If you’re wondering what you can feed to pigeons, whether they’re pet pigeons or stray pigeons on the roads, you should know what pigeon food consists of.
Let’s focus on the pet pigeons because you might have got a pigeon pair or two at home, and now you’re wondering what can you feed them.
One thing you must know is that pigeon food in the summer is a little bit different than the one in the winter. However, the basic ingredients are the same, but pigeon experts make a few changes according to the requirement.
Weather conditions, humidity, and environment play a role in determining what ingredients you should add to your pigeon food as the weather does affect pigeons.
Please be advised that I’m not a pigeon expert or a breeder. However, I sat down with my Uncle twice for this blog post and came up with a list of things to feed to the pigeons. My Uncle happens to be a pigeon expert as well as a breeder. He knows everything about pigeons, but I still don’t consider this blog post as advice. You should consult your veterinary clinic or reach out to your pigeon seller for the pigeon food recommendation.
Here are the things you can feed to your pigeons:
Corn
Corn is a cereal food for humans and livestock. And it can be processed into a wide range of useful chemicals. You can feed corn kernels to the pigeons. However, it’s usually cut into pieces and mixed in pigeon food and other ingredients.
Wheat
Wheat is an essential ingredient of pigeon food. It’s one of the most popular cereal grains globally and is widely used in human foods as well. It’s a necessary ingredient of pigeon food, whether you buy a packaged pigeon food or mix it up after buying components separately. Some pigeon breeders and experts feed pigeons solely on wheat for a specific time, but it also depends on the pigeons’ digestion and health.
Pearl Millet
Pearl Millet is another common cereal grain that is used in human foods. A lot of pigeon breeders feed only pearl millet to their pigeons. However, it can also be mixed up with the wheat and corn for preparing pigeon food in the summer season.
Sunflower Seeds
The sunflower seed comes from the sunflower. The sunflower seeds are used for making cooking oil. As far as pigeon food is concerned, sunflower seeds are an essential ingredient of pigeon food, especially in the winter. They are a source of energy, so a pigeon food made with sunflower seeds helps fight the cold.
Linseed
Common flax or linseed is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is a food and fiber crop cultivated in the colder areas of the world. Linseed is also included in pigeon food, especially in the winter season. They’re a fantastic source of power and energy for pigeons. However, pigeon experts and breeders prefer to include linseed in the winter season.
Boiled Rice
Boiled Rice could also be fed to the pigeons. Some experts include rice into the pigeon food. However, it’s not that common, and some experts argue that it’s not okay. However, boiled rice is quite alright. Plus, they could be used as an alternative to pigeon food.
Pigeon Food in the Summer
So a combination of corn, wheat, and pearl millet could be a complete diet full of healthy elements for your pigeons. Summer may not be as tricky for pigeons as humans, but you still need to take care of the water and food.
Pigeon Food in the Winter
The basic ingredients of the pigeon food remain the same in the winter: corn, wheat, and pearl millet. However, linseed and sunflower seeds are mostly included in the pigeon food in the winter. Both these seeds are an incredible source of energy to fight the cold season.
FAQs about Feeding Pigeons
Feeding pigeon shouldn’t be difficult if you know what can harm the pigeons and what can’t. Therefore, let me answer some of the most asked questions about pigeon foods:
What should you not feed pigeons?
You shouldn’t feed your pigeons rotten pigeon food for obvious reasons. It’s recommended to keep pigeon food away from rain and moisture to get rot. Pigeons could eat some of the grains and cut-up wheat bread along with pigeon food. Other than that, you should avoid feeding your pigeons.
What is the best food for pigeons?
A high-quality packaged food made with the combination of different grains and cereals is the best for pigeons.
What do you feed pet pigeons?
Pearl Millet, Corn, and Wheat. However, you can add sunflower seeds and linseed to the pigeon wheat and pearl millet.
Do pigeons eat rice?
Yes, but a pigeon expert told me that you should feed raw rice to the pigeons. It’s always recommended to feed boiled rice to the pigeons.
What do wild pigeons eat?
They eat all sorts of grains, cereals, and fruit and vegetable seeds they find in the parks, mountains, and canals or lakes.
What do pigeons eat in the city?
Pet pigeons usually eat pigeon food, consisting of corn, wheat, and pearl millet, while the stray pigeons that live under the bridges and on the buildings they eat grains and cereals from the ground, as well as people, feed them on the roads and in the parks.
What do baby pigeons eat?
Pigeons feed baby pigeons their pigeon milk for the first 4 to 6 days after birth. The female pigeon doesn’t have nipples, but instead, both male and female pigeons produce pigeon milk in their body, and they feed that babies that pigeon milk through their mouth.
Do pigeons eat sunflower seeds?
Yes. Pigeons eat sunflower seeds. It’s a significant part of the pigeon food for the winter.
What are pigeon feeding habits?
Pigeons don’t have feeding habits. However, they at least need to feed once a day. The pigeon pair with the babies often feed twice a day because they have to provide for their babies.
What do pigeons like?
One of the favorite things for pigeons is black chickpeas. They like many kinds of cereal and grains, but black chickpeas are their favorite ones.
