A Heavy Heart

I have been preoccupied, consumed, for the past week with concern and care for one of my sweet little pigeons, Gideon. A Beautiful creature who was given to me this summer, I had treated him for a respiratory condition after bringing him home. His symptoms subsided after the recommended course of therapy and eventually he and his two companions were introduced to the loft with my other birds.

I began to notice he was lethargic and lacked interest in food, so brought him inside where I could observe and care for him if need be. I discovered then that he was vomiting up his food and passing abnormal droppings. Given his overall lethargy and myriad symptoms I decided there was nothing for it but to find an avian vet with experience treating something other than lovebirds, if one could be found. I did locate a good vet within an hour from home and made an urgent trip out to see her.

She did fecal and crop swabs and identified a large # of bacteria as the likely cause of his condition and put him on injections of Baytril (CIPRO) twice daily for 3 days, but by the third day he had lost all his strength and that evening he passed.

I am really devastated by losing him, he was a beautiful bird that I admired instantly on sight and for him to pass away at such a young age is heart-wrenching. I am indebted to the good people at Pigeon-Talk for all their support and help in my clumsy efforts to sustain this young bird through a crisis, and I am posting this message and some pictures here as a memorial to a beautiful fellow that I desperately wish I'd had a chance to know better, and more, that fate had dropped into more experienced hands.

Annoyances

I'd written a post about the ongoing fecal problems in the loft, which have resulted most recently in treatment for worms. THAT has caused new problems amounting to some pretty significant diarrhea, including for the babies, which has me worried (I must worry about something! Everything!)

Anyway, blogger ATE my postin spite of alleged drafts..etc. Well I don't feel like re-creating it all so this is here instead.

I have some new pics and also some little movies, which I'll put up at my photo album site with a link soon as I post them online.

A Day as Pretty as a Picture

Link to an album

Official Worry Wort

Should be my title. This morning I decided BB/Walt aren't feeding their babies enough. There was nothing in either crop. Of course, it was first thing in the a.m. and no one had anything to eat yet. The birds all ate and BB went to the nest and the larger baby proceeded to hog food..I stood waiting and watching till eventually the smaller goomer got his beak in there for some grub too. But baby #1 kept forcing his big beak in her mouth at the same time, and he definately got most of it. Especially that little guy, I'll have to make sure he gets stuffed good and full!

Anyway I've decided to supplement their feeding, starting this afternoon when I get home. It won't hurt, can only help, and I'm concerned since Walter has begun cavorting with every other female in the place! I saw him mating with 16 a couple days ago, this morning, she had a fresh egg. No doubt that one will be fertile..sigh..they've all got to get into the act! They all want babies to feed, I guess.

I suppose I shouldn't be concerned that he'll abandon his nest since he's been so protective and taken such good care of his babies so far, and the squirmer I saw in Woo's is obviously his, too. He takes no interest in that baby and its existence hasn't caused him to lose interest in the pair he has with BB.

I wonder if that squirmer is even still alive, I've seen no movement and the girls won't let me have a clear peek. If it is alive and if it makes it...I'll probably have to name it Squirmer!

Oh, Dear....

I've been convalescing and keeping a low profile, just poking my nose out as much as necessary and turtling again.

On Monday, or perhaps it was Sunday, I was nosing around in the pidgie palace and discovered a bit to my shock and dismay that Woo and her nestmate '15' have a baby in their nest bowl. They had 4 eggs in there, which makes them a pair of females...hanky-panky! They are determined to protect their precious from ogling by ugly bald headed humans so I haven't glimpsed the thrashing squirmer since and have no idea if it's still alive, or...shudder...has siblings. :(

I was quite comfy thinking that the females had bonded and would continue to lay their infertile eggs when the fancy took them and the population would remain under control. EEEK. Meanwhile Mama and Papa apparently are bored with their new home - or maybe they like it a lot - today I found a pair of eggs in their nestbox too. It's her first normal pair, so far she's produced one bad egg per round. Last time one wasn't fertile, maybe such will be the case this time around as well. Hopefully neither of them is any good. I'm beginning to be overrun!

