Where Can I Buy Pigeons For Dog Training
Throughout the non-hunting season, trainers should keep their dog's hunting skills sharp by training with live birds whenever possible. Though depending on where you live, getting live birds to train with can be hard. In the following post, I will explain some local Pennsylvania sources to get birds, as well as ways to catch your own birds to keep and use as training tools.
where can i buy pigeons for dog training
One of the cheapest ways to get birds would be catching wild pigeons. This can be done in a few different ways, the easiest being using the LCS Pigeon Trap. Trapping pigeons is relatively easy to do, just place the trap in an area with high pigeon populations such as barns or abandon buildings. Use either a bait pile, which can be bird seed or shelled corn from your local feed store, or another pigeon in the trap cage to attract other pigeons into the cage. If you're not having luck at first, try getting them use to the cage and area by spreading around the bait your using for a few days to get them coming back. You should also try concealing your cage if possible.
If you don't have the time or want to trap pigeons, often times you can find sellers on local dog training or pigeon racing forums and craigslist. Pigeons bought over these mediums will usually run you $2-5 depending on the quality and the source of the birds. A great option for transporting birds is the LCS Bird Carry Cage.
Live game birds can be bought from local bird hatcheries; at the end of this article I'll list some great places local to Pennsylvania. These live game birds are going to be more expensive then pigeons and can normally run you up to $15 per bird.
Advice from Buck: "hen I buy birds, I try to give one or two days after receiving the birds before using them for training. Give them some water and feed, let them rest up, shipping can be hard on the birds."
The most important thing to keep the birds healthy is to achieve maximum ventilation with no draft. Pigeons create a lot of dander which is unhealthy for you and them. Poorly-ventilated lofts promote coccidiosis or pigeon lung disease, so there needs to be some air flow. However, the birds also need a way to get out of drafts which can kill them under the wrong circumstances. Some of the healthiest lofts I have ever seen are just three solid walls with the floor, roof, and one open face covered by hardware cloth. The birds had cubbies in which to shelter from any winds through the front of the building. A loft like this will also withstand some moderate overcrowding. Overcrowding happens. Maybe you are saving birds to sell to some chump who just got a bird dog puppy or maybe you are anticipating training with friends. The better the birds can breathe, the healthier they will be in crowded conditions.
You should also install a set of pigeon trap bobs over the entrance to allow the birds to enter but not leave. Pigeon trap bobs are readily available online in a variety of sizes. Once your birds have entered the loft through the bobs for the day, you will want a door you can close behind them to keep predators from entering or ambitious pigeons from exiting through the bobs.
You must be able to access your birds for feeding, cleaning, and collection for training, etc. This is usually a standard door on the back or side of the loft but again, be creative with lifting hatches and sliding panels to save space and material!
Consider your strategy for preventing birds from escaping while you are netting some to take out for training. In a very large loft, perhaps the door can close behind you while you work in the loft. For smaller lofts, plan to be able to block the opening with your body while you are reaching in for access.
Not all pigeons are created equal and not all are suitable for dog training. You need homing or racing pigeons. These birds are athletes in their own right and have been selectively bred over hundreds of years for speed, endurance, and an incredibly strong desire to make it back to their home perch.
My pigeon mentor had one bird fly over 600 miles in a single day to win a race where it competed against thousands of other birds. Pigeon racing is a huge rabbit hole that I invite you to go down once you start keeping birds; it is a lot of fun with a rich tradition and history.
Where do you get racing pigeons? Find a local racing pigeon club; these are some of the friendliest and most helpful groups around and if you take an interest in their sport, they will open the door to a whole network of pigeon people in your area with birds and the right knowledge to help you keep them healthy. If there are no clubs within reasonable driving distance, then Craigslist, auctions, and feed stores are all good places to look for homing pigeon breeders.
If you are training one dog, three to five pairs of homing pigeons will be more than adequate. This allows a buffer in case a bird is lost to a hawk or to disease. When the training season is over, you can add nest boxes to the loft and raise a new generation of training birds.
