Back story (feel free to skip):
So I know this awesome elderly pigeon man, he is basically my grandfather though not by blood. He started keeping pigeons at 10 years old in Serbia when he aquired a flock of Serbian high flyers. In his adulthood he imigrated with his family and some pigeon eggs in his pocket via plane to America. These eggs were the pure bred decendants of his first pigeons. He was able to hatch and raise a number of these to adulthood (i dont know how many, the details of the story are a bit sketchy, mostly because he dosent speak much english and has a thick accent. He is now in his late 70's and has roughly a hundred birds give or take, and they are all the legacy of his boyhood flock. Maybe I'm too sentimental but i think thats really sweet. I see him about once a year and each time he attempts to give me several beautiful pairs of pigeons, though I have always had to decline because my parents were not ready to welcome them into our yard, and because it was very expencive/complicated to take them on the plane. Untill three years ago we drove to visit and he gave me two young birds to take home. They were suposedly a male and female but turned out both to be male. My flock has swelled a lot since then with many rescues and subsequent offspring, and i still have 1 of the Serbian High Flyers, Dale.
This awesome pigeon man has been in a health decline as of late, and we are not sure how long he has or how long he will be able to keep his birds. I really want to take some of his birds home and start a flock of them of my own before its too late, and he would like me too as well. We cant afford to drive all the way there and back, and its strait through a desert in summer time, which i think would be dangerous for birds in a small car. We are planning a visit this summer by plane and I am going to attempt to bring some eggs home with me, incubate them and hand raise them. I have raised a baby pigeon from day 5 to adulthood without mishap, and i have a fair amount of expirience with birds so i think i could manage bringing a few up from day 1. I know its hard because they really do need that crop milk, but ive heard it can be done, so im hoping for the best. which brings me to my question...
My actual question:
How might I go about safely transporting pigeon eggs (to be later incubated) via plane? Can I carry them in the cabin? If not, how could I securely package them in my luggage? Have you or anyone you know done this sucsesfuly? thanks for you time!
So I know this awesome elderly pigeon man, he is basically my grandfather though not by blood. He started keeping pigeons at 10 years old in Serbia when he aquired a flock of Serbian high flyers. In his adulthood he imigrated with his family and some pigeon eggs in his pocket via plane to America. These eggs were the pure bred decendants of his first pigeons. He was able to hatch and raise a number of these to adulthood (i dont know how many, the details of the story are a bit sketchy, mostly because he dosent speak much english and has a thick accent. He is now in his late 70's and has roughly a hundred birds give or take, and they are all the legacy of his boyhood flock. Maybe I'm too sentimental but i think thats really sweet. I see him about once a year and each time he attempts to give me several beautiful pairs of pigeons, though I have always had to decline because my parents were not ready to welcome them into our yard, and because it was very expencive/complicated to take them on the plane. Untill three years ago we drove to visit and he gave me two young birds to take home. They were suposedly a male and female but turned out both to be male. My flock has swelled a lot since then with many rescues and subsequent offspring, and i still have 1 of the Serbian High Flyers, Dale.
This awesome pigeon man has been in a health decline as of late, and we are not sure how long he has or how long he will be able to keep his birds. I really want to take some of his birds home and start a flock of them of my own before its too late, and he would like me too as well. We cant afford to drive all the way there and back, and its strait through a desert in summer time, which i think would be dangerous for birds in a small car. We are planning a visit this summer by plane and I am going to attempt to bring some eggs home with me, incubate them and hand raise them. I have raised a baby pigeon from day 5 to adulthood without mishap, and i have a fair amount of expirience with birds so i think i could manage bringing a few up from day 1. I know its hard because they really do need that crop milk, but ive heard it can be done, so im hoping for the best. which brings me to my question...
My actual question:
How might I go about safely transporting pigeon eggs (to be later incubated) via plane? Can I carry them in the cabin? If not, how could I securely package them in my luggage? Have you or anyone you know done this sucsesfuly? thanks for you time!
