Various nesting material
In January 2013 I have already published a report about the nesting material on this website. In the meantime I have gained experience with different nesting material. There were 7 nesting materials in total.
1. birch brushwood : is a very good nesting material and is well accepted by the pigeons. I have used it only once, because it was difficult for me to procure it.
2. tobacco stalks : the pigeons also find them pleasant. They have the advantage that they should keep away the vermin by their smell. It is a financial question if one wants to use them.
3.straw: According to my observation the pigeons are not so enthusiastic about straw. A lot of straw stalks are pressed flat. I always have the impression that the pigeons partly have trouble to take it up.
If they have the opportunity to find something else, then they leave the straw. It often slips in the nesting tray and there is danger that the young get straddle legs, because they have too little grip.
I find that it is not well suited as nesting material.
4.alfalfa hay:
Alfalfa hay has stable stalks, there the young have a good hold.
In my opinion, this is a very good nesting material. The pigeons like to use it for nesting. The stalks are round and stable. The young have a good hold in the nest. The alfalfa hay is mainly imported from the south of France. I could get it from a Reindeer - breeder. The reindeer eat only the leaves, the Stalks remain lying, I then cut them off in the length of 5 to 7 cm.
5.Scots pine needles. (Pinus sylvestris)
Waldkiefer
They are also gladly accepted by the pigeons. After a storm, they lie in large quantities under the pine trees on the ground and within the shortest time one has a feed bag filled with the needles. I have then always distributed the needles in the pigeonry like this.
6. ornamental grasses:
ornamental grasses
After cutting it is stored for about a month in a dry room. After that, I always cut them into about 5 to 7 cm long stems and they like to take them. Partly they leave the leaves.
7. shredded files: This, of course, is not real nesting material. I give it only from the 10th breeding day. Until then most of the Pigeons filled their nest bowl with nesting material. That is then only to keep them busy.
In this photo you can see it well: First there is alfalfa hay, when they have a real nest I give shredded files. These are then deposited only at the edge.
One also meets again and again pigeon breeders, who pack the nesting bowls with newspapers. In my opinion this is agreeable for the breeder, he does not have to clean the dirty nesting bowls with water, but he takes away the pigeon's occupation. When I see how most of my breeding pigeons carry the nesting material with enthusiasm into the cells, that is a reason to provide them with enough nesting material. When I distribute new nesting material in the pigeonry even some of the female brooders come down from the eggs to get nesting material
We should not forget that we small animal breeders, thus also Pigeon breeders, are on the radar of the NGOs for animal protection. The pictures of wrapped nesting bowls is just what the NGOs are waiting for. It shows them that we are not keeping pigeons in a species-appropriate way. They want
everything to be natural. Nesting bowls that are wrapped, are of course not species-appropriate. I would like to mention only one action of the NGOs. In 2022 "Breed pigeons Switzerland" has celebrated their hundredth anniversary with a large exhibition. The NGOs have taken the opportunity to make various demands. Among other things, that the pigeons in the cages have a place to sit. Thus, a wooden block was placed in each cage, which was well received by the pigeons. I ask myself, why was this not introduced by the pigeon breeders themselves? Why do laymen have to demand this?? They have also made other demands. The most impressive demand from the NGOs was that
no more pigeons should be hatched in brooding machines. This clearly shows what kind of expertise these people have. And they tell us pigeon breeders how we must keep the pigeons. For us pigeon breeders it is important that the husbandry is as species-appropriate as possible, so that we give the NGOs no objective reason to criticize it.
Walter Stettler CH Binningen www.flugtippler.ch