I will be shopping for plastic "dummy" eggs immediately!

The loft can hold up to 30 birds, but I never wanted to have that many! I was pretty content with the 9 or 10 I had - oops.

I've banded both of Beauty's babies, kind of funny, I banded the larger one and the next day I found the band OFF the baby's leg and dumped in the channel outside the bowl..with the POOP. Guess that's what mom and dad think of that ugly green plastic bracelet on their offspring. One of them will be dark! A surprise as his mom and dad are mostly white, his grandparents on mom's side all white, and gramma on dad's side, too...somewhere in there a cross was made and this is it coming back I guess. I took this pic a few days after the first:

you can see the darker one already showing. Today he's got pin feathers starting and his primaries will certainly be dark and maybe his head, he has spots of darker pigmented skin on his feet too...it's much fun watching them grow and imagining what they'll be like when they're bigger (besides fertile!) The smaller/younger of the two isn't getting its fair share of the groceries, I'm afraid, and so far I think it will be white like mom. Maybe it's a boy and a girl...?

Happy Grandma

Beauty's eggs have hatched!!!

Making me an official grandparent of some kind...an official foster grandma? I took this picture Friday the 14th of September so I was pretty close guessing the day the eggs appeared as I was expecting them to hatch this weekend.

So far she is a very protective parent - I only got to have a glimpse and snap their picture when hunger drove her off of them and she was very worried and fretful about my nosing around the nest. I peeked again this morning just to make sure there were still 2 little miracles and so far, so good. My worry circuits have kicked on so I'm about to go out and see if I can nudge papa off for another glimpse.

'15' wants to help feed the little rascals, she obviously has good mothering instincts..I only hope one or more of the 3 new guys really IS a guy so some of the girls in the loft have suitors to choose from. I've heard some romantic cooing sounds coming from their temporary home, I hope they don't get paired up before they even meet the rest of their flock. Tomorrow is moving day for them, provided my cold lets me feel well enough to install some new roosting spots.

Goodbye Little Alex

When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free.

Miss me a little--but not too long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me--but let me go.

For this journey that we all must take
And each must go alone
It's all a part of the Master's plan
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss me--but let me go.

Goodbye little Alex

HEDDIE LOVES ME!

Her little family moved to the big loft on Labor Day (Sep. 3 '07) and since she is 'odd man out' there, with everyone else being paired off, she has no friends and no one to become chummy with. Since I handled her almost daily since she was banded at a week, she is unafraid of me and comes readily to sit on my shoulder where she preens my bald neck and hair, and tries to coax food from my earhole. I'm her only 'friend' and I think she is very lonely.

The good news on that score may be that the 3 new kids are nearing the end of their quarantine period and can soon join the rest. I am thinking of letting Heddie spend the next week or 10 days with them, in the small coop (I call it the annex) so she gets to know them a little bit before they all move into the big place together. I don't want to stick her into a situation though where she is the alone amongst strangers, so it's a tough call there...to leave her to discover the 3 new birds along with everyone else or let her try to make / have some new friends now...dilemma. A small one though. :)

Exersizing My Perogative

That one about changing my mind.

I sat down and looked through my birdie journal and determined that Tina/NotTina and 16 have laid eggs on the 20th, the 22nd (both broken), the 23rd, and the 25th. That's much too soon for the 2nd pair to be replacements for the first (that should take more like 7-10 days), so damned if I don't now think they're both girls, too. THAT would explain four eggs so close together, as well as their irregular egg-sitting times.

If that's right then only one who hasn't produced any eggs is Walter, who may in fact be the only boy in the bunch. Darn I was looking forward to the first new generation of home-born birdlets.

