they were a thing in england and france also

i think it was during a time of bad weather for many other kinds of meat production

pigeons are a really robust, fertile, and nutritious animal that almost practically takes care of itself, you literally just build something they like to live in, and they come, it's like field of dreams, except dovecote of dreams

the number of post apoc games i have played where you run across pigeon enclosures i would not recall... stalker... metro, i think... dying light... there's some game, i forget, set in some fictional russian island called Chernarus, also, many many pigeon cages at the back of rural houses

and i've seen them many times all over the place here on Madeira too... they really are a staple livestock for all cases... they have other uses too, because they range a long distance and can be tamed, you can use them to carry messages, and i'd say their feathers would make adequate stuffing for insulations of various kinds, after you break their necks for harvest