What do pigeons eat and how to feed them properly

Feeding pigeons has become one of the pleasant traditions in modern parks, squares and courtyards. Beautiful birds in urban conditions need to be fed, and people are happy to sprinkle seeds on them, crumble bread, and buns. Few people think whether it is right to offer such food to pigeons, whether it will harm them. It is especially important to find out a diet that is beneficial for birds before purposefully breeding them.

What does a pigeon eat

Pigeons are not omnivores. Living in cities, they have to be content with any food waste and top dressing provided by man. But the bird’s stomach, designed to digest a completely different food, quickly fails. City pigeons live for about 3 seasons and die not from hunger, but from indigestion, when the stomach is unable to digest abundant but inappropriate food.

In nature, the diet of pigeons is simple – any grains, seeds, small nuts and greens. Of particular nutritional value are flowering tops of grasses or baskets with seeds. City grass is regularly mowed, and trees and bushes are pruned, so the birds have to be content with what the man offers.

Breeding birds at home, it is possible to feed them in a balanced way. Taking into account the needs of pigeons as much as possible, it is realistic to extend the period of active life up to 15-20 years. It is not difficult to feed domesticated birds in a varied and healthy way. The diet does not contain exotic or inaccessible products. It’s worth thinking about useful feeding for pigeons, even just going for a walk in the city park.

Where to feed pigeons

If everything is clear with poultry – it is customary to feed it in a dovecote or from feeders on the street, then with city birds everything is not so simple. Feeding entire flocks in a square or playground is romantic and fun for kids, but there is another side to the process.

Pigeons are quick to train. By starting to feed them periodically in one place, you can guarantee the regular arrival of a huge number of birds. Such places will very soon be marked with litter deposits, which will make walking with children more problematic, and playgrounds and sidewalks less well-maintained.

Therefore, it is better to feed pigeons in the city, observing a few rules:

1. Birds are fed where their accumulation will not cause inconvenience: on lawns, in plantings, parks where there is no active pedestrian traffic, playgrounds.
2. To feed pigeons, they use special bird food, cereals, cereals, apples, leafy vegetables. Avoid baked goods and other food unusual for birds.
3. After contact with birds, be sure to wash your hands, as after communicating with any stray animals.

You can even feed city pigeons, accustomed to human attention, even from your hands. Few people can resist the temptation to offer grains to a bird right from the palm of their hand.

How often to feed pigeons

How often to feed poultry depends on the season. Pigeons have different nutritional needs in different seasons. Meal time is selected according to the length of the day.

The mobility of poultry in cold weather is limited, they spend most of the day in special rooms. In winter, pigeons should be fed no more than 2 times a day, preferably during daylight hours. The first time – no earlier than 8 am, the second – before sunset, or no later than 18.00. The onset of the warm season requires feeding pets 3 times a day. The period of rearing the offspring will require the exact observance of the 8-hour interval: around 5 am, at 13.00 and no later than 21.00.

Feeding in summer and autumn should be done with an eye to the fact that birds fly most of the day, getting their own food. It is possible to limit yourself to complementary foods, sometimes filling the feeders.

How to properly feed pigeons

For the full development of breeding pigeons and obtaining healthy offspring, it is important not only to feed the birds, but also how to do it correctly.

Basic principles:

1. A small volume of the stomach requires fractional nutrition. It is not enough to feed domestic pigeons once a day.
2. You should approximately calculate the feed rate based on the size of the birds, their activity and season. Domestic pigeons do not benefit if they are over-fed or force-fed. Lack of appetite may indicate a disease or lack of vitamins.
3. Between feedings, the feeders should be cleaned of old food, and the floor of the dovecote should be swept. Pecking stale food off the floor is a major cause of sickness in poultry.
4. It is unacceptable to feed pigeons with waste from human kitchens. Porridge for birds is prepared separately.
5. Even the most balanced diet of cereals and greens is not enough for a domestic pigeon. You will need vitamin and mineral supplements.

Approximate serving size for one adult light breed bird is 20 to 30 g per day. Large individuals of heavy breeds will need to be fed twice as much.

How to feed pigeons at home

The bird diet is compiled according to the general scheme, where there are mandatory items and parts that can be replaced.

Basic principles for formulating pigeon feed:

• 40% of the grain part is given to barley, if necessary, it is briefly replaced with barley;
• 30% of the diet – wheat;
• 10% of the feed is millet.

The remaining components are added arbitrarily:

• legumes: lentils, peas (yellow), beans, vetch;
• oilseeds: hemp, rapeseed, sunflower, flax;
• oatmeal or whole oats;
• raw cereals and cereals from them.

Be sure to add greens to the diet daily: fresh or dried grass, berries (can be dried), chopped cabbage, apples, raw or boiled vegetables according to the season.