It's been suggested to me that I can pull a switcheroo, ditching Woo's 4 eggs and swapping BB's eggs into her nest, let Woo and 15 raise those when/if they come and inducing BB to produce 2 more. People do that sort of thing often, apparently pidgies are very good adoptive parents. But I don't think I want to mess with their little lives and manipulate them so much. I guess it's bad enough to keep them confined, as they are, though mine are the "unnatural" color varieties safest kept away from predators. Anyway these are their first eggs and I just want to let them enjoy them.

New Day = New Theory

Today I had a chance to spy directly into the nest. BB has laid her 2nd, NotTina and 16 have managed not to break their 2nd set of two, and Woo and his/her mate have...FOUR. I think that means......they're both girls???!!

Which is good...it means less babies in the next generation...and if they're happy together, I'm happy too.

We're about to get hit with a storm; actually it's overhead now and I'm not shutting things down, let's hope I don't regret that. I'll check -- Oh good, it's more severe thunderstorms with gusting winds, hail, and the possibility of tornadoes! Didn't we just get through with this?

Well since it's headed this way and it won't be stopped, the best thing for me to do is go and get in the shower right now in case something happens to the power and I lose the water again. SIGH. I wonder if I should close the birdie's trap door and shut them up for the night early.

Pics at Last, and I Don't Know Nuthin'

Well, I finally got images up! Too bad they're for 3 entries back...better late than never. I did take some pics of the three new arrivals, but they didn't come out well so I won't bother with them until I get something better.

If I'm going to establish gender amongst the birds based on nest-attendance, I may have to revise. For one thing, Tina may have to be renamed Not-Tina. She seems to tend the nest like a he. Her pure white mate was on the eggs in the night (I peeked, since the dogs had me outside to attend their urination at 4:30 am!)

Woo, the diligent gatherer of trophy twigs, was on the nest at the same time, as was Beauty. That pretty much settles it, unless there's no egg(s) yet in Woo's nest which could mean anybody can sleep there. Most likely, I had the genders all wrong. Twice, since I was convinced until 2 weeks ago they all were male!

It's like having a magic window into another species's life. Egad! I'm a voyeur!

I'm A Gramma!

Well my internet connection is throwing terrible fits today and I'm lucky if I can get a page to load, so here goes nothing...

BeautyBird has an egg! I discovered it this morning doing a quick scrape! That makes me some sort of unofficial Grandma, or something, doesn't it? Their little 'double dish' nesting box seems to have been adapted as: one side for nice clean fresh nest (and now egg!), and one side for toilet. Quite clever really. So far BB appears to be a tidier housekeeper than I am; her nest is still fresh as the day it was built. She's in for a big surprise when (if) her squabs arrive. I can picture her fussily flinging the little one's droppings out of her tidy little house. By the time they hatch, I think the parents are so tired of sitting on them they're beyond caring about cleanliness. (Have pigeons ever been associated with cleanliness before?!)

"No names" seem to have gotten the idea...they are now nested - albeit clumsily - in the bowl intended for that purpose. It's - I'm sorry - the ugliest nest I've ever seen, but they seem slow on the uptake when it comes to collecting useful materials which are quickly hogged by everyone else. I put the 2nd pack of oak fibers out this weekend and they're already gone, so I may have to tuck something right in their cubicle with them. And actually, they have half a name. The two-color bird I call "Woo," for its frequent alarm vocalizations...it's the white bird who hasn't really been christened. I have two nearly identical white birds, numbered 2315 and 2316, whom I call, inexplicably, "15" & "16." I'm terrible at naming pets, all my dogs have arrived with names from their former owners or shelters which I never bothered to replace.

The grey (Tina) and white pair have 2 more eggs, I discovered Saturday morning..they didn't take long to produce some more after dropping their first two! It's amazing how instinct and hormones dictate such profound physiological processes as producing and laying an egg!

