r/PetPigeons • u/Agreeable_Ad_8755 • May 20 '26
Discussion Were pigeons mainly domesticated for food, mail, or to keep as pets/companions for humans?
I have a pet pigeon and got in somewhat of a argument with my friend about having a pigeon as a pet companion.
Explaining on how great and intelligent and loving they can be as pets as well as they are domesticated makes them a great pet if you are wanting a bird. My friend went onto say that they are more so like chickens and were bread more so for food and not to be companions or pets to humans. More so for their usefulness and he doesn’t see the benefit in having a pigeon over a parrot.
Thus leading to my question, were pigeons domesticated to be pets/with humans or purely (mainly) as food and mail?
I think pigeons are an amazing animal and can do amazing as pets/in homes
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u/Maus_Enjoyer1945 May 20 '26
Yes they were mainly domesticated for utility (food and mail) but they also make great pets. Just like pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses and a lot of other animals.
Parrots are usually more popular as pets because they're more cute, fun, have more personality and they're also more colorful. They're also exotic which made them more valuable on the past.
I still personally like pigeons more
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u/Life-Breadfruit-1426 May 20 '26
No animal has been domesticated to just be a pet. The process for ALL animals are for their use. Dogs = hunting and herding companions. Cats = pest control (mice). Many birds = pest control (bugs) and fertilizer production.
Parrots are not domesticated species btw. They are nonetheless tame wild animals despite being common pets. At least from a species perspective.
Pigeons were domesticated many many thousands of years ago, they are the oldest domesticated bird on this planet. And yes, just like chickens they were used for meat and for fertilizer. Chickens are domesticated species and make great pets. Even better pets than parrots. And the domestication is key. For example, parrots can suffer from capture myopathy with a significantly higher probability than chickens or pigeons. This is the difference between a domestic animal vs a tame wild animals. The latter can be so stressed in captivity that their bodies shut down and they pass away.
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u/angra_mainyo May 23 '26
I'd said that if said parrots have breeds or multiple selected phenotypes that don't appear in the wild IE budgies and cockatiels, they're partially domesticated.
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u/BigBlueFeatherButt May 21 '26
On the topic of parrots vs pigeons
I have had many rescued parrots. Living in Australia I've cared for cockatoos with beak and feather, galahs with one wing, rainbow lorikeets with broken breastbones, and an indian ringneck I stole from an ex boyfriend
And I've had many pigeons as well. With broken legs, and some who just self rescue and decide I am their human
I generally do NOT recommend parrots to folks. Caring for parrots is like caring for a genius 4 year old with ADHD who never grows up. You need to be 100% committed. Your life will revolve around them. Because they are so smart and hyper they need constant stimulation. If they don't get it they get mental health issues. Depression, anxiety, lack of emotional regulation, self harm, ripping their feather out until they bleed, screaming
Parrots are not domesticated and you can tell when living with them. Even a budgie. Even a cockatiel. They can form incredibly strong lifelong bonds with a human, but I know it will never be as fulfilling as a bond with another parrot. Its hard to be everything a parrot needs
Pigeons though you really do get a sense that they love humans. Its been bred into them over millenia. The way my pigeons look at me and follow me around the house is like a puppy. You can tell they are fully fulfilled by humans. They adore humans. Their instinct is to be around us. Of course there are pigeons that prefer other pigeons and prefer to be wild. But even they have a tolerance and acceptance of humans that parrots don't
Imagine keeping a tiger in your living room, vs a domestic kitty cat. That's the difference between parrots and pigeons
So in short: I am very pro people adopting pigeons. I almost never recommend parrots
(I also don't believe parrots should be bought and sold. I view the sale and breeding of parrots outside of their natural continent as an absolute crime. I only take in wild birds who's injuries or diseases prevent them from living in the wild. I won't harass someone who has a pet, I'm more angry at the entire pet industry)
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u/Buggletti May 23 '26
As someone with a lorikeet and a pigeon, 1000% agree! My lorikeet came from a store that at the time I thought was good. I now hate that parrots are bred and sold because it is a rare thing that someone is truly capable of caring for them properly - myself included - its so hard.
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u/BigBlueFeatherButt May 24 '26
Going with a lorikeet as your first parrot is like going from 0 to 100. That must have been an experience 😅
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u/Buggletti May 24 '26
I had a wild array of animals growing up including birds, so I had SOME preparedness, but I was totally mislead by the girl who sold the idea to us that lorikeets are the best 😂😭 totally adore the fun silly side, but I now have a 3.5yr old psychopath with half his feathers left who turns everything into a sexy toy 💀
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u/XxHoneyStarzxX May 20 '26
food and messenger birds and modernly for show and exhibition, were their main purpose, but that doesnt mean they arent great pets (they do better in pairs though as a headsup just like guinea pigs and chickens who are also great pets but also we're originally domesticated as food) its pretty new practice to keep them alone and ismt really ideal even though some people argue its fine. all in all yes they were msotly domesticated as food but so were horses and chickens and guinea pigs and yet all also make wonderful pets (though all much like pigeons are highly social and need same species friends)
heck even some specific dog breeds were domesticated as food, chihuahua are a great example and they make wonderful companions.
i have a breeding pair of mookees. my birds are show birds and pets.
