Basic feeding: grains, mixes, grit and water

Part three of the series — if you missed setting up the loft, read it first.

What do pigeons eat?

Pigeons are grain eaters first and foremost. A balanced diet combines three things:

• Carbohydrates (energy): maize, wheat, barley, millet.
• Protein (growth and feathers): legumes — lentils, small chickpeas, cooked soya, dried peas.
• Fats (concentrated energy and glossy feathers): hulled sunflower, linseed, safflower — in small amounts.

A basic maintenance mix

A practical mix for birds that are not breeding (by weight):

Buy grain that is clean, dry and free of any musty smell — mouldy grain is a direct cause of liver and fungal disease.

Amount and timing

• 30–40 g per bird per day in two feeds (morning and dusk).
• Remove what is left after 20 minutes. Food left out all day fattens the birds and attracts rats.
• A healthy bird comes down to eat at once — watch the one that does not.

Adjusting for the season

• Breeding: raise the protein (legumes to 25%) for crop milk and growing squabs.
• Moult: raise the oil seeds a little (sunflower and linseed to 10%) for glossy new feathers.
• Winter: more maize for energy and warmth.
• Summer: less maize and oil seeds, more barley.

Grit and minerals

A permanent grit dish — small stones + crushed shell + a little charcoal and mineral salt. Grit grinds the grain in the gizzard and shell provides calcium. A calcium shortage means thin-shelled eggs and weak squabs.

Water

• Clean water changed daily in a closed drinker.
• Scrub the drinker with a brush twice a week.
• Apple cider vinegar (a tablespoon per litre) two days a week reduces bacterial growth — it is not a medicine.

Common mistakes

1. Bread and cooked rice as the staple.
2. Wet grain, or grain from a bag left open for months.
3. Food available all day.
4. Forgetting grit — the most common deficiency in beginners' lofts.

Next and final part: the first 90 days with the birds.