'Stop the Pigeon'...'Stop the Pigeon'

[Minty]

3 guesses to what kids programme it comes from?:lol: :lol:

Anyway enough of that.
Pigeon, would you feed a shot pigeon to your bird after its Frozen Quarantine?

Removing the Pellet if still in there offcoarse but i have mixed feelings on the matter. Feral is a No No for me but a Woody maybe but even then not sure?
Same with a dove (had a arguement with another Falconer as i said a Dove is classified Vermin but he disagree....Perhaps somebody can put us straight on this)
I just do not like the idea of feeding Bird apart from Pheasant Partridge or Quail to my Bird.
Do you feed your BOP Pigeon?

[Hacker]

collred dove is classed as a pest .

[Hacker]

Sorry, Collared Dove

[JFSeaman]

3 guesses to what kids programme it comes from?:lol: :lol:

Anyway enough of that.
Pigeon, would you feed a shot pigeon to your bird after its Frozen Quarantine?

Removing the Pellet if still in there offcoarse but i have mixed feelings on the matter. Feral is a No No for me but a Woody maybe but even then not sure?
Same with a dove (had a arguement with another Falconer as i said a Dove is classified Vermin but he disagree....Perhaps somebody can put us straight on this)
I just do not like the idea of feeding Bird apart from Pheasant Partridge or Quail to my Bird.
Do you feed your BOP Pigeon?
I never feed my bird any part within 2 inches of shot. Lead poisoning kills.

My bird is 2lb 2oz, I weigh 220lb, 100 times that of the bird. Assuming the bird got one accidental lead pellet weighing 1gram, it would be the equivelent of me ingesting 100grams of lead. Nearly 4 ounces.

Of couse if it was steel is bismouth based shot with no lead and therefor safe, its just rangle.

The other part of this, non-shot pidgeon or dove after the freezing just makes me queesey. Anything else is fine but I ear that Moorehen makes the bird stink and caused sour crop in a gos.

[Minty]

I never feed my bird any part within 2 inches of shot. Lead poisoning kills.

My bird is 2lb 2oz, I weigh 220lb, 100 times that of the bird. Assuming the bird got one accidental lead pellet weighing 1gram, it would be the equivelent of me ingesting 100grams of lead. Nearly 4 ounces.

Of couse if it was steel is bismouth based shot with no lead and therefor safe, its just rangle.

The other part of this, non-shot pidgeon or dove after the freezing just makes me queesey. Anything else is fine but I ear that Moorehen makes the bird stink and caused sour crop in a gos.

You say anything else is fine but Would you or do you feel the same about Magpie or crow?

[Hacker]

Minty, if shot with an air pellet, yes feed it after removing the bullet and as you say after freezing to kill frounce.
I would not feed anything shot with a shotgun unless shot with non toxic.
Steel is quite good for decoy pigeon shooting in large numbers price wise compared to other non toxic loads.
To save freezer space just debreast the pigeon.

[Saker-Clive]

I would feed my birds on Wood pigeon, Magpie and crow and as I shoot them with a rifle (bullet) there is very little chance that there will be any lead in the bird. I always check when cleaning it out but if you are really worried, check a cheap second hand metal detector or if you know someone with one ask to borrow it just to make sure that there is no lead from a previous shooting....................................you can also check the pigeons mouth to see if it has any frounce in the later stages; just look for the white cheesy growths in it. Then once you're happy, freeze it.;-)

[Tarqers]

i think that wild food fed to your hawks can only boost there imune system,as long as they are wormed once a year,they probably have more chance of perishing through concealed infection than frounce,,,,,tarqs

[Jack Merlin]

I have been feeding feral pigeons for years. BUT I would not say "without problems". My birds have caught Frounce. And my feral pigeons are all trapped from a relatively clean source, yours might not be.

OK, so what else? The facts: All wild birds can (and most probably do) carry Frounce. It is not just pigeons. Frounce is NOT killed by freezing. That's a falconry myth. The good news is that Frounce is usually easily cured if caught in time. Learn to recognize the symptoms. I just use the medications sold for curing Canker in pigeons. It is the same disease or very similar. Need to dose over several days.

Even better news is that your bird will then probably be immune to further infections of Frounce.

Why do falconry birds get frounce? Because they are usually in worse physical condition than wild raptors. Wild peregrines, for example, predate pigeons all the time and seem to manage fine.

But feral pigeons carry other diseases, too. So if in doubt, don't feed them or anything else that might harm your bird for that matter.

The bottom line is good management. I know one falconer who has been feeding his team of falcons on pigeons for over 50 years without a serious problem and another almost as long. I keep a loft of feral pigeons which are killed for my goshawks as I need them. And, yes, I feed them fresh and warm. The birds have had frounce, been cured, and not had frounce again.

As regards lead shot, I don't think a metal detector would pick it up (non-ferrous metal), would it? Anyway, maybe it would be a good idea to test the detector first to make sure that it will detect! Having said that, I never had a problem feeding shot birds and animals with caution -- yet!

I am not a vet so you take the above advice at your own risk.

