AIBU to ask for help - lost homing pigeon?

[Periperipissoff]

Help me!

A homing pigeon has been hanging around for days, it's dirty, tired and soooo friendly.

It's beautiful, white with what looks like paint under its wings.

I read on here a while ago that if you report a lost homing pigeon they are collected and destroyed because obvs they aren't good homing pigeons anymore.

Is this true? Reading mixed reports about this online.

Sorry for using aibu for this but I don't know what to do. I don't want the little guy to get pts 😔

Thankyou I'll get that sorted!

Currently have a dog crate, mirror, shelf thingy, toys, pigeon pants and a fleece cat bird bed in my basket on Amazon waiting for when the vet says he's OK and providing a full intro with ddog goes OK.

If not DP does actually know someone down the road who keeps them as pets, it's just never come up in conversation til now, so Batman will be looked after either way 🥰

@Periperipissoff
I love you
And Batman

I had NO idea that this was such a cruel sport. I'm guessing it's dominated by men

Very sad.

Last summer saw a man on a 50cc bike with a basket of pigeons strapped to the back on the A19.. . How full of fumes they would be able to fly I have no idea...

For what it’s worth, “release doves” are another trend that needs to die out.

Often just bred for their colour rather than homing ability, they’re just abandoned upon release. Those who are homed are likely to be homed using the same methods as racing birds.

Either way, breeding animals and putting them at intentional risk for money isn’t something I can get behind.

There's a tag on the leg. We got one back to it's owner who was very grateful. Hope you find it's owner.

We definitely need regular updates and photos!

I'll definitely update! Im surprised at how much this little bird has got to us already, I suspect DP is in love because he thinks he's been 'chosen' as Batman kept landing on his shoulder when he went outside 🙄

Daft question but what's the difference between a dove and a pigeon?
(I'd have automatically thought he's a dove as his features are streamlined though a fit racing bird would be too )

As I've never even given any thought to pigeon racing I've gone down the Rabbit Hole of searching ....

One flight path is from France so they make a dangerous trip across the Channel , nowhere to rest or refresh themselves.
One site ( okay PETA who I know a lot of people don't agree with ) has a statistic of 5.500 birds released and only 625 make it home .

But it has made me think now , it's always been "Oh it's their homing instinct that gets them home" but now I see what draws them.
It's like Oh racehorses love to run that's why they keep going when the jockey falls off ....No , these highly social , adrenalised animals see safety in their herd , so seek to keep up with the other horses .

This happened to me!! Only a few weeks ago a racing pigeon took sanctuary in my garden and fucking attacked me whenever I went near it.

I took a picture of its little number and joined loads of ‘lost reaching pigeon’ Facebook groups, it’s owner found my post eventually and arranged to collect it

Pigeons are such lovely, clever birds! I made friends with a wild one a few years ago, put a water bath out for him which he loved (and was quite territorial over!). They are however prey for other birds, cats and even humans so keeping him safe should be a priority.

I think it's wonderful you have taken to Batman and he to you! May you have long happy lives together! <3

Nothing, really. They’re all Columbidae.

This is a pigeon, a white pigeon (which is what all your “release doves” also are).

The type of pigeon you see on the street at domestic Rock Doves. They used to love on cliff faces. In the UK your only wild pigeon is the wood pigeon. Then you have collared doves which are the tiny little beige coloured ones with a black ring on their neck.

But they’re all the same type of bird.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/taxonomy/Columbidae#

Crikey mikey, I daren't let DH see this thread, he'd go looking for pigeons to rescue 💖. What absolutely wonderful little creatures.

@Periperipissoff and @ZetuianRose , please accept a virtual hug via the wonders of the www, from this wee chunky Scottish lady 🤗. I will raise a glass to you both tonight, you're both lovely 🌹

I’m so pleased with the love pigeons are getting on this thread 🥰

What a lovely thread 😍

Thanks for the education @ZetuianRose

What a lovely and educational thread. And a very lucky Batman to have found you Xx

My DS (now 24 yo ) used to call them "chickens" when he was little so to this day it is Oh look , chickens when we see a flock of them.

I have also told a nasty little kid off when he ran and jumped into a group of street pigeons ( chasing is one thing but this kid could've done harm )
His Dad was torn between yelling at his child and yelling at me , luckily he was more open mouthed and rambling , I said "They are living creatures and they don't deserve that "

I'm not the worlds biggest fan of pigeons but I cannot abide wanton cruelty .

@70isaLimitNotaTarget haha, I also call them chickens! They’re glitter chickens, and gulls are seachickens 🤣

One of my birds is called Nugget (short for Chicken Nugget, his nickname when he was little).

Yes, it’s very annoying when kids chase birds and their parents just let them 🙄 kids should be taught to respect other beings.

Really interesting info about racing pigeons. Hoping this little fella is OK.

We just registered our chickens. Took about 3 minutes, completely free. Bird flu is a really nasty disease so it's very important. Please don't ignore it

Boo just called the vet and apparently I was told the wrong info by "one of the younger ones".....they are emergency only on Saturdays so I can't collect batman til Monday 😡 she said there's no notes saying he's injured etc. though which is good news!

I did argue back that it would take 5 mins but I know this woman and she is a bit of a knob, and tbf I do want to ask for some of the treatments mentioned earlier so i gave up, Monday it is!

We have a semi-pet dove, who I rescued from the barn cats as he fell from the beams of our livery barn when he couldn't quite fly. So I brought him home and kept him in our chicken cage (6 foot high, 12 foot long with roof!) until he could properly fly, then I released him. I say him, we obviously have no idea and he ended up with the name Doveling. Since then he comes back for food, and has started bringing another fancy dove with him who we have named Bigfoot as he has feathers all around his feet too.
They're not about right now .or I'd have nabbed a photo. Doveling is also all white.
Sadly his parents did come back to the barn this year to nest again, but our local (and very rare!) peregrine falcon dived bombed one of them. It managed to fly away but they haven't been back since.

Have a look online for treatments and meds. Harkers 4 in 1 is very easy to get hold of, it’s even on Amazon! Same for ivermectin drops - harkers make one but I usually get different ones from other websites.

these are my main two go-to stores … knock yourself out 😂

https://www.mercasystems.com/

https://vetagrostore.com/

Ah thank you so much I did see them on Amazon but wasn't sure they were the right ones. In the basket they go!!

as you can tell we're very much "we have no idea what we're doing but we'll just go with it" 🤣

We've been doing lots of research and I've joined a few pidge groups on FB reading all the posts on them so yea, we'll see how we get on and fall back on the guy DP knows if we're out of our depth looking after.....a pigeon 😃

the DC are very excited they are looking forward to having an actual pigeon hanging around the house!! Older one wants to train him to sit on his shoulder when he's gaming 🙄 I do hope it works out.

Will update on Monday when i pick him up 🐦

And thank you for all the advice ZetuianRose it's very appreciated, and thanks everyone for not saying its a ridiculous idea because we're complete amateurs. We will do the right thing by our little feathered friend whatever that looks like 🤗