I went to the Michigan State Fair Saturday, and had a blissful time. I went by myself, had thoughts about asking others to go along but I was quite sure I wanted to spend at least a couple of hours looking a the pigeons in the show, and as Saturday was the judging day I knew there would be lots of owners and other fanciers available to talk to. Right on both counts, and in fact I arrived at the poultry building a few minutes past opening at 10 a.m., and didn't leave it until 1:30 p.m.! NO ONE would have endured that much torture. If I'd gone with friends I'd have separated from them at the entry gate, and joined up again with them to leave! I spent about an hour afterward walking around the midway dodging puddles and Carnies. We've had rain rain RAIN for over a week and Saturday was its scheduled departure date. It managed to downpour heavily at least twice while I was safe and dry ogling birdies, but everything outside was freshly soaked. Not that I would have enjoyed riding rides all by myself! THAT part was boring alone, so I didn't linger. It was a breezy and cool day along with the rain, which kept the crowds away - nicer for those of us who went! I ate something disgusting and delicious (cheesy fries) while wandering back to the bird exhibit but unfortunately I'd missed the roller pigeon demonstration which I'd been told would be 2:30-3:00. Bad info, darnit.

Last week I won 3 littles ones on eggbid.com, and had made arrangements to collect them on SAturday after 3:30, so about 3:00 or so I left with aching feet and drove the 20 minutes to pick them up. I was the high bidder at $2.50 (!) but when I arrived, the nice young man simply waved his hand at them in their box and said, "You can have them." (!!) His loft has grown very quickly and he wanted to make room for some other breeders. So after chatting a bit and looking at his loft (very attractively made and I wish I'd taken a picture!) I went off with 3 new beautiful birds, who I DON'T HAVE PICTURES OF YET. I appear to have become very slow-witted in that regard. :(

I am continually amazed by the very friendly and helpful people I'm meeting through this hobby. At the show I was approached repeatedly by people who introduced themselves and inquired enthusiastically about my interest, these were handlers and members/officers of the Michigan Pigeon Club, (who also invited me to partake of their FEAST lunch). One of the members did a live demonstration on vaccinating the birds, which was also taped to be made available via the internet. This morning an email arrived from him (he must have gotten my email off a yahoo group post) in which he apologized for not having introduced himself in person on Saturday, and offering to come by my loft and demonstrate vaccinating in person! There really seems to be a strong comraderie in this hobby and I am so happy these birds came my way, not only because they are so engaging and fun, but also for the gracious community of fanciers you find yourself in because of them.

I will amend this post with pictures tomorrow!

Pigeon Love

The young birds I brought in from friends last May have been with me about 3 months now, and I've been told that squeakers (babies) will most likely stick to the loft after they've lived in it about that long. So we're at the point in time now where I'd like to begin letting them fly free. I've got them trained to dinner time, they know the whistle means food is coming, and they've learned to negotiate the trap, so I should be able to commence. I'm going to be learning how to vaccinate in the next few days, thanks to two friendly local pigeon keepers, and once they've all had their shots I'll feel better about letting them out. Of course...I'm worried they'll leave and never come back, or spend their time lounging around the neighborhood on other people's rooftops like the first pair of adults I had did, so I stress over keeping them as prisoners or letting them out to play. I don't want complaining neighbors, and I don't want lost birds. Conundrum.

To complicate matters...my loft full of 6 boys has turned into a trio of couples!

During the past week, bonding and nest building have taken over the imaginations of these youngsters and though I'd put it down to age/hormones and thought it precious that they had begun to play house, one pair produced two eggs this week. They managed to knock them both off the precarious perch they've selected for nesting, prompting me to first add a wider board and later a square plastic tray for their use.


It drove me crazy...it's something like trying to get kids ready for a new school year. There's nothing readily available for nesting materials in their loft/aviary, and what do they need/want?? Once I began to suspect what was going on I grabbed handfuls of dried grass and twigs and put them inside to see what would happen. Those were quickly whisked away and turned into very spartan nests. One pair who apparently didn't pounce quickly enough has resorted to discarded tail and wing feathers (it's molting time in pigeonland) which I find especially endearing and sweet. Scraps of loft building materials are also incorporated here and there, the poor things grabbing anything they can carry and trying earnestly to obey their nest-building instincts. I hope I'm not warping their skill buildng by not having a proper environment at hand!

