I became a Pigeon Mama recently. I scream laughed when she flew right at me today. 😂 I was present the days her mama was brooding. Not even knowing that is what was going on. Been doing what I can to get her familiar with me since she hatched. Don't know if she's a she or a he but her name is Yonit and it sounds like she says her name! I haven't had any luck finding what to feed baby pigeons to increase their health and performance. Today I walked out the front door when she was on my shoulder. I showed her the balcony from the outside. Moments later she flew there. So proud of her! 😂 I wonder if she'll come with me wherever I go.
Great Sean, you're a good teacher/instructor very informative videos. Your birds look great and healthy. I raised pigeons when I was a boy. keep up the good work.
@@alohapigeons9440 Hi, I'm in the same dilemma. Our gardener trimmed/cut the tree in my garden and two eggs were in the nest. Obviously the mother pigeon didn't return. I don't know what to do. Any advice will do. At moment I have the nest on top of a warm water bottle in the house. I'm not quite sure how I will feed it if it hatches, but I've seen on ebay feed for parrots (Hari Tropican Hand Feeding Formula Baby Parrot Bird Food Daily Nutrition Growth). Will this be ok?
Aloha kakahiaka braddah, I raising fancy pigeons and been having to raise a few by hand. I appreciate your mana'o. Raising birds in Washington and really love this hobby.
When do you start feeding them a more solid mixture? My birds are about 10 days old. They were abondoned by their parents when we had to move them to a new loft. I was using the pet store and now I am going to do the powder that you showed! Thank you!
Nice video Sean, we've had to hand raise a few this season, we just use pellets as their packed with protein, but what you are doing is excellent, better than any formula from a pet shop, one thing I have been told from alot of fanciers is never hand feed any pigeons that you plan to breed off as they won't feed their babies as well as a natural raised bird, makes sense I guess
Thank you! That is very interesting and something I will keep in mind. All of my young birds last year were hand raised and I breed a few for this years young birds. This will be interesting to see if i can see a difference in the young birds they raised. Aloha, Sean
Just was viewing old videos of races from 2010 Big island to Oahu and 2016 YB's Oahu to Big island. Liberators got to be quick in open doors. Should have automatic door opener. But, what an awesome site to see this group of birds flying together. They don't spend to much time circulating and there off heading home. Birds if there stamina is good they should be able to keep up flying together and peel off as they see Oahu.
Thanks! My pigeons I got few weeks ago are sitting on eggs now,. But since temps are getting around freezing I want to hand raise the squab starting around that 10 day mark when I hear parents start leaving them longer periods as I'm concerned about the cold. My question is, could I add the grit AFTER grinding up the seed so that the rock particles can help with digestion and preventing impaction?
Sean, thanks for the write up. Very helpful. Most definitely we need to seek the advice of our old timers. I'am sure through trials they have perfected there own style. Especially for flyers consistently placing in the top 5. I'am sure there is flyers who import birds. They have invested a lot of money. I believe they brought Sion and Hermans birds. It would be nice to see how these birds fly in Hawaii. Navigation, that's something I believe birds rely on there instincts. They'll use there GPS map with the earths magnetic field and use there sight to return home. I would like to say maybe there is a need for YB's to have more races out of Maui, 2 starts I think is not enough. Or maybe do more train tosses from East side of Molokai? In theory then Maui crossing should have less loses. Maybe then birds would be more in tune to fly over land and ocean. But the big jump to the Big Island. Maybe there you would have more losses.
Hi, there I need some advice. We did a solar panel job today and put some mesh around and there were 2 chicks I couldn't abandon them so I took them home, all I have is oats which I ground down to a fine powder. My question is how much do I feed them?
Oh man! I am glad you are back. I really like the way these videos are made and the ultimate health you keep your birds in. I race birds to, although i only send out to One loft races due to not having the time needed to fly at my club. I would love to gift you one of my late hatches from my best birds, for you to mix with yours.
Wow! Thank you very much. I would love to see how birds from different areas do flying in Hawaii. I have never imported birds before but I will see what I have to do. What state are you in? Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons Hey Sean, I am from Miami Florida. My birds come down from imports and some One loft races performance bloodlines. Here is my email, arlensanchez@icloud.com send me your name and address and i will send one your way by the end of June :)
I had no idea how difficult it is to import birds to Hawaii. Every bird has to be quarantined by a veterinarian for 7 days and shipped with the appropriate permits. I really appreciate your offer but I'm going to hold off on importing any birds for now. Thank you and I hope you don't mind if I stay in touch in the future. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons Of course not Sean! Completely understand, offer will stand still. Let me know if you ever want some different bloodlines, It pleases me to have someone else try my birds and even more when they win :) Good luck for this 2018 season!
Thank you! It should be interesting to see how she turns out because she was given to me as an egg. The mother was an owl pigeon and the father is unknown, so maybe a mix owl/homer. Was planning to use her as a dropper. Aloha, Sean
Nice vid Sean! I wonder if you soaked the grains if that would be good? I know for people that soaking makes the seed and grain more nutritious and easier to digest. Also when you think about it, probably that feed would be soaked from the parent bird because of being in crop. Just a thought i had watching the vid. That little squeaker already knows what’s coming. So ugly it’s cute❤️ is this a chick from the Runt? Pair your have/had?
Hello im a young bird owner and i have new chicks that hatched and I need some advice.so 1. Do I give the chick back to its nest? 2. How many days do I have to feed it? Thank you it would help a lot!
Hi Sean, if you have time. Would you be able to do a video on the understanding of a pedigree. Sometimes some pedigrees gets confusing to read. So I’d like to see what specifics should I be looking for in a pedigree.
Sorry, I would be the last person to give advice on pedigrees. I have never bought a homing pigeon. I would want to see that the parents have breed winners.
Just wondering for race day info if Clubs / OIF keep track of lost YB's birds that fly off Maui and the Big Island. Interesting to see where big numbers are from what island.
On race day are birds given specific time to finish race. Like a start time and finish time. All clocked in time you verify with race headquarters. Now birds who clocked after time or come 2nd day and on do they get credit for there race time.
No specific time to finish race. A cutoff time is determined by how much returns we have. If it's a bad race with slow or low returns they might bump the cutoff a few hours later but not past the first day.
