How to raise domestic pigeons: is it feasible to just buy the ones from the vegetable market and raise them?

The domestic pigeon is a type of pigeon domesticated from the rock dove. In our country, the folk tradition of raising domestic pigeons has a fairly long history. Even today, with communications so advanced, quite a few people are still keen on raising domestic pigeons themselves for food, or to experience the distinctive life of “sending messages by carrier pigeon”. So how do you raise domestic pigeons? Can you directly buy pigeon varieties from the vegetable market to raise?

1. Can pigeon varieties from the vegetable market be raised as domestic pigeons?

For many laypeople, apart from the vegetable market, it is usually rather hard to see pigeons. So quite a few people get a sudden impulse, buy several pigeons, and plan to keep them at home and raise them into “domestic pigeons.” Is this really feasible?

Pigeons at the vegetable market are mostly meat pigeons. They are relatively less alert and not very good at flying, so raising them as ornamental domestic pigeons is still possible, but they are not very suitable as carrier pigeons. Moreover, they were not raised from chicks, so once released they may never come back.

However, you can pair the pigeons up, and then after they hatch young pigeon chicks, train them gradually.

2. How do you raise domestic pigeons?

1. Prepare the breeding cage

Keeping pigeons at home is generally done with cage rearing, so the size of the cage needs to be chosen according to the number you want to raise. In addition, pigeons have the ability to fly, so it is best to choose a somewhat larger enclosure cage.

The rearing environment must be kept ventilated and dry, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, so that the pigeons can be given a comfortable growing environment.

2. Choose suitable breeding pigeons

Actually, if you want the domestic pigeons you raise to be both robust and alert, it is best not to buy pigeons from the vegetable market to raise, but instead to go to a specialized domestic pigeon market to select breeding pigeons with good immunity, good reproductive capacity, and relatively high alertness. If you want to raise them as carrier pigeons, then choose specialized carrier pigeon breeds.

3. Daily feeding

Feeding pigeons is relatively simple. Paddy rice, peas, corn, wheat, sorghum, mung beans, and hempseed are all feed that is very suitable for feeding pigeons. In addition, you can add some cod liver oil, bone meal, shell powder, etc. to the feed, which can promote the growth and development of the pigeons.

4. Daily management and training

Usually give the pigeons more sun, and give the pigeons a bath once every half month (spray them with water using a sprayer).

In addition, if they are not for eating but are raised as carrier pigeons or racing pigeons, then you also need to arrange regular daily training for the pigeons. The training content is mainly training for home flying; pay attention to fixed times, fixed locations, and timely records.

Finally, you also need to do a good job of preventing diseases in domestic pigeons. The rearing site must be disinfected every week, and contact between the pigeons and other poultry should be avoided. Pigeons that have already contracted disease should be isolated for treatment.