Having birds shipped? Prep & advice?

[biophiliac]

Good to know luckily all out derails live in town at the docks except a single flock of 4 who fly at the edge of town I doubt the theyd follow any of my birds the 1.5 miles back though. I'm right in cooper territory DX luckily he prefers mourning doves and Robins

Too bad about the cooper's, that will definitely keep you and the birds on the lookout! I'm fortunate so far that only red tails resident in the neighborhood. They are slowish flyers and mostly go for rodents.

 

[tacothechicken]

@biophiliac yup he went for them a few weeks back right after they'd been let out in the morning! Dived at a 45 deg. and came whithin inches DX luckily he didn't realize there was a gap between our shop and renters place and toast zipped right through while Mr hawk had to land and take stock after almost crashing into a building. o-o it was simultaneously horrifying and funny to watch post the birds escape.

 

[tacothechicken]

Hopefully he'll focus on the wintering starlings once the robins and swallows have moved on seeing as he generally won't chase the birds once they've gotten some speed going cause they have such stamina

 

[LamarshFish]

I don't see any reason to quarantine pigeons for any longer than 2 weeks unless you notice something off. The racers I've been sort of learning from only do 1 week, as did I the few times I've integrated birds into an established loft. It seems many people worm their birds as well before integrating, using something like an Ivermectin drop on the back of the neck, which kills external and internal parasites. I don't think that's necessary though unless you see any signs of parasites (do look out for things like feather mites, I have found those on newly acquired birds). I would also give them a few dunks in a bath with something like borax.

After quarantine, although not necessary, integration may go a bit more smoothly if you keep them in a cage next to the loft, with everybody able to see each other, for a few days. Gives them some time to get used to each other before actually being physically together.

 

[tacothechicken]

@LamarshFish nice advice! I do have ivermectine, AND borax! my birds also just got a regular mite, parasite treatment in preparation so if I fail to kill something on the new birds during quarentine my current ones hopefully won't be to tempting. Also the extra loft has been set up diagonal to my main boys a few meters away so they'll see and here each other but no real airflow or dust/body contamination should happen

 

[biophiliac]

@biophiliac yup he went for them a few weeks back right after they'd been let out in the morning! Dived at a 45 deg. and came whithin inches DX luckily he didn't realize there was a gap between our shop and renters place and toast zipped right through while Mr hawk had to land and take stock after almost crashing into a building. o-o it was simultaneously horrifying and funny to watch post the birds escape.

I would have loved to see that! Good for Toast!

Just a little warning about the result of your matchmaking....
I have 18 flyers now, from an original 8. This in only 8 months and not counting 2 I gave to a friend bc my loft was getting overpopulated.

 

[LamarshFish]

I would have loved to see that! Good for Toast!

Just a little warning about the result of your matchmaking....
I have 18 flyers now, from an original 8. This in only 8 months and not counting 2 I gave to a friend bc my loft was getting overpopulated.

You have been regularly loft flying now? I forget if you were doing this around this time last year, I think maybe not, but I will caution in about 1-2 months you will want to get them on lock down for the hawk migration. All was well for me this time last year, I was loft flying daily with all my birds, all coming back, then one day I got hit hard, and another day again, lost 5 birds in a few days and then realized it was likely hawk migration and locked them up until March.

 

[biophiliac]

You have been regularly loft flying now? I forget if you were doing this around this time last year, I think maybe not, but I will caution in about 1-2 months you will want to get them on lock down for the hawk migration. All was well for me this time last year, I was loft flying daily with all my birds, all coming back, then one day I got hit hard, and another day again, lost 5 birds in a few days and then realized it was likely hawk migration and locked them up until March.

Can you be more specific about when this happens? I assume its bc of the more aggressive hawk species, ie Cooper's? I am nervous about this and wil have to get going on the larger - 5w x10l x6h - aviary. My 18 birds will go nuts confined to the small loft!

eta Were your birds caught or scared away and lost, or both?

 

[LamarshFish]

Can you be more specific about when this happens? I assume its bc of the more aggressive hawk species, ie Cooper's? I am nervous about this and wil have to get going on the larger - 5w x10l x6h - aviary. My 18 birds will go nuts confined to the small loft!

eta Were your birds caught or scared away and lost, or both?

In Michigan, and I assume it is the same or similar for Wisconsin, hawk migration begins in September and runs through November. In fact, the one "hawk counting" group closest to me considers their hawk counting season to be from September 1 through November 30. My understanding is that the migration in terms of numbers is not a gradual increase and peak like a bell curve, but happens pretty drastically and fast (i.e., they all sort of show up quickly).

As for species, I think the main concerns are goshawks and coopers. My understanding is our resident red tailed hawks are not nearly as big of a threat to pigeons as some of the hawks that migrate through during the fall. But we get all kinds of raptors that come through SE Michigan, ranging from falcons, kestrels and even golden eagles. Still yet, I have heard the goshawks and coopers are the biggest threat to pigeon fanciers.

In any event, I'm not sure when exactly is the best time to start lock down, but September 1 would definitely be a safe bet. I think we can agree it's not wise to wait until you get hit by them badly to lock them down.

Last fall when I had my losses, it was two instances where I lost several birds in one day. If I can remember one day it was 2 birds, and the other it was 3. I don't think a hawk can kill two pigeons, so I would only assume the others just got scattered away, but who knows. Or, of course, they may have just flown off and got lost on their own with no hawks at all.