Great video. I’m curious if you have a material list you might share on a few of your loft builds on prior videos. I’m know the materials in Hawaii is way more than what we have in the mainland, but I can price out materials for a loft build here if you don’t mind sharing. It’s would save me several trips to the hardware store as well. No worries if not, but I thought I would ask. Keep up the outstanding videos!
thank you so much for this video, i don't know anything at all about pigeons, i really appreciate you mentioning that they have a whole separate pouch to store food cos I really just thought they eat and it goes straight to their tummy. I'm hoping to own at least a pair, not for racing, but just to own a pair and care for them, do you recommend female / female pairs ?
Pigeons seek out a partner and honestly, gender is second to them. If you have a pair of the same gender, they are not different to ahetero pair, except that they can't hatch their eggs bcs unfertilized. A pair being comfortable with each other is more important than their gender.
Please help me . My birds completely abandoned two birds and they didn’t even have a chance to feed them so I went and bought kaytee formula but the birds are growing very very slowly is there anything I can do.
Vinegar keeps bad germs from growing in the food/crop. But if you use proper food hygiene, washing hands, equipment and make the food fresh and feed when the crop is empty so the old food does not spoil the new food, that is more important at keeping a squab healthy. Vinegar is just that extra touch at being careful. Also, birds need to be kept warm to properly digest food. And the food needs to be handwarm. Older pigeons can keep themselves warm with their feathers, the more naked ones can not.
What does the apple cider vinegar do? I’ve seen it mentioned on other channels for clearing up dark droppings. I’m very new. I just got my first pair of racers about a month ago so I’m full of questions. Lol. Thank you in advance.
Apple cider vinegar prevents yeast to grow in the crop and ferment the food-which in turn might kill the squab. But if you use good food hygiene, only feed when the crop is mostly empty or completly empty, no old food is left in there to ferment. Also, if you presoak the grains and legumes used as food, they digest better and faster and contain more nutrients than grinding them up dry. The repeated soaking and washing process also gets off most of the germs that could cause problems. Wash food,s oak for an hour, wash them under running water and let soak with new water until the food has doubled in size(like over night or 6-8 hours). Wash again and then grind up into slush and feed. You can keep soaked grains in the fridge for up to 2 days and wash in warm water before feeding so you don't have to soak new food all the time.
Oh man this brings back memories! I made my mixture similar to yours. Back in my day there was no nutribullet. I used a coffee bean grinder. This is how i made my mixture....... Ratio of 2 parts grain to 1 part 20% laying pellets ground together. Then i used human baby rice cereal at half of what the directions specified to mix with water. Its comparable to pink mineral powder, sort of. Close enough to be an adequate substitute. Then i mixed it all together. Since the grain was ground up it wasnt necessary to add grit. But as the bird got bigger and the grain was ground a lot courser i did add grit. The grit needs to remain in its original size in order to do its job. If its ground up it will only weigh the crop down and make the intestines become overworked and even cause blockages within the loops of the intestines. You can tell if it is happening if the bird seems to strain to defecate or fails to at all. And i wouldn't advize using oyster shell until they are adults. No matter how fine you grind it up it will always have sharp edges and can slice up the insides of very young birds. And if a baby bird didnt get enough crop milk, or none at all, i would put water soluble vitamins made for birds in the mixture. Through trial and error i found this method to work best for me. This was 25 yrs ago and there is much better products available today. But the principals remain the same. I hope this can help anyone who might need it. Thanks again Sean for a very well put together vid.
Thanks Brian for your input and advice. The grit I added was just for the mineral benefit because the feed was already ground to a fine powder. The nutribullet blade I was using is specifically designed for grinding so it does a very good job at pulverizing everything into a fine powder. I almost think the birds do much better being hand raised because the feed is already processed so they get the nutrition much faster. I wish my loft birds droppings looked as good as the droppings of the birds that are being hand raised.
AlohaPigeons i like the combo of ingredients you use. And i noticed the grit was minimal so it wont cause the backup i sometimes seen. I thought about it and kinda laughed when you consider a nutribullet compared to a small coffee grinder. Nutribullet much better! Especially when you have to hand feed right after hatching. The finer the grind the better. Have you ever watched the feeding behavior of pigeon parents closely from around the 10th day after hatching? If you watch, you'll notice that right after the parents eat, they'll take a small drink of water then stretch their neck up and actively transfer seed into the gizzard to grind it up before feeding it to the squabs. They usually do that after they start to rest after feeding. Yeah i know what you mean about the droppings. I guess its because we choose what the babies eat and we make mixtures alot better than what the parents can give. If there is a such thing as desirable droppins, that would be it. Lol... Btw... Any luck with breeding the giant runts again? I like that male, he has swag!
That's interesting about the parents. I have not put the giant runts together yet. I should have her droppings tested or something to see if that shows anything wrong with her.
I didn't have to use a heat source because it's normally between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit where I live. But the birds seem to like this temperature range.
Has a question ever was ask maybe in your club, general membership or national headquarters. Would there be a chance that YB's season will ever move from its current start. I think it would be much easier for everyone and most of all the YB's.
Good morning Sean, YB's season - birds are eligible to fly only one season in there banded year. Then they would move on to old bird season. When does your normal 1st and 2nd round hatchlings scheduled.
Yes, only birds banded with that years bands can fly in the young bird races. My first round is born at the end of December, so by the time I have the bands they are ready. The birds will breed again while the first round is still in the nest, so probably middle or late January you should have your second round of eggs in the nest.
A good pet shop should have bird minerals. You also can collect chicken egg shells, roast them in the oven to get rid of bacterias. Like 5 Minutes at 200degree celsius or just...pizza baking temperature. And then grind them into a powder with a coffee grinder or a similiar thing. Best mineral powder ever bcs egg shells contain every mineral a bird needs. Just add vitamin drops from the pet shop to add fat and water soluble vitamins. Grit is more important for grown birds when they eat dry seeds.
Do you toss train birds all the way to the very East side of Molokai .... Maybe this would build there confidence and being nearer to Maui would be easier to come home.
I did just that last year but it did not help. I think I'm going to try Lanai after they have trained Molokai. That way they understand that they have to cross multiple channels to get home. I feel Lanai is easier because they can see Oahu on a clear day, Lanai its self is much smaller than Maui so it's easier for the birds to identify that they must cross water to get home, and lastly it's a shorter distance home.
