keeping pigeons over the winter

[applebutter14]

hi! i bought some classic old frill pigeons for the 1st time in July and now that winter is coming i have been wondering what should i do to keep them over the winter? any advice or tips would be great. thanks!

 

[Hokum Coco]

hi! i bought some classic old frill pigeons for the 1st time in July and now that winter is coming i have been wondering what should i do to keep them over the winter? any advice or tips would be great. thanks!

I personally I feed chicken layer pellets and whole corn in separate feeders. I find the whole corn provides the need nutrition to carry the birds through the coldest of winter temperatures.

 

[Gray Farms]

Make sure their loft is closed up from all drafts but still has good ventilation. A deep layer of wood savings on the floor will help keep them off the cold ground. A heat lamp would help on the really cold night if you don't have very many pigeons. And a little extra something in their feed would be good. I buy scratch grain "crimped corn, milo, wheat" and in the winter time I mix it with a little black oil sunflower seed, safflower seed, and calf-manna pellets. They really like it and clean it up everyday. And they get a little extra fat for winter from the sunflower and safflower seed.

 

[applebutter14]

sounds good, thanks for your help!

 

[laughingdog]

Classic old frills supposed to be pretty cold hardy, just have somewhere out of wind n hopefully drafts, dry, water twice daily if water freezing quick, and add feeding whole corn with grit n maybe white bread (process of whole corn being broken down generates more heat, n white bread is from bleached flour that's fatty).
DONT USE HEAT LAMPS FOUR FOUL/POULTRY, AS ITS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HIGH RISK OF SHOCK BURNING N FIRE, and prevents them from acclimating to temps properly, and many get extremely ill and die when heat lamps suddenly go out for even small amounts of time. Many times even secure heat lamp damaged by birds pests predators and all birds buildings etc on someone's property and around burned down, and smoke alone can quickly kill birds. I didn't even heat my out door hookbills in winter bellow twenty, just provided boxes out of elements inssulated if got too bad and provided more and fatty foods (most foods horribly fatty as is) n they all called n flew around happy playing in snow. Keep them dry is key and provide good perches were they can cover feet (bricks n blocks work good for lower rabbit cages and wire floors. I don't recommend wire unless no smaller or larger than 1 inch hardware on front n maybe bottom of cage and don't want to scrape floor often.