Big Al Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 http://m.farminglife.com/news/farming-news/hundreds-of-dead-pigeons-are-falling-out-of-the-sky-1-6515303 Has anyone any experience of this, or is it something that occurs seasonally. Also, if it is well known, are the birds safe to eat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andylea Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 No mate,not where large numbers are concerned,over the years shot a few with a nasty growth in the neck area and the bird was very thin so probably didn't have long left.had a quick flick through the article,and it wouldn't surprise me if it came out that a poison was used, Be very sad if this was the case, will affect the food chain.if birds of prey are being affected as mentioned they will soon find the source.may be best left out of the oven too until the source is found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 About a week after he wrote this artical, I shot 7 pigeons roosting in the same area. They were all in good shape and I ate them without any problems (well I'm still living ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neutron619 Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) For anyone worried about this, note the bits in the lower paragraphs: they appear to be attributing this to two avian diseases, one Trichomonas gallinae and the other to Chlamydia psittaci. The former bacteria is harmless to humans and need not be worried about. The latter can infect humans, causing psittacosis or Parrot Fever, but is rarely fatal. It must be rare, given the number of pigeons that get eaten by PW members (who then presumably survive infection). By the looks of it, it's not common in wood pigeons and it's even less common in humans. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis Update: clicked on a random link from google - it turned out to be this one. See section one, first sentence for an idea of just how rare Psittacosis is. No need to worry chaps - none of us are going to die from this. http://www.healthline.com/health/psittacosis#Overview1 Edited February 23, 2015 by neutron619 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted February 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Excellent. I have had the meat from 5 birds in quarantine since Saturday. Time to break out the pan! Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Was talking to my brother in law yesterday who has a farm in the glens. He told me he found 3 pigeons lying dead on his lane last week. Nobody shoots his ground apart from me!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 'Hundreds of pigeons falling out of the sky' and 'killer disease' are ridiculous sensationalist headlines. There are usually some of these incidents reported every year throughout the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldcraft Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 People wudnt report it if it didn't happen wud they. Obviously no killer Decease tho. Loving the hat dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 'Hundreds of pigeons falling out of the sky' and 'killer disease' are ridiculous sensationalist headlines. There are usually some of these incidents reported every year throughout the UK. We drive around all weekend till we find them and just pick them off the field and place them in lines for the picture??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 We drive around all weekend till we find them and just pick them off the field and place them in lines for the picture? ? ? Oh, so you don't find them in lines then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 'Hundreds of pigeons falling out of the sky' and 'killer disease' are ridiculous sensationalist headlines. There are usually some of these incidents reported every year throughout the UK. The fella who wrote the artical is an uncle of mine. I said on another thread he is prone to exageration , so I would take what he said with a pinch of salt. However, his son was shooting woodcock & found about half a dozen dead or dying pigeons in the one glen. These birds hadn't been pricked by shot as they plucked them to find out and all the birds were in very poor condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) In that case, I'm very surprised Farming Life published it. They've just gone way down in my estimation. I am usually very sceptical about these types of stories but I had heard the same theory from another (unrelated) source from within Countryside Alliance Ireland. It sounds a bit like Chinese whispers now. quote name="ollie" post="2765927" timestamp="1424888641"] The fella who wrote the artical is an uncle of mine. I said on another thread he is prone to exageration , so I would take what he said with a pinch of salt. However, his son was shooting woodcock & found about half a dozen dead or dying pigeons in the one glen. These birds hadn't been pricked by shot as they plucked them to find out and all the birds were in very poor condition. Edited February 25, 2015 by Big Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 As i said in the other thread, Load of rubbish! Nobody has been getting pigeons locally all winter because they didnt flock up. This was because of the beech and mild winter combination. I shot 15 on saturday, filled with ivy, wheat (because there has been a little bit of drilling)and, believe it or not - beech!!! 2015 could be a great year for pigeons. Thats my prediction, as long as we dont get a good may, which will help the beech mast again.I have heard these old wive tales before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) As i said in the other thread, Load of rubbish! Nobody has been getting pigeons locally all winter because they didnt flock up. This was because of the beech and mild winter combination. I shot 15 on saturday, filled with ivy, wheat (because there has been a little bit of drilling)and, believe it or not - beech!!! 2015 could be a great year for pigeons. Thats my prediction, as long as we dont get a good may, which will help the beech mast again.I have heard these old wive tales before.The reason for this thread was not to find out why the pigeons have been scarce in NI this year. That has already been covered elsewhere. I was interested to hear of the legitimacy of the claims made in Farming Life and the diseases mentioned. I was particularly interested in hearing of any similar experiences from outside our island. While I now agree that the story has no proper legitimacy, the diseases listed are not old wives tales. I feel I was right to open this to an audience outside the NI thread to get a wider perspective. If nothing else, I once again feel happy to eat the pigeons I shoot. Edited February 25, 2015 by Big Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 As I mentioned, the son of the author of this story did find a few birds dead or dying and this is where this story came from; I would trust his son & I believe his story. However, we only found 1 bird this year that seemed to be diseased & I hunt the same sort of areas. There was also several reports on Facebook over the winter of hunters in Northern Ireland finding dead pigeons. I do think there is something behind it but I don't think it is as bad as is made out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 The reason for this thread was not to find out why the pigeons have been scarce in NI this year. That has already been covered elsewhere. I was interested to hear of the legitimacy of the claims made in Farming Life and the diseases mentioned. I was particularly interested in hearing of any similar experiences from outside our island. While I now agree that the story has no proper legitimacy, the diseases listed are not old wives tales. I feel I was right to open this to an audience outside the NI thread to get a wider perspective. If nothing else, I once again feel happy to eat the pigeons I shoot. I think your taking me all wrong buddy. I wasnt questioning the validity of your thread, nor was I questioning the fact that birds get diseases. They sure do, so if we are eating them, then the once over is always advisable. My point was with regardto the article and the supposed hundreds of pigeons falling out of the sky and being found dead. This is an old wives tale, which I have heard before. It usually raises its head when they arenot alot about. Like this winter. Hence, the reason for my post. I reckon between us we must have seen hundreds of thousands of pigeons on the wing. Have you ever seen a pile simply fall out of the sky dead? I sure havent. In fact, I have never seen pigeon fall out of the sky without an obvious reason. Usually 32grams of no. 6! Although I have also shot a few with diseases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted March 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 I think your taking me all wrong buddy. I wasnt questioning the validity of your thread, nor was I questioning the fact that birds get diseases. They sure do, so if we are eating them, then the once over is always advisable. My point was with regardto the article and the supposed hundreds of pigeons falling out of the sky and being found dead. This is an old wives tale, which I have heard before. It usually raises its head when they arenot alot about. Like this winter. Hence, the reason for my post. I reckon between us we must have seen hundreds of thousands of pigeons on the wing. Have you ever seen a pile simply fall out of the sky dead? I sure havent. In fact, I have never seen pigeon fall out of the sky without an obvious reason. Usually 32grams of no. 6! Although I have also shot a few with diseases. I think I was getting you wrong. Fair enough. I shot 5 last night on the last roost shoot and all were fit and well (until, as you say, they met with 32g of No. 6). I hope your prediction for 2015 is right. I won't be lifting a gun to them until end of July now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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