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Pigeon Farming Catching On Big Time
Looking for a sideline business? How about raising pigeons?

    Pigeon King International Inc., based in Waterloo, Ontario, says its 10-year pigeon breeding contracts are an excellent way to make money from otherwise empty older barns, grain bins, mobile homes and other buildings.

    Pigeon King's founder and CEO, Arlan Galbraith, is looking for large-scale breeders all across North America due to an expanding market for "Homer" racing pigeons and the smaller "High Flyer" pigeons.

    Homers are used in distance racing (at speeds of up to 50 mph flying 500 miles in a day) and High Flyers are used in endurance flying, where fanciers compete to see how long their bird will remain airborne.

    The sport of pigeon racing is gaining popularity around the world, according to Galbraith. Huge prize money beckons competitive pigeon racers, and proven high performance birds can be worth up to $100,000 each.

    There's also a large market for pigeon meat (squab) in a variety of ethnic markets, Galbraith points out.

    Even with hundreds of farms currently contracted across Canada and the U.S., with flocks sizes ranging from 100 to 2,000 pairs, Pigeon King International Inc. can't currently produce enough birds to meet the American market - and there are significant market opportunities in Europe and other parts of the world as well.

    Galbraith says the company has numerous holding and shipping barns in Ontario, Manitoba, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. In addition to his "contract flocks," Galbraith also owns and operates several U.S. breeding flocks, which range from 400 to 1,600 pairs.

    Pigeon King offers a variety of investment options with 10-year contracts: Clients may choose to invest $200 per young breeding pair which guarantees they'll be paid $25 per healthy bird they produce. Based on an average annual production of 10 offspring per pair per year, a 100-pair flock could earn $25,000 per year on the initial $20,000 investment.

    If clients choose to invest $500 per breeding pair, the company guarantees payment of $50 per healthy bird produced, or $50,000 annually.

    If clients choose to invest in squabing breeding stock, they pay $100 per pair and are then paid $10 per young healthy bird produced.

    "We also have a sub contracting program whereby an investor can purchase breeding stock from us and then sub contract them to individual farmers with no investment for stock by the farmer. We pay the sub contractor for all offspring at $50 per bird. The sub contractor then pays the farmer $25 or some other agreed amount per bird," Galbraith says. "This way the farmer gets a good income without having to invest in the breeding stock. He simply sets up his barn and supplies feed and labor. This program is profitable for everyone involved and the sub contractor makes an excellent income on his investment without a lot of work."

    New pigeon breeders need to invest money in either new or modified facilities to meet bird accommodation requirements.            "Breeding pairs should have access to a large wire mesh porch attached to the sunny side of the barn, so they can get outside. They love to sit outside whether it's sunny, rainy, or snowy," Galbraith says.

    In addition to basic feeders and waterers, the birds' housing must have plywood nesting boxes and perches with mesh screens below for catching droppings.

    "It may seem expensive to get set up, but you have your money back after a year or two of production," says Galbraith. "There's no quota or large equipment to purchase like there is in other farming enterprises like chickens or dairy, and all healthy young birds are picked up at your farm once per month, free of charge."

    The breeding stock supplied by Pigeon King comes with 20 percent additional breeding pairs at no extra charge to as an easy method of providing a one-year warranty. "You get to sell all of the extra young from the free pairs in addition to the pairs you pay for, so if you lose a few birds, they're already replaced," he explains. "However, if you lose a large number of birds (more than 20 percent), we'll still replace them."

At 20 weeks of age, all healthy offspring are ready to be sold back to Pigeon King and moved to a large holding facility from where they're either sold as breeding stock, or trained for several months before being sent to another barn for racing.

"We're the second largest supplier of breeding stock in the world and routinely ship birds in both directions across the U.S. border. We've also shipped birds as far overseas as Malaysia," he says.

"Pigeons can take extreme heat or cold better than chickens, and need 16 hours of light per day for maximum production," Galbraith says. "You can get good results from a naturally ventilated barn, or you can go to an insulated barn with small fans and some heat in the winter, if you prefer."

Pigeons' diet is simple and pelleted rations can be purchased at a feed mill that meet dietary needs of laying birds or young growing birds.

Galbraith has been breeding, flying and marketing pigeons for 54 years and says his Manitoba holding barn is the world's largest pigeon barn under one roof at 40,000 sq. ft. He's been contracting breeding flocks with individual family farmers for the past five years.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Pigeon King International Inc., Arlan Galbraith, Unit 4, 200 Northfield Dr. E., Waterloo, Ont., Canada N2K 4H2 (ph 800 985-6132; pigeonking@yossman.net; www.thepigeonflyer.com)


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2007 - Volume #31, Issue #4