling pigeons in my hallway. This isn’t the first time. The last time, I put them back in the nest 2x and Bonnie learned how to fly and Clyde died. This time I have a plan to take the to the Wild Bird Fund and have a contact there who confirms this is the right move. Clyde #2 seems quite sickly and I can’t do this again! So, in the meantime I am a crazy lady with pigeons in a dog crate in my hallway. Is that a step up from pigeons in my bathtub last time? LOL.
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Pigeons deserve their “flying rats” name, they are cute at first, before you know it you have dozens and they become a health hazard for horses and their humans.
We had a handful start in the barn one spring, by mid summer we had almost 100.
Their dust was so thick you could not breathe in there.
Just something to consider if you have pigeons trying to establish themselves in your barns.
I am over run with pigeons at the moment. A feral cat seemed to have dispatched with at least 1/2 of them before my dogs noticed her 
.
I can only hope she comes back…
This isn’t at the barn, I am in the city. I can imagine the mess pigeons make in a barn. These were on my doorstep and had made a huge mess… so had to go.
I love my pigeons! BUT I am very careful to replace their eggs with fakes so I only have the current six, two pairs and a son from each pair. (I do need to get 2 more females to keep them happy.)
Things I like about pigeons:
- I love seeing one of my females and her unpaired son fly circles around my back yard.
- I love that they’re (mostly) monogamous
- I love that pigeon sex starts with the female billing the male
- I love that the male takes the day shift on the eggs, and helps feed the babies
But I understand your point - every pair, unless prevented, will produce two babies every single month and that will multiply fast.
Also, mine always have a layer of bedding (pellets broken down to sawdust) where the droppings fall in their aviary. I had them loose in our screen porch (brick floor covered with cardboard) until this was built, and with just the 4 birds it was pretty gross! It got a complete pressure washing when they finally moved out.
My story: I rescued one white pigeon from the roadside - a “utility” = meat bird apparently released one June as an on-the-cheap “dove release” and completely incapable of living in the wild - and in the course of getting him a mate I also got a 2nd pair from the Animal Rescue League. I had 2 “oops” babies during one busy month when I was slow to swap eggs, lost one of those 2 on their first day out, then let my other pair hatch one egg hoping for a female. No such luck, so I’m hoping to buy a couple females without having to drive 3 hours each way but haven’t seen anything so far.
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Long ago we had a coop with racing pigeons.
We would take them on training runs, then when ready, compete with them on the local Saturday racing pigeon circuit races.
Those were around 100 miles and in our windy country, we didn’t run if the weather was iffy.
We had someone at home to record times, because the pigeons would beat you home.
Eventually we quit pigeons and started keeping chickens in their coop.
Pigeons are fun birds and very talented and interesting individuals.
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For the bird lovers, the fledglings made it to the Wild Bird Find!
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