While you are feeding them during this process do you separate them from the parents? I have homers who just laid their first egg should hopefully lay the second tonight. I want a very tame indoor pigeon in addition with their parents I bought as full grown. When it is safe to bring indoors full time?
Each pigeon is a little different when it comes to bonding with a human but I have found they bond the strongest when you take them from the nest and hand raise them away from the parents. The bond is also stronger if they are separated from their nest mate and hand raised alone. The more time you spend with them through the day the better. Whether this is the best for the pigeon in terms of learning socialization skills with other pigeons then probably not but for forming the strongest bond with you as a pet, I have found this to work best. I would recommend waiting to take the babies away from the parents until they are 7 days old so that they get the crop milk from their parents which is widely regarded to have many health benefits but if the parents are not feeding the babies you can hand feed them from day one. Thanks for the great question. Wish you all the best. Aloha, Sean
I hand raised a pigeon and he is now 2 months old. He eats no seeds but still the nutribird A19. He pecks the seeds but can't hold them in his mouth and cant swallow them. If I put the seeds in his mouth myself and he swallows, he vomits after a few hours or the day after and the seeds are not digested. I don't know what the problem is, why he can't eat by himself, why he vomits and why the seeds are not digested!! Do you have any advice for me please? I'm having a really hard time with him.
Hey Sean, How are your birds? I now have over 30 flying birds here in San Diego getting ready for my first racing season that starts in Feb.. I have used a lot of your technics and excited to see how this season goes. Just wanted to say hi and hope all is well. Eric
Hey Eric, That's awesome! Wishing you the best of luck with your birds. All is pretty good here. Been training on the road a lot. Only bad thing is I have had some birds that got injured from hitting power lines. I hope to do an update at some point. Let me know how you do with your birds. Aloha, Sean
I'am assuming one may enter X amount of YB's to race without additional fees. This race is a tough one for YB's. Is there a lot of losses in this kind of race.
Everyone splits the cost of shipping for a race. So the more birds you ship the more you pay but it's not much. My first year I had 2 birds out of about 30 after the first few races and last year I had only about 7 out of 25 after the first two Maui races. So yes, we have a lot of losses racing in Hawaii. If a pigeons natural instinct is telling it to avoid flying over water and our pigeons are given the choice of staying on the island they are released from or fly over an ocean channel they have never seen before, then you can see why we have a lot of losses. We are asking our pigeons to risk their lives and attempt something they have never done before. Racing over land is totally different. Talking to the old timers here in Hawaii that have been racing pigeons for many years, they all say they never had losses like they do now. A lot of people say it's all of the electronics interfering with the birds navigating but I'm not so sure. I think we have so many losses in Hawaii now because people are importing birds that have the qualities to do well over land but when it comes to our type of flying the birds just don't have the traits we need. I feel this is why Hawaii pigeons in the past had such better returns because the flyers breed the traits we need in our birds. Maybe the birds here in Hawaii back in the day were not as fast as the birds you can import today but to finish first you first have to finish. Not to mention YB racing, our racing YB's is surely have an affect on our returns. If we did not have YB racing that excluded old birds, then the old birds would be leading the way home.
Be safe when going out on the channel especially there ..... Waves must have been windy condition ..... Main thing you folks got home safe .... Can't wait to see new video.
Yes, we normally don't send the entire flock on the first Molokai training toss to minimize losses. But come race day in Maui, all of the birds are released at one time. And I'm not training from maui this year because the losses are too high.
Thank you! Took the birds in the Kaiwi channel today. Ocean was too rough, almost didn't make it back. It was a mess but I filmed it and hope to edit tomorrow or soon. Molokai training toss hopefully this Wednesday.
Yes, it's a big jump from Maui to the Big island .... YB's trained to know from B point to A point .... Big question is would they know C point to A point ...
The bird that broke both legs was released from Hawaii Kai and hit power lines by Diamond Head. I know because the battery popped out and the data fro the ring stopped at this location and the battery was found at this location. The data at the last reported position showed her at a low altitude going over 50mph at impact. A second bird hit power lines just down the street from my house on its way back from a Sandy Beach release. Both of these birds came back with the just the gps ring and no battery which is how I know where the incident happened and could see the power lines they hit. A third bird returned with the ring and battery missing so I was not able to see where the incident happened.
Nice recovery ... Hope birds didn't injured themselves ... Maybe tape will hold bands and batteries together .... and thanks again for the schedule .... So, you race 2 off Maui, 7 off Big Island ..... Maybe it's a good idea to have two race teams casualties might be high ....
Three birds injured themselves pretty bad. One of the old birds I had training the young birds came back the second day from a training toss with both legs broken. She couldn't even stand. She is healing well, amazing bird.
I've been using tape on the gps bands after I started losing them and it's been working well, thinking about getting more bands soon. The only thing with having two teams is if you keep birds back they will not get the experience of flying two Maui's before making the jump to the Big Island. If it's good weather they should make it back and if not they're not meant to race in Hawaii.
One key issue that I have is weather flyers are able to toss train birds from different islands. Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island. I'am not sure all would be able to or willing to do this. Add least you would know now instead of later that birds will be able to find there way home. With the fees that are assessed to the members. Would OIF committee fund members to toss train from said islands.
They would not fund this training. The cost is not the issue, it's that it's too risky to train from Maui or the Big Island because there are always too many losses.
The waterer is a source of a lot of sickness so if you wash it and let it dry you can reduce that risk. I also take food and water away at night to not attract rodents.
Aloha hope you are all staying safe with the volcanic activity news. I hand raised 2 pigeons last month and I believe they are I love with me. Question is will they breed with other pigeons or do they think they are humans?
Great video I think I will have a go doing it with one of my yb,s are they very tame because of it ? And is this why you do it ? And will they still home to the yb loft when they go back
A squab this size can keep itself warm allright, especially at room temperature. Rule of thumb, the more skin shows and the smaller they are, the more warmth they need. But as pigeons are very social animals, they need contact with other squabs, or a dedicated human. Same as kittens and pups. Social interaction is important for their wellbeing. But do not put a squab with adult pigeons nilly willy. Other squabs are fine but adults might be rather unfriendly to a strange squab.
