pigeons on the roof

forgot to say yester day i seen a wood pigeon on our house roof being sick

we have a park next to us with many wood pigeons there in our garden most

days in the 30 odd years ive lived here its the first time ive ever seen 1 be sick

not sure what the seeds or berrys are they eat later in the year but the seed

they leave behind is around the size of a pea its some sort of dark berry cus below the tree its alway a purple colour and there not elder berries

so do try and keep ya birds of the roofs and out the gutters


also this year many are reporting old and y/b being sick this seems to ocure

when they been on roof tops or garden as they have been picking at moss


with all the rain and damp moss is growing at a fast rate this year


so dont always asume your birds have ybs

Mine have been gorging the moss and it sends there droppings loose and a funny colour.

i wonder what it is they like Gaz

i been noticing large pips around the garden dont know what berry they could be from though

im lucky that my birds rarely go on the house roof as its about 70 ft away from the loft.........i also prefer them to either be in the loft or flying, rather than pecking in the soil, grass etc.

I agree, also you know what they are eating and drinking

all the time mine are not flying and pecking in the garden they are at prey to cats and hawks, i need to constantly keep a look out for them..........

I'm just in the process of building a trellis fence across the patio, it's good because the birds are now roosting on it, at least it's keeping them off the roof.

have you seen those that the belgiums have gary, like two posts with a cross piece on, like goal posts sort of thing........its for the birds to sit on in front of the loft then they can fly backwards and forwards in and out of the loft......?

do you know which i mean, i thought about making one......

birdy i always thought wood pigeons ate seed, but since moving here theres loads of woodies here mainly because of amount of trees, i didnt know till i saw it here they eat leaves off trees, i watch them every day in front of our flat

Yeah i do mate, but thats the reason for the trellis as the can fly back and forth from the loft, plus I have a small garden shed across the garden from the loft.

one day i seen um lots of um under a pine tree god knows what they were eating but i never seen so many funny thing was it was just the 1 day

I think they must have been eating the small pine nuts that fall.

ah right had me arms full off shopping so didnt go right up to the tree but as i say there were lots of um but none the next day

That's right g, they only drop the once.
Them woodies know what to eat.

Gaz what do you think about keeping YBs in till their eyes change ??? can it work?

I dunno mate, can't comment on that one.
Once they can hop into the cage, then they come out onto the let board.

ive heard some do that steve, and with success....but i think they need really to have an aviery where they can see the surrounding area ......

each to there own......

i read somewhere that if you put them in the garden in crates as youg sqeekers, so they can see around and keep putting them out when their eyes change you can let them out and they will be ok, i guess i will find out

i think next year i wll have a avairy bit on the landing board for them to sit in , depends what happens with these will probably go back to normal, but then im going to pair earlier

You can learn a lot by watching feral pigeons especially where it comes to younguns.
No sooner have they feathered up the come out of the nest onto the ledge every day to look around, then they go back to the nest at dusk. My cages imitate the ledge once they can make the ledge I let them out so they can sit on the landing board, they do this for a few days until they become confident and then they fly off it and land back on it, these circles get bigger as they become more confident and do small laps around the garden. I prefer to let em out as early as possible.
This year the first team was a little late because I was building the loft.
But saying that, I have only lost one up to now.

EssexSteve wrote:

Gaz what do you think about keeping YBs in till their eyes change ??? can it work?

I have heard this being done many years ago by the old timers mate never did it myself

David wrote:

im lucky that my birds rarely go on the house roof as its about 70 ft away from the loft.........i also prefer them to either be in the loft or flying, rather than pecking in the soil, grass etc.

That is the best thing to do David either they are in the sky or in the loft no messing about

But when they are very young them you have to allow the time in the yard

EssexSteve wrote:

i read somewhere that if you put them in the garden in crates as youg sqeekers, so they can see around and keep putting them out when their eyes change you can let them out and they will be ok, i guess i will find out

Cannot best an aviary for youngsters or as Gary says an trap which helps them to see there surroundings

Don Webb wrote:

David wrote:

im lucky that my birds rarely go on the house roof as its about 70 ft away from the loft.........i also prefer them to either be in the loft or flying, rather than pecking in the soil, grass etc.

That is the best thing to do David either they are in the sky or in the loft no messing about

But when they are very young them you have to allow the time in the yard

yes don your right you do, when they are just getting used to the surrounds and the area around home you have to be a bit leniant with them i think.....