Anyone here raise pigeons?

[wdfifteen]

The last thing I need is another hobby, but somehow the idea of raising pigeons keeps recurring. I have a relative in Denmark who raises Tumblers. A few years ago I was over there watching his birds fly and tumble in the air - it was pretty cool. I don't speak Danish and he doesn't speak English so he isn't much of a source of information.
Anyone?

[Tobra]

Only guy I ever knew that kept pigeons got pneumocystis pneumonia, wear a mask if you do it. Guy had no immune compromise, and caught it anyway. Fungal lung infections are bad joo joo

[BeyGon]

Air Rats

[pwd72s]

redtail hawks love pigeons...especially the tumblers.

[recycled sixtie]

The only pigeon I "raised" was on my fork in a UK restaurant. Pigeon pie was quite common in restaurants in the 1960's. All dark meat. It was actually good.

On a more serious note raising homing pigeons seems like fun. Neat that they were used in WW1 to send messages from the front lines.

[id10t]

You gonna implement RFC1149 ?

[tcar]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

On a more serious note raising homing pigeons seems like fun. Neat that they were used in WW1 to send messages from the front lines.

I raised homing pigeons when I was in HS. Belonged to a club.

The club would ship the birds, say 50 or 100 miles away, mass release and the first one back to it's coop won.

It was fun.

Never lost a bird, none did not come back, but mine never actually won.

I would train them, if they told us where the mass release would be, would start by taking them 5, then 10, then 25 miles that way in the weeks before the race. Everyone did this.

One guy had tumblers... fun to watch for a few minutes.

See if there's a club in your area for tumblers or homers.

[derek murray]

My Father raised and raced Homing Pigeons for as long as I can remember. Race days (and the need for me to be quiet and move slowly) were always a very serious matter. It's a very interesting hobby, and for my Dad - his only social activity outside of family.

They are lots of work, though... loft cleaning, watering, feeding, exercising, breeding, health maintenance, and the occasional plunking a bird of prey always kept Dad busy.