Of course we entered a week long episode of monsoonal rain so there was no more dry grass to offer. On a visit to Small*Fart, (where I found the $1.44 plastic tray and a perfect bathing pan for $2.97) I found an item in the craft section that's long strips of natural wood (oak) fibers, similar to exselsior but softer, almost grasslike. I bought two bundles for $0.97 each and cut one into ~12" strands which I scattered around the loft for them to forage in. I also collected a few more bits of twig and grass. That was last night, and this morning I noted quite a bit of additional material has been added to the existing nests! Success!

The 2nd pairing up, to my delight, are my own 'Beauty Bird,' born here winter '06/'07, and the young Tippler/Mookee cross I adopted from a friend in May '07 (I'm inclined to calling him 'Walter'). They are about the same age and size, and have a very similar head/body shape which is distinct from the homers. I am not sure what sort of pigeon the person who did the (presumed) symbolic release of BB's parents is using, but as I've learned more about these birds I now know they aren't typical homing pigeons. Which perhaps accounts for why they were found living as lone ferals...maybe they don't home well!? That is a puzzle that will never be answered.

I'd have chosen these birds for each other so I'm glad they seem to find each other appealing. Last night I observed them feeding each other which is a true bonding behavior and quite charming to witness. I've seen "Walter Pigeon" 'driving' little BB, a typical male behavior. And I was so sure BB was a boy!


Beauty Bird




Walter

Since I'm just learning too, I experiment with different objects to see what works, and I bought 3 large plastic bowls for $1.00 to offer as nest bowls but they are too lightweight and the birds manage to send them to the floor. They'll need to be attached with a screw or something. They did try sitting in them at least, judging by the contents. As I've read where pigeons generally produce a 2nd pair of eggs about 2 weeks after hatching a first pair, they actually build TWO nests, so I also bought an inexpensive double pet bowl at Tractor Supply Company, which BB and Walter have moved in to. I am very curious to learn whether such an item will accommodate the 2 nest situation well. They built their nest in the right side bowl (I can't resist taking it down and peeking when they're out excersizing!) and to my surprise, dismantled it and moved it into the left side a day later! They seem settled on that one, now. :)

At this point, I'm trying to determine who the boys/girls are by observing who sits on nests at different times of day, assuming of course there is a male/female coupling in each case. The likelihood of my having ended up with 3 girls and 3 boys I would have thought zero. So far it seems BB is a lady, as is my sole blue (really grey) homer, who has taken one of the pure whites as a partner.

The 3rd pair have moved into a cubicle and are building away like the others, and cooing and twirling etc., but this pair I wonder about. It may be they are two males and have nothing else to do and no one else to do it with...everyone else is nesting! They acquire the biggest bits of twig, ones I would have thought difficult to use for construction, but definately noteworthy and trophy-like (how masculine!) These are brought into the cubicle, along with feathers and whatever else they find, but no real assembly seems to take place. Since it's the males who gather materials and the females who are the architects, and gathering seems to be all they're accomplishing, are they both male birds? They also don't spend much time "nest"-sitting. I affixed one of the white plastic bowls to their cubicle but they're ignoring it so far and just seem to prefer piling their booty in the opposite corner.


Woo in foreground


Switcheroo

These birds continue to fascinate me, I could spy on them for hours. Bless their little feathered buns.

I said I'd put up pics but I didn't. Here are a few of up north last weekend:

My sister Cheryl and Marley...swans in the distance...the dogs ready for work!

It's a quiet day at the office, at last; coming back after missing Monday was horrible and it's been paced like that every since. So far today besides answering phones, all I've done is read blogs, forums, email, my local small-town newspapers & grocery store flyers, and eat fritos! WHOOPS here comes the boss!!!

