Hi there,
So this is a bit of a weird one. There’s a racing pigeon that’s been coming in the garden for few weeks now. He usually goes to our bird table and has some food. The first day he came he looked exhausted and really underweight, so I was relieved to see him eating. I caught him one day (he’s pretty tame so it wasn’t hard and I was careful with him and his wings), and we got in touch with a local pigeon racer who agreed to look after him and contact the owner. The owner got back in touch and said that this particular 2 yr old pigeon had been for a race but never returned. Said owner also wasn’t willing to make the 1.5hr drive to come get him. So he off-handishly asked for the pigeon to be released on a sunny day with the hopes of him flying home on his own. Pigeon was released a couple of days ago, and popped up in the garden today. Do I contact the owner again or do I let the pigeon feed off of our garden and be happy. The owner obviously didn’t care enough to come get him and make sure he was safe (as there are a lot of birds of prey that predate pigeons on the way from here to there and he hasn’t been in touch and he will know the pigeon hasn’t returned home yet). Now comes the part I’m worrying about. If he does decide to stay permanently, do we need to build him some sort of shelter? He’s obviously been bred in an environment where he’s been fed and given shelter. I really don’t know what to do. I don’t want to send him back into the hands of a money-making owner who doesn’t seem to care about him, but I don’t want him to not be looked after and die outside instead. Advice would be much appreciated
I think I found a racing bird. I gave him food and water, the union also says give them rice but I don't know if I should wash the grains or just give them as the come. Anyway gave him carrots and water for now. Also a ten for him to sleep in.
Are there any pigeon clubs around the area?
