Utility pigeons

{{Short description|Pigeons bred for meat}}

File:White Pigeon Bird 74 wing feathers at week and a half.jpg

Utility pigeons are domesticated pigeons bred to be a source of meat called squab. Squabs have been used as a food in many nations for centuries.{{cite book |last=Levi |first=Wendell |title= The Pigeon|year= 1977|publisher= Levi Publishing Co, Inc|location= Sumter, S.C.|isbn=0-85390-013-2 }} They were bred to breed and grow quickly.Seymour, Rev. Colin (Ed)(2006) Australian Fancy Pigeons National Book of Standards. Because they are bred for squab production, conformation to a show standard is usually deemed unimportant.

Utility pigeons are one of three main breed groupings used by pigeon fanciers. The other two are Flying/Sporting and Fancy.

The characteristics of utility pigeons of most importance to the businessperson who is keeping them are rapid growth and high fecundity.

The American King pigeon has been described as the world's first improved utility pigeon breed.{{cite journal |last1=Lan |first1=Yuehang |last2=He |first2=Qin |last3=Gibril |first3=Bahareldin Ali Abdalla |last4=Xu |first4=Jiguo |last5=Shang |first5=Hanle |last6=Xiong |first6=Xinwei |title=Influencing factors and quality traits of pigeon meat: A systematic review |journal=Poultry Science |date=1 April 2025 |volume=104 |issue=4 |pages=105000 |doi=10.1016/j.psj.2025.105000 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579125002391#sec0007 |access-date=9 April 2025 |quote="The American King Pigeon, the world's first improved meat pigeon breed, significantly contributed to the rapid expansion of pigeon breeding (Ashraful, 2021)"|pmc=11932674 }}

There are breeds of pigeons which at one time were raised for utility purposes but which are now raised for show purposes.{{cite book | last = Hiatt | first = Shannon | first2 = Jon | last2 = Esposito, DVM | title = The Pigeon Guide | publisher = Silvio Mattacchione and Company | year =2000 |location =Port Perry, Ontario | isbn = 1-895270-18-9 | pages = 32}} Fanciers usually distinguish between the two sub-breeds by appending the word "show" or "utility" to the name of the breed. For example, there are show King pigeons and Utility Kings and they are two different breeds of pigeon. The show breeds can still be used for squabbing purposes.