Hi please help me with advice I found baby pigeon abandoned he is now with me 7 days I open his mouth and feed him and I open his mouth and give him water because I try to put slightly warm water and pigeon seeds he never try to eat he look like 3 week when I found him How can I teach him to eat by him self ? And he every time I try to tech him for feeding he really scared even now 7 days with me How can I make him pet so I can take care of him well Please advice
So with some luck and smart YB's flyers here are limited to toss train on Oahu only. And hope for the best birds coming off Maui and the Big Island. Unless flyers have an arrangement set up on the other islands, they take there chances on losses.
Almost everyone toss trains from Molokai a few times before the first Maui race but very few train from Maui like I did last year. I did not lose any birds on Molokai last year but then lost half my birds on my Maui training toss. Some will also train from Lanai.
I found a young pigeon about 18,20 day's old. Either fell or was pushed out of the nest. It couldn't fly still has some yellow feathers not many though. It has a little skin condition that it's picking at because it's itchy. It's not eating so I have to force feed it with sweetcorn and peas. It hates it and I can only feed it five pieces at a time. I'm like a fish out of water trying to do my best but I'm stressing the bird doing this. It would be much eaiser throwing it over a wall and be done with it but I can't bring myself to do this because I have a conscience and ocean's of guild to back that up. Help. 😱✌🏻☘️
I apologize. The breeding boxes I used in the stock loft where temporary and I have taken them down. The breeding cages are 3'x3'x3' made out of 1"X1" galvanized wire. The breeding cages are very open because we do not have cold winters where I live in Hawaii. Let me know if you need any more info. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons are these big breeding cages good for breeding,I mean do pair proper feed the young ones n take care in these big breeding cages,here in India they best size they say for breeding cage is 1.6'x1.6'x1.6'
I just picked one orphan pigeon... i dont know his age and I'm trying to feed him... anyone can help or advise. He looks much smaller than the one Im seeing here. I dont know where to get that milk neither..
Okay, I am adding that for people who might come to look for help in a similiar case. There is handrearing powder for budgies and parrots you can buy over the internet/pet shops. And that is basically the same as pigeon crop milk bcs both pigeons and parrots make crop milk. Just use that and mix/feed according to the instructions. At pet shops you can also buy the syringe and feeding tube to feed parrots/pigeons, or from the internet. But you also need to keep the bird warm. Pigeons are not so bad, but if they are not mostly feathered, they might freeze to death at room temperature. If they are mostly naked, small and much skin showing, use a hot water bottle and towels to make a nest and keep the baby warm. You can also buy reptile heat mats/cat heat mats with temperature regulation. And enough space so the bird wobbles a bit aside if it gets too warm. Always put a towel over the heat source so the bird is not in direct contact with it. You can use shelled lentils(quick cook lentils) as first protein rich food until you get the handrearing powder. It soaks in minutes, makes a fine gruel and offers enough nutrition in an emergency. Or quick cook oats, not cooked, just mixed with warm water into ..slurry.
It cracks me up how the pigeon just sits and watches the process. So patient!
That bird, after associating blenders and ketchup bottles with food, is going to stop at every beachside resort bar in the state. 😂
I became a Pigeon Mama recently. I scream laughed when she flew right at me today. 😂 I was present the days her mama was brooding. Not even knowing that is what was going on. Been doing what I can to get her familiar with me since she hatched. Don't know if she's a she or a he but her name is Yonit and it sounds like she says her name! I haven't had any luck finding what to feed baby pigeons to increase their health and performance. Today I walked out the front door when she was on my shoulder. I showed her the balcony from the outside. Moments later she flew there. So proud of her! 😂 I wonder if she'll come with me wherever I go.
Hey Sean,
Great info! Your videos are the best I have come across on CZcams and appreciate you taking the time to make them.
Thankssss,
Eric
Thank you very much!
This bird actually is allready capable to feed on his own,
I feed them small seeds and also make them drink Oatmeal that's it
Thanks So Much didn't want to force feed it but glad to see the safe way to introduce this new feeding method
Great Sean, you're a good teacher/instructor very informative videos. Your birds look great and healthy. I raised pigeons when I was a boy. keep up the good work.
Thank you very much!
@@alohapigeons9440
Hi, I'm in the same dilemma. Our gardener trimmed/cut the tree in my garden and two eggs were in the nest. Obviously the mother pigeon didn't return. I don't know what to do. Any advice will do. At moment I have the nest on top of a warm water bottle in the house. I'm not quite sure how I will feed it if it hatches, but I've seen on ebay feed for parrots (Hari Tropican Hand Feeding Formula Baby Parrot Bird Food Daily Nutrition Growth). Will this be ok?
Glad that all is well with u. Thanks for the videos they are so great the way u put them together. Very informative.
Thank you!
Aloha kakahiaka braddah, I raising fancy pigeons and been having to raise a few by hand. I appreciate your mana'o. Raising birds in Washington and really love this hobby.
Excellent tutorial. I will try doing this in the future.
Nice video as always. You are always clear on what you are doing. I enjoy watching them.
Thank you!
So glad I finally found your channel! I’ve been caring for my 3wk old baby pigeon since he was 4 days old. Im looking for tips advice!
I just found a lost baby pidgeon today. Its around 12 days old. How do I feed it? Its not used to humans touching him
Would it be ok to feed a baby pigeon a2 milk and natural honey?
When do you start feeding them a more solid mixture? My birds are about 10 days old. They were abondoned by their parents when we had to move them to a new loft. I was using the pet store and now I am going to do the powder that you showed! Thank you!
Your the best bro so composed so focused on the birds your videos are just genius you help me a lot blessings to you and all your birds safe ma man
Thank you very much!
Nice video Sean, we've had to hand raise a few this season, we just use pellets as their packed with protein, but what you are doing is excellent, better than any formula from a pet shop, one thing I have been told from alot of fanciers is never hand feed any pigeons that you plan to breed off as they won't feed their babies as well as a natural raised bird, makes sense I guess
Thank you! That is very interesting and something I will keep in mind. All of my young birds last year were hand raised and I breed a few for this years young birds. This will be interesting to see if i can see a difference in the young birds they raised. Aloha, Sean
Thanks for the content.
