Mary Allen
Pigeons are sometimes picky seed pickers. To circumvent the problem, more and more keepers are turning to chicken breeding and using pressed grain. This solves problems but also opens up new ones.
Pigeons are grain-eaters. At least that is still the common opinion of many, and not only of pigeon fanciers. However, if you take a closer look at the living conditions of pigeons in the wild, you will notice that grains can only be considered as food for these animals to a very limited extent. At least grains in a dried state, as they come along in most pigeon feeds.
Actually, sprouted grain would be much more in line with the natural food supply of pigeons. There are also green fodder, minerals, and, last but not least, animal food components. As a rule, pigeon fanciers make sure that their animals are provided with everything they need. It is not for nothing that mixed grain feed has established itself across the board. It is supplemented by all kinds of additional feed. A real market has developed in this area in particular, and every breeder has his patent recipe that he swears by.
A Grain Picking
In poultry feeding, which is not so far removed from pigeon feeding as far as the ingredients are concerned, other paths were taken much earlier. Feeding with pure mixed grain feed is hard to be found here. The reasons for this are clear and just as understandable: every grain looks different; Shape, size and color vary widely, as do the ingredients in each one.
With mixed grain feed, there is therefore always a risk that the animals will eat selectively. This means that they pick out the grains that they particularly like or whose size and color particularly correspond to their eating pattern. Pigeon fanciers will quickly notice: round kernels are better than long ones, small ones better than large ones and smooth ones better than rough or rippled ones. Applied to practice, this means, for example, that wheat is more popular than barley or oats. Peas prefer to be picked than corn or broad beans.
Investigations of the crop content of pigeons have shown that even when feeding a small amount of mixed feed, a strikingly high number of individual grain types can be found depending on the pigeon. So some pigeons specifically prefer this or that grain type. Under certain circumstances, this can lead to an unbalanced diet with all its negative side effects, because the pigeons are no different than us humans. This is usually not particularly noticeable with show pigeons, after all, they don’t have to do much physically. With carrier pigeons it is quite different, laying chickens are another category. After all, they are the ones that are strictly selected and bred according to performance characteristics.
Still Picky When it Comes to Grist
So what could be more obvious – especially for chicken keepers – than to simply put the whole problem of feed intake aside. As a first step, they offered their animals ground grain. In theory, this meant that selective recording was no longer possible – at least in theory. In practice, it turned out very quickly that chickens and pigeons are extremely choosy, even when it comes to these tiny bits of food. So they went one step further and developed the so-called pressed grain. For this purpose, the individual feed components are finely ground and then pressed back into granular pellets.
This is done by a pellet press with the help of steam, fat, or molasses. This is important to keep the pellets stable over the long term. The diameter of the pellet depends on the diameter of the mold, and the length can also be varied. Pellet feeding has already established itself on a broad basis in poultry feeding. With pigeons, it is still in its infancy. On the one hand, the market is much smaller and, on the other hand, there is (still) hardly any demand. Pigeon breeders should not forgo the advantages of pellets.
Since the requirements of chickens and pigeons are not far apart, many breeders use pellets from chicken feed. They are either for chickens, pullets, or chicks. With the exception of very large pigeons, which can also handle chicken pellets, those for pullets or chicks are better suited. They are smaller and less angular, so the pigeons like to eat them. They closely resemble preferred grains such as wheat.
There are different opinions on how to feed the pellets. It can be useful to mix them into grain feed. But then there is again the danger that individual pigeons get a lot of it, while others get less or nothing at all. Such feeding is therefore only recommended if the pigeons only get a small amount of food at a time, which they can eat in about ten minutes. Then a big sorting is out of the question since the fastest possible feed intake is the top priority.
Useful for Parent Animals
A sensible alternative can be to make the entire feed ration out of pellets. This has the advantage – assuming the pigeons are hungry – that every pigeon eats it. However, the prerequisite for this is that the animals are allowed to eat twice – once pellets and once grains. Because a sole feeding of pellets has not prevailed even in research on pigeon husbandry.
If pellets alone are not enough, a pigeon fancier can confidently ask why he should feed pellets at all. As mentioned, pellets have a balanced composition in terms of nutrients. Even minerals are usually added. This has advantages, especially during the breeding season, when young pigeons and chicks are being bred. Even a few pellets are enough to fill the crop very nutritious. Pellets can be an important feed, especially for couples who feed their young animals a little less. The same applies to the period of transition from crop milk to grains.
However, you have to be careful that the animals always have enough water. In order for the pellets to dissolve into their components in the pigeon’s stomach, it needs more water than usual. There are breeds of pigeons that have slightly softer droppings. With them, this effect will be even stronger. The breeder has to weigh up whether he wants that. But he can take it easy on a try. In general, it remains to be seen whether the addition of pellets to pigeons will prevail in the long term. Although it is still in its infancy, when used in a targeted manner, many breeders no longer want to do without it.