do you handle

do you handle your birds during the big moult ? , I don't at least till they have moulted the body feathers , as I believe they must feel very uncomfortable, and the pressure of your hands around them wont help ?

no, I rarely handle my birds anyway, and wouldn't handle them when moulting unless absolutely necessary......I would think they would be sore with dropping and re growing new feathers.

Same here David, I only catch them up if I feel they don't look right, I handle as little as possible, although I like to feed them out of my hand and give them a little tickle around the head, seems to make them more comfortable when we're moving around them

I agree with the both of you.

I would not handle my pigeons during their moult.  I agree with Edgie, I also think it must be quite painful for them when they are moulting and growing new feathers.

I do like to handle all my birds as much as I can, I think it helps to get them tame.  My problem is, I don't have enough time or energy to handle my birds enough - especially the stock birds, which makes them a bit wild.

I have promised myself, that this winter, I will try and get the stock birds to be less afraid, but I am going to wait until their moult is completely over.

Phil

Only handle the birds if needed at this time of the year but try to handle as many as I can other times

I don't know if you already use them phil, but peanuts , a couple a day each gets them tamer.....feed them out of your hand.

never during the moult but frequently at other times they are very tame most I can just pick up with no bother or flapping about

David wrote:

I don't know if you already use them phil, but peanuts , a couple a day each gets them tamer.....feed them out of your hand.

Yes David - peanuts are a well renowned treat for pigeons and I have used them many times before.

But strange as it may seem, my stock birds do not like peanuts.  Maybe I will persevere with them this autumn and winter.

Thanks
Phl

Crush them phill once they get the taste it's game over

Very rarely handle ours unless we need to

peel bros wrote:

Very rarely handle ours unless we need to

you on about pigeons or women ray...?

same here ray, truth to tell they don't like it, probably think your going to eat them .

Both these days haha

only handle if they don't look right but after moult handle to select whats staying then only handle when pairing or basketing for training or racing
sean