Just was viewing old videos of races from 2010 Big island to Oahu and 2016 YB's Oahu to Big island. Liberators got to be quick in open doors. Should have automatic door opener. But, what an awesome site to see this group of birds flying together. They don't spend to much time circulating and there off heading home. Birds if there stamina is good they should be able to keep up flying together and peel off as they see Oahu.
I always see your video that is so fantastic
Wow such a great video!!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks! My pigeons I got few weeks ago are sitting on eggs now,. But since temps are getting around freezing I want to hand raise the squab starting around that 10 day mark when I hear parents start leaving them longer periods as I'm concerned about the cold.
My question is, could I add the grit AFTER grinding up the seed so that the rock particles can help with digestion and preventing impaction?
Nice. Very thorough.👍🏼
Thank you!
Sean, thanks for the write up. Very helpful. Most definitely we need to seek the advice of our old timers. I'am sure through trials
they have perfected there own style. Especially for flyers consistently placing in the top 5. I'am sure there is flyers who import birds. They have invested a lot of money. I believe they brought Sion and Hermans birds. It would be nice to see how these birds fly in Hawaii.
Navigation, that's something I believe birds rely on there instincts. They'll use there GPS map with the earths magnetic field and use there sight to return home.
I would like to say maybe there is a need for YB's to have more races out of Maui, 2 starts I think is not enough. Or maybe do more train tosses from East side of Molokai? In theory then Maui crossing should have less loses. Maybe then birds would be more in tune to fly over land and ocean. But the big jump to the Big Island. Maybe there you would have more losses.
Great visual info we all can learn from .....
Thank you!
Hi, there I need some advice. We did a solar panel job today and put some mesh around and there were 2 chicks I couldn't abandon them so I took them home, all I have is oats which I ground down to a fine powder. My question is how much do I feed them?
very good video! Thanks for the instruction!
Thank you!
Sir what time for ex. 9 of the morning and 8 in the night
Oh man! I am glad you are back. I really like the way these videos are made and the ultimate health you keep your birds in.
I race birds to, although i only send out to One loft races due to not having the time needed to fly at my club. I would love to gift you one of my late hatches from my best birds, for you to mix with yours.
Wow! Thank you very much. I would love to see how birds from different areas do flying in Hawaii. I have never imported birds before but I will see what I have to do. What state are you in? Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons Hey Sean, I am from Miami Florida. My birds come down from imports and some One loft races performance bloodlines. Here is my email,
arlensanchez@icloud.com send me your name and address and i will send one your way by the end of June :)
I had no idea how difficult it is to import birds to Hawaii. Every bird has to be quarantined by a veterinarian for 7 days and shipped with the appropriate permits. I really appreciate your offer but I'm going to hold off on importing any birds for now. Thank you and I hope you don't mind if I stay in touch in the future. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons Of course not Sean! Completely understand, offer will stand still. Let me know if you ever want some different bloodlines, It pleases me to have someone else try my birds and even more when they win :) Good luck for this 2018 season!
Curious is that apply cider?
nice job thanks for the info beautiful stuff
Thank you!
That was very clean 😀
Thank you!
Howzit Sean,
Once again, an informative video. I'm curious to see Eva''s growth in your future videos.
Thank you! It should be interesting to see how she turns out because she was given to me as an egg. The mother was an owl pigeon and the father is unknown, so maybe a mix owl/homer. Was planning to use her as a dropper. Aloha, Sean
Hi, please the names of the grains that you mixed?? Thanks for sharing 😊❤️
Aloha from London Ontario Canada... would this recipe and technique apply to doves as well?
Nice vid Sean! I wonder if you soaked the grains if that would be good? I know for people that soaking makes the seed and grain more nutritious and easier to digest. Also when you think about it, probably that feed would be soaked from the parent bird because of being in crop. Just a thought i had watching the vid. That little squeaker already knows what’s coming. So ugly it’s cute❤️ is this a chick from the Runt? Pair your have/had?
Yes, I believe Lani would be better after Molokai toss. I think it would prep birds for Maui and Big Island races.
Hello im a young bird owner and i have new chicks that hatched and I need some advice.so 1. Do I give the chick back to its nest? 2. How many days do I have to feed it? Thank you it would help a lot!
Good morning Bud, I want to congratulate you for coming out in the Pigeon Digest.
Thank you very much! I thought that was pretty cool they wanted to include this channel in one of their articles. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons I really liked the way, you carried yourself in the conversation. Very professional and Humble at the same time. Aloha Friend
Thank you very much! Aloha, Sean
Hey man thank for the tip😘
Hi Sean, if you have time. Would you be able to do a video on the understanding of a pedigree. Sometimes some pedigrees gets confusing to read. So I’d like to see what specifics should I be looking for in a pedigree.
Sorry, I would be the last person to give advice on pedigrees. I have never bought a homing pigeon. I would want to see that the parents have breed winners.
Just wondering for race day info if Clubs / OIF keep track of lost YB's birds that fly off Maui and the Big Island. Interesting to see where big numbers are from what island.
Not that I know of.
you might have just saved a little pouters life thanks
On race day are birds given specific time to finish race. Like a start time and finish time. All clocked in time you verify with race headquarters. Now birds who clocked after time or come 2nd day and on do they get credit for there race time.
No specific time to finish race. A cutoff time is determined by how much returns we have. If it's a bad race with slow or low returns they might bump the cutoff a few hours later but not past the first day.
Great video. I’m curious if you have a material list you might share on a few of your loft builds on prior videos. I’m know the materials in Hawaii is way more than what we have in the mainland, but I can price out materials for a loft build here if you don’t mind sharing. It’s would save me several trips to the hardware store as well. No worries if not, but I thought I would ask. Keep up the outstanding videos!
Thank you! Sorry, no list. I hope to learn how to use a cad program to make a visual building plan in the future.
thank you so much for this video, i don't know anything at all about pigeons, i really appreciate you mentioning that they have a whole separate pouch to store food cos I really just thought they eat and it goes straight to their tummy. I'm hoping to own at least a pair, not for racing, but just to own a pair and care for them, do you recommend female / female pairs ?
Pigeons seek out a partner and honestly, gender is second to them. If you have a pair of the same gender, they are not different to ahetero pair, except that they can't hatch their eggs bcs unfertilized. A pair being comfortable with each other is more important than their gender.
funtastic ;) i like ur channel
Thank you very much!
