3 ms·
There are parts of the world where pigeons are bred for food in the same way chicken might be, and in fact, it can be considered a delicacy. When I was a kid (
by Ozzie_osman 2y ago
There are parts of the world where pigeons are bred for food in the same way chicken might be, and in fact, it can be considered a delicacy.
When I was a kid (in Cairo) my father let me keep a small pigeon coop on the roof. We'd buy a few, then you have to keep them locked in the coop for a couple weeks so that they "home" there. After that, they'd be allowed to leave and fly wherever they'd like, and they'd always come back to the coop to nest at night. You'd feed them once a day or so by throwing some grain on the floor outside the coop, and they'd learn to associate a cue (like waving a flag) with feeding time and fly back to eat.
That said, I could never bring myself to eat them (not because of disgust, but just because at that point they felt like pets).
- card_zero 2y agoI observed a group of urban pigeons and their nesting habits for a couple of years (you gotta have a hobby), and I started getting upset by threats to their success, like when jealous humans put up netting, or when a buzzard shows up, or when a chick gets sick and dies ... until it occurred to me that I was more invested in their lives than they were. They care deeply about the competitive process of making chicks, defending nest sites, getting the best twigs and food, and about the eggs ... but once they hatch, if a chick vanishes (they usually only have two at a time), the parents' reaction is "Yay! Time to make more! Let's remodel the nest and get busy!". They're at it again within half an hour, with no sign of distress. I guess that's life as a prey animal. There are quaint old picturesque dovecotes in a lot of historic places ... those were for harvesting the squabs, to turn into pies. On reflection I think this was a reasonable arrangement for keeping things in balance (a modest proposal, even).