Pigeons in winter?

Question

I'm thinking about getting some pigeons and keeping them on my the top of my house, but I was thinking what happens to the bird in the winter, do I bring them inside or do they just stay out side in the pigeon choop or a avery ?

Thank you, all for your advice and kind words about pigeons you really helped me in trying to find the truth about pigeons and winter. I thank you again!

Answer 1

Hi. I am not sure where you live, but we live in the U.P. of MI. Our neighbor has a bunch of trees in her yard. There are about 20 pigeons that hang out there. Unfortunately, the mean old beast comes out with a broom and beats them, so they have no where to go. So, they flew up to the power lines above the house and stay there....all the time. The only time they come down is to search for whatever meager food they can find. It really is a sad thing. Now, the temperatures here have been -15 below this last week. The poor things just stayed out there. I am thinking maybe they get some kind of warmth from the power lines. Anyway, I think it is a great idea to want to take some in. They could easily live outdoors, in an aviary or coop. No problems at all. As long as you feed them, they will stick around and in the case of the poor souls around here, even without food, they will stay. They do make a bit of a mess with droppings, but if you are aware of that, they would be great, i think. It is a very nice thing to do. I wish I had some trees and shelter for the poor guys who live here. My husband and I always see the old lady beating at them. : ( Good luck! I hope all works out well. God bless.

Answer 2

The website below will give you lots of tips as it's a forum for pigeon keepers. It seems that pigeons are quite capable of enduring the cold provided they are healthy, fit and fed very well. The aviary needs to free from draughts, they should have fresh water daily and be fed extra corn in cold weather. (The extra corn is a 'fuel' to pigeons and helps keep them warm). There are other tips if you click below. (Hope the roof is cat-proof!).

Answer 3

It depends of the weather in your country! I'm living in south of France and I have pigeons on my roof, I built them a place to hide, lay eggs and be out of reach of predators and cold wind. I give them good food in large amount every day.
Every 6 month, I vaccine them against paramyxovirose. They are beautiful, fat and are actually laying eggs & having babies...If you need advices just ask, I've had pigeons for years.

Answer 4

U don't want pigeons in your home; rock doves are famous for what they do. If you want to keep a coop, then modify it to keep them warm (blanket over the coop, heater on LOW). If you don't want to deal with this let the birds fly south. Feed them and they will come back no matter what.