Please help me .
My birds completely abandoned two birds and they didn’t even have a chance to feed them so I went and bought kaytee formula but the birds are growing very very slowly is there anything I can do.
Does the clubs provide toss training from Molokai / Lanai. That sounds a much safer way to train.
No, but you can get together and setup a training toss from Molokai.
Hello! Why do you add the vinegar for? I have a small wild pigeon that fell from its nest, and handfeeding it, I need help please.
Vinegar keeps bad germs from growing in the food/crop. But if you use proper food hygiene, washing hands, equipment and make the food fresh and feed when the crop is empty so the old food does not spoil the new food, that is more important at keeping a squab healthy. Vinegar is just that extra touch at being careful. Also, birds need to be kept warm to properly digest food. And the food needs to be handwarm. Older pigeons can keep themselves warm with their feathers, the more naked ones can not.
What does the apple cider vinegar do? I’ve seen it mentioned on other channels for clearing up dark droppings. I’m very new. I just got my first pair of racers about a month ago so I’m full of questions. Lol. Thank you in advance.
Apple cider vinegar prevents yeast to grow in the crop and ferment the food-which in turn might kill the squab. But if you use good food hygiene, only feed when the crop is mostly empty or completly empty, no old food is left in there to ferment. Also, if you presoak the grains and legumes used as food, they digest better and faster and contain more nutrients than grinding them up dry. The repeated soaking and washing process also gets off most of the germs that could cause problems. Wash food,s oak for an hour, wash them under running water and let soak with new water until the food has doubled in size(like over night or 6-8 hours). Wash again and then grind up into slush and feed. You can keep soaked grains in the fridge for up to 2 days and wash in warm water before feeding so you don't have to soak new food all the time.
i have two baby pigeons i that fell from thier nest. not sure what i should do, can you help
That thing is so cute.
Oh man this brings back memories! I made my mixture similar to yours. Back in my day there was no nutribullet. I used a coffee bean grinder. This is how i made my mixture....... Ratio of 2 parts grain to 1 part 20% laying pellets ground together. Then i used human baby rice cereal at half of what the directions specified to mix with water. Its comparable to pink mineral powder, sort of. Close enough to be an adequate substitute. Then i mixed it all together. Since the grain was ground up it wasnt necessary to add grit. But as the bird got bigger and the grain was ground a lot courser i did add grit. The grit needs to remain in its original size in order to do its job. If its ground up it will only weigh the crop down and make the intestines become overworked and even cause blockages within the loops of the intestines. You can tell if it is happening if the bird seems to strain to defecate or fails to at all. And i wouldn't advize using oyster shell until they are adults. No matter how fine you grind it up it will always have sharp edges and can slice up the insides of very young birds. And if a baby bird didnt get enough crop milk, or none at all, i would put water soluble vitamins made for birds in the mixture.
Through trial and error i found this method to work best for me. This was 25 yrs ago and there is much better products available today. But the principals remain the same. I hope this can help anyone who might need it. Thanks again Sean for a very well put together vid.
Ha-y-n Brian Good morning Mr. Brain, did you give all your birds away?
Thanks Brian for your input and advice. The grit I added was just for the mineral benefit because the feed was already ground to a fine powder. The nutribullet blade I was using is specifically designed for grinding so it does a very good job at pulverizing everything into a fine powder. I almost think the birds do much better being hand raised because the feed is already processed so they get the nutrition much faster. I wish my loft birds droppings looked as good as the droppings of the birds that are being hand raised.
AlohaPigeons i like the combo of ingredients you use. And i noticed the grit was minimal so it wont cause the backup i sometimes seen. I thought about it and kinda laughed when you consider a nutribullet compared to a small coffee grinder. Nutribullet much better! Especially when you have to hand feed right after hatching. The finer the grind the better. Have you ever watched the feeding behavior of pigeon parents closely from around the 10th day after hatching? If you watch, you'll notice that right after the parents eat, they'll take a small drink of water then stretch their neck up and actively transfer seed into the gizzard to grind it up before feeding it to the squabs. They usually do that after they start to rest after feeding.
Yeah i know what you mean about the droppings. I guess its because we choose what the babies eat and we make mixtures alot better than what the parents can give. If there is a such thing as desirable droppins, that would be it. Lol... Btw... Any luck with breeding the giant runts again?
I like that male, he has swag!
Antonio Fernandez hey how are you. No actually something rather unfortunate happened that I'd rather not talk about, at least not here.
That's interesting about the parents. I have not put the giant runts together yet. I should have her droppings tested or something to see if that shows anything wrong with her.
I have a question, what temperature should the room or box for the baby to survive?
I didn't have to use a heat source because it's normally between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit where I live. But the birds seem to like this temperature range.
Could u make a video on how to grab and hold a pigeon.
good video Frank mclaughlin makes great videos also
What kind this pigeon?
Has a question ever was ask maybe in your club, general membership or national headquarters. Would there be a chance that YB's season will ever move from its current start. I think it would be much easier for everyone and most of all the YB's.
Have a later start date for the YB racing season? I'm all for that. The more time I have to get the birds ready the better.
Good morning Sean, YB's season - birds are eligible to fly only one season in there banded year. Then they would move on to old bird season. When does your normal 1st and 2nd round hatchlings scheduled.
Yes, only birds banded with that years bands can fly in the young bird races. My first round is born at the end of December, so by the time I have the bands they are ready. The birds will breed again while the first round is still in the nest, so probably middle or late January you should have your second round of eggs in the nest.
Thanks, again .....
Where do you get the minerals and grit that you used?
A good pet shop should have bird minerals. You also can collect chicken egg shells, roast them in the oven to get rid of bacterias. Like 5 Minutes at 200degree celsius or just...pizza baking temperature. And then grind them into a powder with a coffee grinder or a similiar thing. Best mineral powder ever bcs egg shells contain every mineral a bird needs. Just add vitamin drops from the pet shop to add fat and water soluble vitamins. Grit is more important for grown birds when they eat dry seeds.
Do you toss train birds all the way to the very East side of Molokai .... Maybe this would build there confidence and being nearer to Maui would be easier to come home.