What can you feed pigeons in winter

The diet in cold weather is changed, based on the low mobility of birds. Pigeons should be fed less often (twice a day), birds respond well to boiled foods: potatoes, cereals, vegetables. Greens are replaced by dried herbs, dill, parsley, alfalfa.

Pigeons should be fed at home in winter, reducing the proportion of protein in the composition. This is how the sexual activity of birds is regulated, preventing untimely laying of eggs. To do this, legumes are excluded from mixtures and the share of wheat is reduced. Replenish the diet with oats or barley.

Some cereals are completely replaced with boiled vegetables (for example, potatoes), mixing them with bran. Closer to spring, they begin to feed with an increase in the proportion of oilseeds, and 2 weeks before the expected mating, they begin to give hemp seeds.

How to feed domestic pigeons in spring

The approach of spring allows you to feed the pigeons, returning to the standard scheme. Be sure to add special preparations of vitamins and trace elements to the diet.

Especially important for birds:

• copper;
• manganese;
• iron;
• potassium;
• zinc;
• cobalt.

If there is not enough nutritional elements, the egg shell becomes thin, the growth of chicks slows down, bones and ligaments in adults are weakened.

The presence of all trace elements in pharmaceutical preparations that are purchased for pigeons should be checked. Phosphorus, sodium, calcium must be administered additionally, these macronutrients are especially necessary. In the spring, poultry is often fed with grated carrots, apples, and pumpkin. It is important to monitor the rate of feed intake. Overeating, pigeons become lethargic and start to get sick.

What is the best food for pigeons in summer?

During a period when birds move a lot and spend more energy, their feeding behavior should be carefully monitored. With daily departures, pigeons can find food on their own. If the birds eat less than usual, then three meals a day will not be required. Pigeons should be fed moderately, mainly with peas, buckwheat, millet, rapeseed, vetch.

If there are no decent food sources nearby and the birds return hungry, the diet is left full, three times a day. In the heat, birds drink a lot, so water should be added more often.

How can you feed a pigeon at home in the fall

Since July, most pigeons begin to molt, this period will last until late autumn. You need to feed the birds taking into account the increased need for protein. Usually increase the proportion of legumes, but completely remove wheat because of the danger of provoking sexual activity.

Pigeons need sulfur to stimulate the growth of new feathers. Birds should be fed with mineral supplements, monthly introducing cobalt sulfate into the composition. There are special preparations based on sulfur, created for feeding pigeons during the change of feathers.

Feeding pigeons during the breeding season

Protein feeds are most suitable for this period. The daily rate is increased to 60 g per bird, the proportion of wheat and peas is increased. Pigeons in the dovecote are fed mainly with wet cereal mixtures seasoned with curdled milk or skim milk.

Before laying, it is appropriate to feed the birds with germinated grain, add mineral supplements with calcium and phosphorus. Be sure to discuss with your veterinarian vitamin A supplements suitable for pigeons. This substance directly affects the intensity of masonry. Vitamin B2, which is responsible for the survival of the embryo, is found in germinated cereals. With the onset of the breeding season, the proportion of such grain must be increased to 10%.

Feed additives

Compulsory complementary foods include fresh or dried herbs. You can grow grass yourself or mow it in places not subject to chemical pollution, away from roads and factories.

Natural materials are used as mineral additives:

• ground shells;
• charcoal;
• brick chips;
• old lime;
• coarse river sand;
• dried egg shells.

Pigeons should be fed boiled cereals or vegetables with the obligatory addition of salt. This is a necessary ingredient in a balanced diet for birds, but exceeding the norm is dangerous for their health. The salt concentration is calculated based on 10 g (1 tsp) of product per 500 ml of water. When feeding with dry cereals, salt should be regularly added to the drinker. Whole crystals burn the goiter of birds, so they give top dressing completely dissolved.

Insufficient intake of vitamins or minerals is indicated by lethargy of pigeons, loss of appetite, disheveled or dull feathers, and diarrhea. It is especially important to apply additives during breeding, feeding chicks and molting.

What can you feed pigeons outside in winter

The best option for feeding wild pigeons is to hang special feeders on trees: in squares, parks, on small green islands. By regularly filling containers with products useful for birds, they eliminate the need to look for food in garbage containers and landfills.

In winter, outdoor birds especially need energy to keep warm and fly. And from suitable food there are rare bushes and trees with frozen berries. Therefore, feeding pigeons is especially appropriate in winter. Any cereals are suitable for filling the feeders, but pearl barley, wheat, buckwheat are best and most useful.

What to feed a wounded pigeon

A weakened body needs enhanced nutrition to recover. But it often happens that a wounded bird has no appetite. Instead of trying to force feed, start by taking a multivitamin. For birds, it is convenient to use forms in drops. Vitamins are dripped directly into the beak or added to the water.

