Pigeons that cut through the frosty air or busily swarm in the snow prove the old truth that birds are not so much afraid of cold as hunger. Nevertheless, more coddled domesticated birds in winter require increased attention from humans, which will be discussed in the article.
How to equip a dovecote
Pigeons can safely withstand ambient temperatures up to –7 ° C. They can tolerate lower temperatures, however, for decorative breeds and chicks this can be dangerous. Nevertheless, the cold resistance of these birds does not mean at all that they feel comfortable in the cold. Therefore, pigeon breeders to create optimal conditions for the existence of birds in the pigeon and their development in every possible way warm it.Most often this is done with the help of polystyrene or special cotton wool, which are protected from peeling sheets of plywood or particleboard. All cracks are also carefully closed, since even a weak draft is worse for a bird than a severe cold. If the street temperature is very low, then depending on its level in the dovecote, either a heating device is installed or the calorie content of pigeon food increases.
If in summer there is enough sunlight entering the pigeon through the window, then in winter daylight hours have to be artificially extended to half a day using light bulbs. Experienced pigeon breeders recommend to bring the daylight hours to 15 hours in severe cold, while additionally feeding birds with high-calorie food.
Of great importance for the health of birds are fresh air in their home and the absence of high humidity. For this, the dovecote is equipped with ventilation in the form of an exhaust pipe located under the ceiling and installed at a height of 0.15 m above the floor of the supply pipe. However, in winter, the use of ventilation is fraught with the loss of precious heat in the room and the occurrence of draft. Therefore, the intake of air from the outside is minimized or completely stopped by means of valves on the ventilation pipes.
Did you know? In the Middle Ages, the price of a good carrier pigeon reached the value of a thoroughbred horse.
Nutrition
In winter, birds have to spend the energy received from food not only to ensure the vital functions and motor activity of their body, but also for its additional heating.
How to feed pigeons in winter
The winter menu of this bird should contain high-calorie foods. In addition, pigeon food should make up for the winter deficiency of vitamins.Therefore, a full-fledged pigeon diet in the cold season consists primarily of:
- oats;
- maize;
- barley;
- lentils;
- boiled potatoes;
- carrots;
- cabbage;
- apples
- bananas;
- rape seed;
- flax;
- sunflower;
- wheat bran;
- crushed lime;
- bone meal;
- vitamin and mineral premixes.
What can not be fed
Speaking about what is the best way to feed pigeons in winter, one should not forget that not all products are beneficial to the bird, and some of them are even dangerous for their health. It is not recommended to feed pigeons:
- millet;
- peas;
- wheat
- buckwheat;
- wiki.
- bread of any kind;
- cheese
- milk and sour cream;
- fish
- meat and products from it;
- citrus fruits;
- sweets;
- salty foods;
- fats in the form of fat and any oil.
How to drink
Watering pigeons who like to drink a lot in the winter is a big problem.
Outside, these birds are well protected from the cold by dense plumage, but the ingress of ice water or snow from the outside into the bird's organism leads to its overcooling, which can be fatal. Therefore, the owners in severe colds have to either replace cold water with warm water every couple of hours, or install drinking bowls with heating, or constantly fill the drinkers with small portions of water, which the pigeons will last for a maximum of an hour. The basic rule in this case is that the temperature of drinking water should not fall below +8 ° C.Important! It is strictly forbidden to water pigeons in the winter with melt water and even more so to give them snow.
Is it possible to keep outside
As already mentioned, domestic pigeons, with the exception of some decorative breeds and chicks, can easily withstand low temperatures. Therefore, they can be kept outdoors in winter if:
- there is protection from snow and cold winds;
- there are no severe frosts;
- high-calorie nutrition is present;
- there is constant access to water at an acceptable temperature;
- pigeons are protected from birds of prey and animals.
Winter dove behavior
The impression that street pigeons quite safely exist in winter in conditions of low temperatures, permanent feedlessness and difficult access to water is refuted by statistics, which testifies to more than three-fold short century of street birds in comparison with domestic ones. Nevertheless, large pigeon populations are constantly present in every city. Consider how these birds winter and what these birds do in winter to survive the cold times.
Did you know? Pigeons have been neighbors for several millennia. There is documentary evidence that more than five thousand years ago, these birds were already entered into everyday life in Mesopotamia.
Where to spend the night in the city
This bird, which is active in the daytime and visible almost everywhere on the streets, squares and squares of cities, disappears from the field of view of a person at night. And most people do not know where these birds sleep. Usually city pigeons find an overnight stay:
- in the attic rooms of houses;
- on the technical floors of buildings;
- under the ledges of the roofs;
- on the architectural details of old houses.
Where to eat
In search of food, these birds are capable of flying daily up to fifty kilometers. In the conditions of the city, pigeons are able to find a lot of food waste that remains from humans, but if possible, when the ground has not yet been covered with a thick snow cover in winter, these birds prefer to eat high-calorie seeds of cereal grass and other weeds in wastelands, squares and parks.When it snows, it becomes difficult to do this, so they have to switch to what is edible in the city streets. Also, there are always people who feed birds - various cereals are best suited for this.
What do they drink
Drinking, as already mentioned, is the biggest problem for pigeons in the winter. Ice water, not to mention snow, becomes a cause of overcooling of the bird's body, which is especially dangerous when there is a lack of good nutrition. This is one of the main reasons, along with feeding pigeons with bread, that the age of the street individual is so short.
But to find even ice water in winter in the frost for birds is quite difficult, since most open water bodies freezes. Sources of drinking for them are water taps, frost-free ponds near industrial enterprises, melting snow near warm sewer manholes, drops on the tips of icicles on sunny days.
Do they fly away
The answer to the question of why pigeons do not fly away to the warm regions for the winter lies in explaining why, in general, many birds fly south in the fall. They do this not at all because of fear of frost, as you might think. For example, wild geese, ducks and swans, due to the thick layer of subcutaneous fat, can easily withstand fairly low temperatures. However, the freezing of water bodies stops birds from accessing the food supply. It is because of the feedlessness that they are forced to leave their native lands.Pigeons, who know how to find food in winter, are spared the need to take long, difficult, troublesome and dangerous trips to foreign lands.
Do pigeons freeze
Dense plumage and warm fluff save birds from frost. With high-calorie nutrition, they can easily cope with lower (than –7 ° C) temperatures.
Important! To make pigeons easier to tolerate the night cold, which is facilitated by a filled goiter, it is necessary to second feeding in the evening.
Pigeons - both domestic and urban - exist near a person and solely thanks to him. And therefore, their well-being depends on how well he behaves in relation to his feathered companions of urban life.