3 Weeks on the Planet

I thought much more time had gone by since he hatched out, but it was 7/22 so it's just 3 weeks Sunday. He's feeding himself, though I'm not sure how efficiently. He's trying anyway, though I haven't seen him take any water. It's hard to resist being "mom" - pushing food and water in their beaks. It's hard to let nature take its uncertain course and trust that things will work out right. He lets me carry him around the yard (well, he hasn't much choice really!) and takes great interest in these sight-seeing tours. I like to take him over to stare back and forth with his 'uncles' in the flight pen, and let him sit in the grass and just generally see the big wide world. [new pic to follow!]

This morning, he made it up to a perch in the little coop and was up there with his papa looking out the window at me. At first I thought it was mama up there and wondered how she'd gotten so dirty, then looked closer and realized it was Junior up there after all. I examined his wings last night and thought his flights looked fully developed so I'm not surprised that he got up there, just marking another milestone. The grow up so darn fast. In just another 1-2 weeks he has to learn about dinner time (food isn't always at hand in real life!) and whistles and trapping and and and...because I mean to let this little one, born to the loft, fly free as much as I can.

I'm going to move the little family into the large loft as soon as junior can fly a bit, and I'm certain he's feeding himself, and everyone's had their preventatives and PMV vaccine. I'm also getting two new hens - $5.00 each, shipping up from Tennesee from someone who has to reduce his flock. They should arrive next week, and will spend a month or so in quarantine before being allowed into the loft with the boys. I'd like to be able to use the small coop for quarantine/hospital/breeding, so it would be good if it's vacant and scoured out when they arrive. Pics when they land!

I spent a lovely weekend with mom and dad, my two sisters, one brother in law and my niece, up north at the lake. The weather was perfect for 3 days straight; I played hookey and stayed an extra day. Sunday was the peak of the Perseids and I was treated to a glorious view from the beach, the northern/northeastern sky completely unbroken. Some of the biggest ones managed to disappear behind the tree line into the southern sky, and one must have broken up gloriously over there as I saw the flashes of light from behind the tops of the trees. That's a rare sight and I'm sorry I didn't have a clear view of the entire sky. It was a new moon and cloudless, so it was very near perfect for sky gazing. There was a strong wind off the lake (kept the bugs at bay) though and I was COLD, imagine it. I'd managed to secure a good sunburn so I was uncomfortable and had to wrap up in layers. Anyway I lasted several hours, passing the time between "Ohh!"ing and "Ahh!"ing fantasizing a star-gazer's tent completely made of screen with a zip-off outer shell for normal use. I might have made it all night in one of those, if such a thing exists. Eventually paranoia about carnivorous nocturnal creatures overcame the appeal of more shooting stars and I bailed out and went to bed. [pics to follow]

Back to work on Tuesday, I was overwhelmed with undone tasks and am just now finding a moment to take a breath. I'd like to be on permanent vacation.

OK so it's a lighthouse...the birds would be DELIGHTED to move in there. The colors are nice and the layout is just right. Since I'm horribly lazy, I'm going to like it just like it is, I don't want to fuss. I have enough to worry website-wise with the business site(s).

This is the first real post here so before it gets shoved off into oblivion at the end of some far away page, I'll introduce Junior, above; ^^^ he hatched on July 21 so today, he's 17 days old. They grow so fast, he looks completely different from this picture which is only 4 days old. He's started to clamber around in the coop all on his own, two days ago he climbed out of his nestbowl so I took it out and now he lives in a larger nest bowl - a discarded metal electrical box full of straw. He has his own bowls of seed and water in there, but I've not seen him take a drink or sample any food on his own yet. By next week, I'm sure that will change. I'll take him out of enclosures altogether soon as he starts eating on his own, and can make it to a roosting spot off the floor. In two more weeks he'll be flying. Hard to believe.

I keep calling him he, only I hope it's a girl this time.

He had a sibling born earlier in the spring who was taken by some predator or other, most likely a racoon...Now they are living in a more impregnable enclosure. (I hope.)

I just wonder; is there a really nice photo/journal blog hosting site out there. Flicker is TOO photo oriented, for me.

Egads I'll be changing templates pronto!