An old colour-marked 'toy' show breed with a distinctive coloured head, tail and crest contrasting a white body, named for its hood-like shell crest resembling a nun's habit.
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From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
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Minimum
Sectioned loft (per pair)
≈ 3 sq ft loft + 6 sq ft fly pen / pair
Nun pigeons are small, lively, crested toy pigeons that handle a compact loft well. A welfare minimum is 3 sq ft of loft plus 6 sq ft of covered fly per pair, with V-perches, individual nest cubicles, grit, calcium, deep water, and a shallow bath tin twice weekly.
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Divided loft + flight pen
≈ 5 sq ft loft + 10 sq ft fly pen / pair
A divided loft of 5 sq ft per pair plus a 10+ sq ft covered fly per pair gives Nuns space for the lively flights and pair-bonding they enjoy. Group only with calm flock-mates so the head-crest is not pulled; foster-pair sections help when crested squabs need extra warmth.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Walk-in loft + display flight
Walk-in loft + 18+ sq ft fly / pair
A walk-in fancier's loft with stock, breeding, and conditioning sections plus an 18+ sq ft per pair covered aviary lets Nuns fly daily, court, and rear young in show condition. The distinctive coloured head and tail mantle photograph best under skylight or clear-panel lighting.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
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Egg
Birds develop inside a hard-shelled egg incubated by the parent(s). Egg size, shell color, and clutch size vary by species; the embryo develops over days to weeks before hatching.
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Hatchling / Chick
Hatchlings are either altricial — naked, blind, and dependent on parents (typical of parrots and songbirds) — or precocial — downy, mobile, and self-feeding soon after hatching (typical of poultry and waterfowl). Down gives way to the first feathers.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile / Fledgling
Fledglings grow in their juvenile plumage and begin to fly and feed themselves, though they may still beg from parents at first. Juvenile feathering is often duller than the adult and is replaced as the bird matures.
Adult
Adults attain full body size and mature plumage, and are capable of breeding. Many species show distinct adult coloration, and in sexually dimorphic birds males and females differ in plumage, size, or markings.
(c) Misha Zitser, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) via iNaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/285409360
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
Keep in a clean, dry, predator-proof loft with perches and nest boxes plus an aviary or flight. Clean legs make foot care simple. Standard loft hygiene and ventilation suit them; provide breeding compartments and nest bowls in season.
Diet
Feed a standard pigeon grain mix (peas, maize, wheat, sorghum, safflower) with grit, mineral grit and a pickstone, and fresh water daily. A normal beak lets them handle ordinary seed. Boost protein and calcium for breeding pairs rearing young.
Behavior & temperament
Lively, alert and reasonably good fliers; a marked show/exhibition breed prized for clean colour markings (head, tail, primary flights) against a white body. Tame and sociable in a mixed loft, and they generally feed their own squabs well.
Health
Few extreme-conformation problems — clean legs and a normal beak avoid muff and short-face welfare issues. The main challenge is producing correct, evenly distributed markings, not health. Watch the peak crest does not irritate the eyes. Routine pigeon diseases apply: canker, coccidiosis, paramyxovirus and respiratory illness.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Selective pairing is key to clean 'nun' markings — the exact coloured head cut, seven white primary flights and coloured tail are the show points. Maintain a tidy, dry loft and provide bathing water to keep the white body bright. A good intermediate breed that rears its own young.