Palomacy thanks David, Bailey, Friederike and all who helped to make this rescue possible. While we are a San Francisco Bay Area rescue, our busy Palomacy Group is actively helping birds all over the country and beyond and we are extremely proud to have played a part in getting these poor Texas pigeons rescued. While it makes a life and death difference for these individuals, it does nothing to stop this cruelty. We are all harmed by the indifference and lack of compassion that permits this and so many other torments to continue. Learn more about how to love animals and to stop their exploitation here. Donate in support of our work here. Thank you.
For many non-dog owners, pigeons are seen mostly as a problem. Sure, a few people feed them in the park, but otherwise they smell up warehouses, poop on vehicles, and make nuisances of themselves for business and homeowners who grow weary of cleaning up after these uninvited guests.
Dog training refers to any teaching or exercising activity involving sporting dogs in which the primary purpose is to enhance field and/or water performance. Sporting dogs are used for hunting game birds and game mammals and include breeds as pointers, setters, retrievers and hounds.
Regulations governing the training of sporting dogs vary according to what species the dogs are being trained with and where the training takes place. In addition, the department also issues permits for dog trials occurring on both public and private land.
Dog training on state land is allowed on designated Class I and Class II dog training grounds. Class I grounds are open year-round for dog training activities and trainers may use equine animals on approved land. Class II grounds are those areas approved for dog training but may have specific regulations. Many Class II areas are closed from April 15 to July 31 to protect nesting birds. An interactive map of all dog training areas can be found here. Use the list of dog training areas by county to find your nearest training ground and see maps of the area as well as site-specific regulations.
A bird dog, hound dog and dog club training license authorizes the licensee to purchase, possess, release and use certain captive-bred species for dog training purposes. A training license does not allow for commercial shoots, selling, breeding or propagating of animals.
Bobwhite quail, pheasants and gray partridge must be banded around the leg with a bird dog training band supplied by the department prior to being released for dog training purposes. Captive mallards used for dog training shall be identified by one of the following methods prior to six weeks of age:
The licensee may not have any unused department-issued bird dog training leg bands with them while engaged in dog training activities. Wild birds and birds that are not banded or identified as required above may not be killed during training exercises.
A hound dog or club training license does not authorize commercial or organized shoots, selling, breeding or propagating of animals or training of dogs with the use of captive black bears on DNR lands. No person engaged in training dogs may kill or cause to be killed any free-roaming wild animal including unprotected wild animals without the proper licensing.
Bear dog training. Dogs may be trained using free-roaming wild bear statewide from July 1 through Aug. 31 as well as in Zones A, B and D during the bear hunting season when hunting bear with aid of dogs is open.
Rabbit and raccoon dog training. Dogs may be trained using free-roaming rabbits and raccoons year-round. A hound dog training license is required to train on DNR public hunting land from April 15 to June 30. A license is also necessary to train from May 1 to June 30 on all public and private land in the Northern Restricted Zone[PDF].
All other free-roaming game animals. Dogs may be trained on all other free-roaming game animals year-round. A dog training license is required to train on DNR public hunting land from April 15 to July 31. Training is not allowed from May 1 to June 30 on any public and private land in the Northern Restricted Zone[PDF].
A dog club training license [Download] / dog club training license [Printable] is issued to an organization that owns or leases land for the purpose of training bird or hound dogs to retrieve, point, flush or track game. A dog club training license allows the members of a club to purchase, possess and use approved captive wild animals for dog training on the club training grounds.
This license cannot be used on Class I and II dog training grounds. The dog club training application is the application for three types of licenses: hound dog training, dog club training and bird/hound dog trialing. Please use a separate copy for each type of license.
A dog club must consist of two or more people, one of whom is at least 14 years old. All members must be eligible to participate in legal dog training activities. A list of club members must be kept in writing and made available to the department upon request. 041b061a72