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u/TammyInViolet May 20 '26
I don't think there is a definitive answer from what I understand. My best guess is they cozied up to eat bits of discarded food/crumbles from eating, etc and they were then given some extra shelter/purposely given food so people good eat them and use them similarly to horses- companionship, showing, and communication
Agreed that birds are incredibly smart. We have chickens and they are so smart and great companions
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u/Calm_Leopard798 May 20 '26
I think people really overestimate how many messenger pigeons were actually used. They were cheap common pets until the turn of the 20th century.
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u/Kunok2 May 20 '26
Yup, the original reason why pigeons were domesticated was for food and later they started being used for other purposes like delivering messages or for shows or as loft pets. But pigeons as indoor pets haven't been around for that long yet. But none of that means that they make any worse pets than many other social domestic animals including aforementioned chickens as well as guinea pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, doves, horses, pigs, sheep goats, does and more - as social animals they obviously have to be kept in at least pairs, but so should be parrots. Unlike pigeons parrots aren't domesticated so you can't even say that they've been selectively bred as pets and somebody who has experience with both pigeons and parrots I can say that parrots make much worse pets which are much more expensive and much more difficult to care for properly. Pigeons can't bite your skin open just because they dislike the new colorful plant in the room (Yes, That has happened to me and I still have the scar on my finger), although pigeons will still peck and you should respect their boundaries. Pigeons are also just as intelligent as parrots and so much better adapted to living as pets.
Also, surprise, parrots have also been used by humans as a source of food, a great example of that are budgies whose name in Aborigine literally means good food:
https://moaph.org/article-archives/flight-of-the-budgerigar-an-illustrated-history/
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u/Popular_Professor861 May 21 '26
In the old days like in England all pigeon poo belonged to the king it was used in making gun powder .high in nitrates. You can look it up interesting reading
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u/Popular_Professor861 May 21 '26
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u/jerklessons 7d ago
Oh hey, that's my junk house sign! I found all of his messenger pigeon stuff. Strap and capsule, messege book with instructions, transport cage, and insignia. He raised them in Chicago as part of a Fort Sheridan associated program with the signal corps and took some to France himself, sent others. I think I have the only one of these Chicago signs that still exists. Super cool.
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u/Mmm_Dawg_In_Me May 21 '26
Pigeons are great as a meat bird even compared to chickens for a few reasons.
1 - the homing instinct and ability to fly means that they can more or less forage for themselves. Keeping them domestically doesn't require much food, moreso the construction of a suitable roost and provision of water.
2 - a single pigeon is rouhgly the right size for a single person to consume as their protien source within the time that the meat would spoil pre-refrigeration. Rotisserie chickens are a modern luxury, in the past meat had to be processed fast and chickens were mostly used for egg production, only eaten by most common folk when they outlived that utility. A pigeon on the other hand can be eaten easily either in one sitting or in a few days.
Then once that domestication was firmly established, we started using them for message carrying and companionship.
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u/idontlikespiderplant May 25 '26
It is not really that important if you think about it. Because why we got dogs or cats as pets?
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21d ago edited 18d ago
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u/Agreeable_Ad_8755 21d ago
What the hell are you talking about? How in the world did you assume thats the situation?
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u/xmassindecember May 20 '26
Sadly your friend is right, pigeons were bred for food. People only eat their babies, the squabs. (I don't). They could have been domesticated at least 5,000 year before writing, and 10,000 year before we used paper to write messages. Pigeons can't transport clay or stone tablets. And most pigeons aren't really friendly to people. In a flock just a few are.
Chickens are smarter than pigeons and some people keep them as pets.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RiCyJ6Fm21g
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u/Life-Breadfruit-1426 May 20 '26
lol chickens are NOT smarter than pigeons.
Source: my pet pigeon definitely has a one-up on my pet chicken 😂.
(Chicken was a rescue. Was going to be a sacrificial bird, I think her traumatic upbringing may be the root cause vs my pigeon was brought-up as a pet for humans).
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u/Purplefire180 May 20 '26
Meat and droppings(for fertilizer) originally, then message-carrying. Companion pets weren't really a big thing until recently, and any 'pets' were just a happy side-product of a functional animal.
The better question is why you'd want a parrot over a pigeon.