[Harrisii]

personally i would not feed my bird with pigeon or anything for that matter which has been shot. why take the chance??
Not so long ago i fed my harris on a rabbit which she caught.
the following day i picked up a pellet and for some reason opened it to find a 22 airgun pellet in the cast. the rabbit must have been shot, obviously, but how are we to know some plonker is out having pot shots at bunnies on the hill with a sluggy. She was lucky she brought it back up.
its a different matter when you give your bird food which you know has been shot. there is a small chance there may be a lead shot which you missed.
why take the risk. plenty of good quality food can be gotten either by the birds catching it or buying it in frozen. it aint soo expensive that you have to feed your birds shot game. not for me folks, i wouldnt take the risk.
the only way to garentee your birds safety is not to feed it. just my opinion.

[Tarqers]

I have been feeding feral pigeons for years. BUT I would not say "without problems". My birds have caught Frounce. And my feral pigeons are all trapped from a relatively clean source, yours might not be.

OK, so what else? The facts: All wild birds can (and most probably do) carry Frounce. It is not just pigeons. Frounce is NOT killed by freezing. That's a falconry myth. The good news is that Frounce is usually easily cured if caught in time. Learn to recognize the symptoms. I just use the medications sold for curing Canker in pigeons. It is the same disease or very similar. Need to dose over several days.

Even better news is that your bird will then probably be immune to further infections of Frounce.

Why do falconry birds get frounce? Because they are usually in worse physical condition than wild raptors. Wild peregrines, for example, predate pigeons all the time and seem to manage fine.

But feral pigeons carry other diseases, too. So if in doubt, don't feed them or anything else that might harm your bird for that matter.

The bottom line is good management. I know one falconer who has been feeding his team of falcons on pigeons for over 50 years without a serious problem and another almost as long. I keep a loft of feral pigeons which are killed for my goshawks as I need them. And, yes, I feed them fresh and warm. The birds have had frounce, been cured, and not had frounce again.

As regards lead shot, I don't think a metal detector would pick it up (non-ferrous metal), would it? Anyway, maybe it would be a good idea to test the detector first to make sure that it will detect! Having said that, I never had a problem feeding shot birds and animals with caution -- yet!

I am not a vet so you take the above advice at your own risk.
good post that man,,,tarqs

[Gary Timbrell]

It depends on your source and how you use and prepare it. It's also a question of weighing up the pros and cons and of your own personal opinion of the risks.

My personal opinion is there is nothing like pigeon for keeping a hawk or falcon at the peak of fitness in the hunting season when she's being hunted hard and often. If you feed it warm, fresh and bloody it's like giving a hawk Red Bull!

They like it so much I have often successfully used it to call in a falcon with a full crop. It beats a manky defrosted d.o.c. with questionable food value any day.

Gary

[Hardcore Hawker]

Also have been feeding (steel shot ) pigeons to my birds for years now they really are one of the best food items available to the falconer as the bones are also of a size which is manageble to most medium sized hawks upwards unlike the bones of larger prey like pheasant and rabbit, hawks will eat the bones in these prey items but seem to eat them whole which can take some time to be broken down by the birds gastric fluid.I have had trouble in the past with hawks that have required administration of fluids via a crop tube in order to fully digest large bones from rabbits legs maybe slight dehydration played a part in this as it has only occurred early season when the weather has been unusually warm.

[Mary Quite Contrary]

[quote=Jack Merlin]

As regards lead shot, I don't think a metal detector would pick it up (non-ferrous metal), would it? ]



Yes it would

[HunterPaul]

great food source and as your bird is having leg problems theres not much better in my opinion for the rehab ... remember though to thoroughly check it as it may contain shot from previous incidents and not just the one you fataly shot it with ...same goes for just about everything out there ...rabbits carry shot like its part of them, feel through the meat with your fingers... but i would have no probs feeding it to my bird.

[Harrisii]

i aint sure about where you guys are from but up here we have a cattle market which sells everything from nit combs to combine harvesters and everything in-between. pigeons etc can be purchased here and are relatively cheap, either that or get to speak to some pigeon racers. they often cull their dead wood and i am sure they would oblidge if you offered a small price. (alive rather than dead).
just a thought.

[Bird_Dog]

I've seen hand held shot detectors for hunters at gun shows. Thought about buying one then decided that a lead pellet could fracture and a small piece might be fed... so why risk it. Saw a real nice peregrine died from lead once. I'd be too ashamed to tell another falconer I kill my bird because I fed it lead.

-- BIRD_DOG

[Pitbull]

i dont know what air-rifles you are using but when we have lamped them in the farms the shots go straight through the pigeon.

[Red-Tailed-Hawk]

the program is VALIANT that is a funny movie

[Gary Timbrell]

the program is VALIANT that is a funny movie


I thought it was Dick Dastardly. I really need to get out more now my season has finished.

[Saker-Clive]

I thought it was Dick Dastardly. I really need to get out more now my season has finished.

Close GT but it was Dick Dastardly & Mutley in their Flying Machines...........HeHeHeHeHeHe........:supz:

http://www.hotink.com/wacky/dastrdly/