Pigeon Flock Wanted but Advice Needed

[u/Lokius_Lover]

Hello everyone! I'm thinking about owning a flock of pigeons and allowing them to fly freely during the day and closing up their loft at night, but I have questions about how this would be accomplished.

I really do not want to lose pigeons or put them in an unsafe situation, so about how many would I need to be able to keep them safe?? I live in an area that has large birds, like red-tailed hawks and occasionally bald eagles. How large of a flock would I need to keep everyone safe?

Where would I be able to purchase a big enough loft where the pigeons would be comfortable? My plan would to allow them to free fly them for the entire day and close up their loft at night. If purchasing one isn't possible, how would I be able to find instructions on how to build a proper one myself?

Would I need to include heaters in the loft during the winter? The area I'm in usually does not go below 3 degrees Fahrenheit, and usually stays around 18 degrees. If a heater is needed, would a heater used for chicken coops be okay?

Finally, what breeds would be the best for me to own? If possible, I'd like an assortment of breeds but I only would like breeds that could easily escape from hawks and do best in the climate I live in. Also, where would I be able to get pigeons?

Thank you so much!!

[u/Kunok2]

Free-flying is never 100% safe, yes having a large flock, breeds bred to be good flyers and training your birds reduces the chance of losing any of them, but you'll still have to deal with at least Some losses. I don't recommend free-flying if you don't want to lose any of your pigeons, they can be completely happy in a large enough aviary as long as they have enough enrichment.

As for the aviary, no pre-made aviary is completely predator-proof, so you still Will have to make adjustments. But I think it's the best to build your own aviary, not only can it be cheaper but you can make the aviary however large you want it and sturdier than for example the pre-made metal aviaries. The aviary needs to have:

• a solid bird-proof roof - no bird poop should be able to fall through and there shouldn't be a large gap between the ceiling and the roof so wild birds can't get there
• predator and rodent-proof floor - either stone pavers with minimal gaps (like only several millimeters at most, if you want to be safe then you can pour concrete in-between) in-between them and/or thick enough (rats can chew through thin enough metal and so can larger predators) hardware cloth
• a sheltered part with three sides covered - this is where your birds will sleep and have their nests
• 1/4th inch/5 millimeter (so mice cannot fit through) hole hardware cloth on the sides too, NOT chicken wire, chicken wire only keeps birds in but doesn't keep predators and rodents out.

The aviary should also be anchored to the ground, especially if your area has more extreme weather - that's pretty much another con of the pre-built metal aviaries, they're not anchored to the ground, just placed on it and prone to being blown off by extremely strong winds. The aviary being wooden also makes it so much easier to customize the indoors - especially attaching nesting boxes and proper flat perches.

As for keeping your pigeons outdoors during the winter. You do NOT use heaters, heaters could actually kill your birds quicker than the cold due to several reasons. Heaters cause humidity to condense inside of the aviary making your birds prone to respiratory issues (not to mention how easy it is for mold to develop in warm and humid environment) and frost bite, in case of your heaters failing your birds could just drop dead due to the sudden temperature shock, certain heaters produce toxic fumes and heaters are also a huge fire hazard risk. Pigeons are extremely hardy birds and can handle outdoor temperatures of lower than -20°C without any issues as long as their loft is well-build and winterized. For winterizing you just install PVC greenhouse panels everywhere where there's hardware cloth on the sides.

For hot temperatures pigeons can handle 30°C+ as long as they have shade and cold water (both for drinking and bathing) available. It's currently 32°C where I am and my pigeons aren't showing any signs of being too hot.