I did just that last year but it did not help. I think I'm going to try Lanai after they have trained Molokai. That way they understand that they have to cross multiple channels to get home. I feel Lanai is easier because they can see Oahu on a clear day, Lanai its self is much smaller than Maui so it's easier for the birds to identify that they must cross water to get home, and lastly it's a shorter distance home.
While you are feeding them during this process do you separate them from the parents? I have homers who just laid their first egg should hopefully lay the second tonight. I want a very tame indoor pigeon in addition with their parents I bought as full grown. When it is safe to bring indoors full time?
Each pigeon is a little different when it comes to bonding with a human but I have found they bond the strongest when you take them from the nest and hand raise them away from the parents. The bond is also stronger if they are separated from their nest mate and hand raised alone. The more time you spend with them through the day the better. Whether this is the best for the pigeon in terms of learning socialization skills with other pigeons then probably not but for forming the strongest bond with you as a pet, I have found this to work best. I would recommend waiting to take the babies away from the parents until they are 7 days old so that they get the crop milk from their parents which is widely regarded to have many health benefits but if the parents are not feeding the babies you can hand feed them from day one. Thanks for the great question. Wish you all the best. Aloha, Sean
I hand raised a pigeon and he is now 2 months old. He eats no seeds but still the nutribird A19. He pecks the seeds but can't hold them in his mouth and cant swallow them. If I put the seeds in his mouth myself and he swallows, he vomits after a few hours or the day after and the seeds are not digested. I don't know what the problem is, why he can't eat by himself, why he vomits and why the seeds are not digested!! Do you have any advice for me please? I'm having a really hard time with him.
I find a little lemon juice helps crop impaction.
Do you have your YB's season schedule for Maui races ....
I will text or email the schedule to you.
Hey Sean,
How are your birds? I now have over 30 flying birds here in San Diego getting ready for my first racing season that starts in Feb.. I have used a lot of your technics and excited to see how this season goes. Just wanted to say hi and hope all is well.
Eric
Hey Eric,
That's awesome! Wishing you the best of luck with your birds. All is pretty good here. Been training on the road a lot. Only bad thing is I have had some birds that got injured from hitting power lines. I hope to do an update at some point. Let me know how you do with your birds. Aloha, Sean
Good afternoon Sean, have you heard or tried Kastle products?
I have not. Have you heard good things?
They have 4 products they sell. It seems and sounds interesting to try. Certainly it would make ones routine easier.
Cool man gotta go b buy it. Some of my birds need more food anyways they look wean. Sometimes the hen gets lazy and wont feed them.
Thanks!
Hi Sean, how much YB’s you’ll be flying this season.
I have 60 as of now.
I'am assuming one may enter X amount of YB's to race without additional fees. This race is a tough one for YB's. Is there a lot of losses in this kind of race.
Everyone splits the cost of shipping for a race. So the more birds you ship the more you pay but it's not much. My first year I had 2 birds out of about 30 after the first few races and last year I had only about 7 out of 25 after the first two Maui races. So yes, we have a lot of losses racing in Hawaii. If a pigeons natural instinct is telling it to avoid flying over water and our pigeons are given the choice of staying on the island they are released from or fly over an ocean channel they have never seen before, then you can see why we have a lot of losses. We are asking our pigeons to risk their lives and attempt something they have never done before. Racing over land is totally different. Talking to the old timers here in Hawaii that have been racing pigeons for many years, they all say they never had losses like they do now. A lot of people say it's all of the electronics interfering with the birds navigating but I'm not so sure. I think we have so many losses in Hawaii now because people are importing birds that have the qualities to do well over land but when it comes to our type of flying the birds just don't have the traits we need. I feel this is why Hawaii pigeons in the past had such better returns because the flyers breed the traits we need in our birds. Maybe the birds here in Hawaii back in the day were not as fast as the birds you can import today but to finish first you first have to finish. Not to mention YB racing, our racing YB's is surely have an affect on our returns. If we did not have YB racing that excluded old birds, then the old birds would be leading the way home.
Be safe when going out on the channel especially there ..... Waves must have been windy condition ..... Main thing you folks got home safe .... Can't wait to see new video.
Would it be possible to race and train two teams together this season ..... Then they will get the experience they need to cross over ....
Yes, we normally don't send the entire flock on the first Molokai training toss to minimize losses. But come race day in Maui, all of the birds are released at one time. And I'm not training from maui this year because the losses are too high.
Did you write up an article in Pigeon Digest?
They asked me a few questions about my experience using the Skyleader GPS rings.
4 weeks to go .... Getting excited .... Wish the very best to all John, Dominic and Sean .... Fly'm high Fly'm fast and you'll be the best .....
Thank you! Took the birds in the Kaiwi channel today. Ocean was too rough, almost didn't make it back. It was a mess but I filmed it and hope to edit tomorrow or soon. Molokai training toss hopefully this Wednesday.
Yes, it's a big jump from Maui to the Big island .... YB's trained to know from B point to A point .... Big question is would they know C point to A point ...
Wow, hopefully all will heal and recover .... Where was this at that they all got tangle up with the power lines ....
The bird that broke both legs was released from Hawaii Kai and hit power lines by Diamond Head. I know because the battery popped out and the data fro the ring stopped at this location and the battery was found at this location. The data at the last reported position showed her at a low altitude going over 50mph at impact. A second bird hit power lines just down the street from my house on its way back from a Sandy Beach release. Both of these birds came back with the just the gps ring and no battery which is how I know where the incident happened and could see the power lines they hit. A third bird returned with the ring and battery missing so I was not able to see where the incident happened.
Hi Sean, by chance do you have a colored band system you use to identify YB's family, Male or Female and Got vaccinated.
I use color bands to identify age, vaccination schedule, and gender. But I just pick the colors randomly.
Hey what’s the breed of those two browns/reds?
They are Giant Runts.
What is your recipe?
Cool channel...
You should make more videos
Thank you! More videos coming shortly. Aloha, Sean!
Cool i cant wait...how many times a day do you feed your birds..?
Stock birds once a day and the racing team twice a day.
Thanks Aloha pigeons
Nice recovery ... Hope birds didn't injured themselves ... Maybe tape will hold bands and batteries together .... and thanks again for the schedule .... So, you race 2 off Maui, 7 off Big Island ..... Maybe it's a good idea to have two race teams casualties might be high ....
