An exhausted homing pigeon landed in my garden today. And wouldn't leave even after feeding him. What do I do with him? He has a ring on his leg.

I have three pheasants picking round the garden. The snow is criss-crossed with their big footprints. I have nuts in the hanging feeder for the other birds (lots of competition and noise going on) but any ideas what I can feed the pheasants?

My mother saw one of the cats sitting within a metre of one of the pheasant syesterday. Neither seemed perturbed. The cat is a bit dozy and it's more a matter of ''uh.. what are you?"

Pheasants typically eat seeds and some insects.* According to wikipedia some I am guessing that they will eat what the other birds eat.
As regards some birds throwing out food to get what they want I am told that there are some birds which are ground feeders and they will only eat off the ground and the best way of keeping them with a constant supply is to have the aerial feeders throwing their food down to them.

*Standard warning on wikipedia

There's a green snow-free patch out the back that they seem to like. I'll put some seeds down there and see what happens - thanks Manfred!

Originally Posted by dalywise

An exhausted homing pigeon landed in my garden today. And wouldn't leave even after feeding him. What do I do with him? He has a ring on his leg.

Don't know much about homing pigeons but with the ring, there's a code that identifies the bird and it's owner.
Check out interBUG Homing Pigeon: Lost Pigeon: Care and Identification for how to read the code, as well as some basic advice on found birds.

The Irish Homing Union may be of some help. Irish Homing Union - Homepage

By the way, feed it seed and give it water, after a while it's likely it'll head home on its own. But it mught be looking more for shelter right now.

Originally Posted by maxthedog

Very good link. I am roasting beef during the week. I won,t season it and when cooked, I will leave the fat to cool in a dish. The fat should settle too the bottom and from this, I will make fat balls as recommended.

The RSPB recommend not doing that Max -

"Fat from cooking is bad for birds. The problem with cooked fat from roasting tins and dishes is that the meat juices have blended with the fat and when allowed to set, this consistency makes it prone to smearing, not good for birds' feathers. It is a breeding ground for bacteria, so potentially bad for birds' health. Salt levels depend on what meat is used and if any salt is added during cooking.

Lard and beef suet on their own are fine as they re-solidify after warming and as they are pure fat, it is not as suitable for bacteria to breed on."

Survival of the fittest.....let the weak die.....

Originally Posted by Delarivier

I have three pheasants picking round the garden. The snow is criss-crossed with their big footprints. I have nuts in the hanging feeder for the other birds (lots of competition and noise going on) but any ideas what I can feed the pheasants?

My mother saw one of the cats sitting within a metre of one of the pheasant syesterday. Neither seemed perturbed. The cat is a bit dozy and it's more a matter of ''uh.. what are you?"

Pheasants are economical to feed as they'll eat the cheaper seed mixes that have a lot of corn. They'll also mop up oats, barley or poultry feed which you can buy from livestock feed suppliers.

Originally Posted by Baron von Biffo

Pheasants are economical to feed as they'll eat the cheaper seed mixes that have a lot of corn. They'll also mop up oats, barley or poultry feed which you can buy from livestock feed suppliers.

They are always around our sheep troughs, eating the leftover barley.

Originally Posted by Baron von Biffo

The RSPB recommend not doing that Max -

"Fat from cooking is bad for birds. The problem with cooked fat from roasting tins and dishes is that the meat juices have blended with the fat and when allowed to set, this consistency makes it prone to smearing, not good for birds' feathers. It is a breeding ground for bacteria, so potentially bad for birds' health. Salt levels depend on what meat is used and if any salt is added during cooking.

Lard and beef suet on their own are fine as they re-solidify after warming and as they are pure fat, it is not as suitable for bacteria to breed on."

Left over mince pies so...if there are any??.....


used up my christmas cake last year...looks like I may be doing the same this year..if http://www.irelandsweather.com/forum...608057ee15047b are to be believed...they were right this time out!!....SIGH!!!