A few drops of vitamin preparations can completely change the situation. In a few days, appetite will be restored and the bird can be fully fed, based on the described schemes. Until recovery and healing of wounds, nutrition is enhanced, with the obligatory additions of germinated grains and greens.

If the injury is serious and requires the intervention of a veterinarian, the specialist will advise the necessary drugs. In any other case, it is permissible to feed a wounded bird with specialized parrot food and vitamin complexes for birds from a pet store.

FAQ

Those who have never encountered professional breeding of pigeons have a lot of questions when it is necessary to leave a randomly selected bird. It is required to clarify some features for feeding street pigeons, and especially for breeding in an equipped dovecote.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with bread

Products baked from flour using yeast are absolutely not intended for birds. The high salt content and the ability to ferment in the stomach stop the digestion process, making it impossible to fully process even healthy “bird” food.

Thus, the pigeon’s body receives little energy. This condition is especially dangerous in winter. This threatens with hypothermia and death of the bird. Feeding pigeons with white bread is not worth it either in the dovecote or on the street. Black bread is even more harmful to birds due to the presence of gluten.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with buckwheat

It is permissible to mix cereals with grain feed, cook porridge, steam with bran. Buckwheat is useful for birds in any form. With enhanced nutrition in spring and summer, the amount of cereals can be brought up to 5% of the total diet. It is useful to feed pigeons with unpeeled buckwheat in the spring, but it is worth limiting the amount of such feeding due to the hard pericarp.

Is it possible to feed pigeons barley

Barley is the basis of a healthy diet for domestic pigeons. Barley, like groats from processed barley, can replace it for a while. Boiled cereals are offered to chicks whose food is not yet digested enough in the goiter. It is also acceptable to feed street pigeons with store barley.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with rice

Ordinary white or unrefined brown grains are used as an addition to dry mixes. Boiled rice groats with crushed chalk are administered as a food supplement or medicine for indigestion. But if you feed pigeons with rice and cereals from it for a long time, then disorders of the nervous system may occur in birds.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with peas

Peas, like other legumes, are an excellent source of protein for birds. The amount of yellow, crushed peas in the diet should not exceed 10% during the main period, drop to 5% in winter and increase to 20% during the breeding season.

It is useful to feed pigeons with legumes during transportation, feeding chicks and during molting. A long-term increase in the proportion of protein feed in the absence of active sorties can lead to obesity in birds.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with seeds

Sunflower seeds are a valuable product in the diet of birds. Oily grains supply the body of the pigeon with the necessary fatty acids, and the hard peel contains a lot of useful trace elements. Raw seeds can be used as a supplement, and sometimes the basis of the diet. Dull plumage, untimely molting – a signal to add oilseeds to the feed.

Is it possible to feed pigeons oatmeal

The processed product is easily digested, flattened grains can be useful for feeding weakened, sick birds and feeding young animals. If necessary, oat flakes replace up to 50% of the total feed for a short time. It is not worth it to abuse easy-to-digest food. The goiter and stomach of a pigeon requires constant work and needs hard components.

Is it possible to feed pigeons with oats

Unpeeled raw materials with husks are more suitable for feeding birds than flakes. Sowing oats contain a lot of fiber, coarse fibers, and the fruit part is easily digested in the body. But only large species of pigeons can be fed with such grain.

Half of the unpeeled oats in the diet are recommended to be given after steaming. To do this, the grain is boiled for 10 minutes, the oats are filtered and dried a little. For cooking, water should be salted at the usual rate.

What not to feed pigeons

There are still quite strict restrictions in the diet of unpretentious and resistant to different conditions birds:

1. Bread (black, white, yeast-free), rich pastries, sweet, salty, fried dough. In extreme cases, it is permissible to feed the pigeons with white crumbled breadcrumbs.
2. Sour-milk products, cottage cheese contribute to the leaching of calcium from the bird’s body.
3. Fish and any seafood, shellfish, snails.
4. Meat in any form.

Several types of food can be used to a limited extent. Seeds are offered exclusively to large individuals and fed with seeds in small quantities due to the tough, indigestible shell.

Millet is an excellent product suitable for all types of birds, but millet should be fed to pigeons only as a last resort. In the grain cleared from the shell, oxidation processes quickly begin. Useful substances eventually become less than harmful. It is better to feed poultry not with millet, but with whole grains of millet in an unpeeled form.

Conclusion

Feeding pigeons seems to be a noble and fairly simple task. But, without knowing the peculiarities of the digestion of birds, it is easy to harm them. Beautiful domestic pigeons with shiny feathers, characterized by increased strength and endurance, are the result of the hard work of their owners, who provided the birds with excellent care and balanced nutrition.