Three birds injured themselves pretty bad. One of the old birds I had training the young birds came back the second day from a training toss with both legs broken. She couldn't even stand. She is healing well, amazing bird.
I've been using tape on the gps bands after I started losing them and it's been working well, thinking about getting more bands soon. The only thing with having two teams is if you keep birds back they will not get the experience of flying two Maui's before making the jump to the Big Island. If it's good weather they should make it back and if not they're not meant to race in Hawaii.
I use this combination: oats, egg yellow, biscuits and wheat powder it have everything my dove needs it, even i eat that my self!
can you please upload more frequently
Updates to come soon.
Good
Thank you!
One key issue that I have is weather flyers are able to toss train birds from different islands. Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island. I'am not sure all would be able to or willing to do this. Add least you would know now instead of later that birds will be able to find there way home. With the fees that are assessed to the members. Would OIF committee fund members to toss train from said islands.
They would not fund this training. The cost is not the issue, it's that it's too risky to train from Maui or the Big Island because there are always too many losses.
WHY APPLE CIDER VINEGAR AND WHAT'S THE FUNCTION FOR THE APPLE CIDER VINEGAR?
It helps digestion
Just checking. I think I read that you remove your birds water container at night. Is there a reason for that?
The waterer is a source of a lot of sickness so if you wash it and let it dry you can reduce that risk. I also take food and water away at night to not attract rodents.
AlohaPigeons Yes, very true .....
Aloha hope you are all staying safe with the volcanic activity news.
I hand raised 2 pigeons last month and I believe they are I love with me. Question is will they breed with other pigeons or do they think they are humans?
All is safe where we live, thank you. Good to hear your hand raised pigeons are doing well. They should still breed if given the chance.
Great video I think I will have a go doing it with one of my yb,s are they very tame because of it ? And is this why you do it ? And will they still home to the yb loft when they go back
Thank you! Yes to all three. I hand raised all of my racers last year and they were very tame and still homed back to their loft.
Thanks for answering me I will give it a try and let you know how I get on with them
im waiting fo a update :)
Soon I hope. Thank you
Does it need its parents for warmth or do you just leave it alone?
A squab this size can keep itself warm allright, especially at room temperature. Rule of thumb, the more skin shows and the smaller they are, the more warmth they need. But as pigeons are very social animals, they need contact with other squabs, or a dedicated human. Same as kittens and pups. Social interaction is important for their wellbeing. But do not put a squab with adult pigeons nilly willy. Other squabs are fine but adults might be rather unfriendly to a strange squab.
Hi please help me with advice I found baby pigeon abandoned he is now with me 7 days I open his mouth and feed him and I open his mouth and give him water because I try to put slightly warm water and pigeon seeds he never try to eat he look like 3 week when I found him
How can I teach him to eat by him self ?
And he every time I try to tech him for feeding he really scared even now 7 days with me
How can I make him pet so I can take care of him well
Please advice
So with some luck and smart YB's flyers here are limited to toss train on Oahu only. And hope for the best birds coming off Maui and the Big Island. Unless flyers have an arrangement set up on the other islands, they take there chances on losses.
Almost everyone toss trains from Molokai a few times before the first Maui race but very few train from Maui like I did last year. I did not lose any birds on Molokai last year but then lost half my birds on my Maui training toss. Some will also train from Lanai.
One to two time feeding per day will enough ?
I found a young pigeon about 18,20 day's old. Either fell or was pushed out of the nest. It couldn't fly still has some yellow feathers not many though. It has a little skin condition that it's picking at because it's itchy. It's not eating so I have to force feed it with sweetcorn and peas. It hates it and I can only feed it five pieces at a time. I'm like a fish out of water trying to do my best but I'm stressing the bird doing this. It would be much eaiser throwing it over a wall and be done with it but I can't bring myself to do this because I have a conscience and ocean's of guild to back that up. Help. 😱✌🏻☘️
When this video started with the bird in a bowl & the blender & vinegar & the Asian guy…my Chinese Gf said she thought it was a cooking video…
Hi
What is the bloodline of your bird.thnx
Most are Houben and Vandenabeele.
Thnx men
U haven't made yet vedeo of all of ur breeding boxes which I suggested u......pls make it fast in detail with dimensions of each breeding box🙏👍
I apologize. The breeding boxes I used in the stock loft where temporary and I have taken them down. The breeding cages are 3'x3'x3' made out of 1"X1" galvanized wire. The breeding cages are very open because we do not have cold winters where I live in Hawaii. Let me know if you need any more info. Aloha, Sean
AlohaPigeons u HV taken off so presently wt are u using for breeding
I'm not breeding at this time but if I were, I would be using the breeding cages.
AlohaPigeons are these big breeding cages good for breeding,I mean do pair proper feed the young ones n take care in these big breeding cages,here in India they best size they say for breeding cage is 1.6'x1.6'x1.6'
Don't the pair lay eggs again while the previous baby Pegeons are not fully grown in these big cages
what happen no more videos if you need good birds i got them
I just picked one orphan pigeon... i dont know his age and I'm trying to feed him... anyone can help or advise. He looks much smaller than the one Im seeing here. I dont know where to get that milk neither..
Okay, I am adding that for people who might come to look for help in a similiar case. There is handrearing powder for budgies and parrots you can buy over the internet/pet shops. And that is basically the same as pigeon crop milk bcs both pigeons and parrots make crop milk. Just use that and mix/feed according to the instructions. At pet shops you can also buy the syringe and feeding tube to feed parrots/pigeons, or from the internet. But you also need to keep the bird warm. Pigeons are not so bad, but if they are not mostly feathered, they might freeze to death at room temperature. If they are mostly naked, small and much skin showing, use a hot water bottle and towels to make a nest and keep the baby warm. You can also buy reptile heat mats/cat heat mats with temperature regulation. And enough space so the bird wobbles a bit aside if it gets too warm. Always put a towel over the heat source so the bird is not in direct contact with it. You can use shelled lentils(quick cook lentils) as first protein rich food until you get the handrearing powder. It soaks in minutes, makes a fine gruel and offers enough nutrition in an emergency. Or quick cook oats, not cooked, just mixed with warm water into ..slurry.