A second municipal pigeon loft (known as a ‘dovecote’) has been established on the roof of the prison in Brno-Bohunice. Pigeons found the dovecote and began to nest in it just a few days after its completion. There are currently 12 pigeons inhabiting the space.
The expected capacity of the dovecote is 30-40 pairs. The pigeons will find a regular supply of food and a place to nest. After the first chicks are hatched, which strengthens the birds’ trust in the new environment, the remaining eggs are exchanged for dummy eggs, thus regulating further reproduction.
The dovecote is cared for by inmates of the prison, who are assigned work activities as part of their sentence. “Maintenance takes place twice a week,” said Dušan Gáč, director of the Brno Remand Prison and the Brno Prison Service. “Regular visits include cleaning the space, replenishing feed and providing fresh drinking water. Only convicts assigned to work activities as part of their sentence, i.e. not in custody, are involved in caring for the dovecote.”
According to Gáč, two professional staff are currently caring for the dovecote – specifically a teacher and a leisure time educator – and five inmates who have volunteered also participate in daily activities. Participation in this work is based on the treatment program of individual inmates. Individual health circumstances, such as allergies to feathers, were taken into account during selection. All the participating inmates were properly trained in hygiene principles, prevention of the spread of infectious diseases and the use of protective equipment.
Funding for the creation of the dovecote was provided by the City of Brno, which has been operating a dovecote on the roof of the municipal building on Kounicova for 18 months.
“As in the case of our dovecote in Kounicova, we cooperated with the Brno-Bosonohy Secondary School of Building Crafts, whose students carried out all the masonry and carpentry work,” said Filip Chvátal, deputy mayor of Brno responsible for the environment. The construction of the dovecote cost less than CZK 150,000, thanks to the donation of wood for the construction from the City of Brno’s forestry company.
“These smaller dovecotes, which provide facilities for dozens of pigeons, are not intended to influence the situation in the entire district, or even the city, but they have a positive impact on the immediate surroundings,” said Chvátal. “We would like to expand them to other buildings – we currently have two buildings in mind in the historic center owned by the city, on Radnická and Solniční.”
The operation of the dovecote is supervised by the Městské Holubníky (‘Municipal Dovecotes’) organization. “As part of the cooperation, we installed equipment in the dovecote and taught the inmates how to look after it,” said Michaela Klimšová, founder of Městské Holubníky. “Furthermore, nurses from our Brno team, who also care for the municipal dovecote on Kounicova, will come here regularly to check it.”
