Is something wrong with this homer?

[LamarshFish]

When I first got her I just thought she was really young. But, now, I notice she is much smaller than my other homers, and she has an notably smaller head and neck, and her proportions are strange. While she does get bullied around a bit, she also fights back rather tenaciously. She appears to be at the bottom of the pecking order though, as she takes the lowest perch at night. During the day, she often hangs out alone.

Just wondering whether anybody knows what may be the deal with her? Is she just a not so great looking homer? She's certainly a homer, she's flown all over the place and always comes home.

Picture is in the post below....

 

[LamarshFish]

 

[biophiliac]

If I may toss out a few ideas, pure speculation.... a squab may lack sufficient nourishment for one of several reasons. Perhaps one parent is lost leaving only one to feed the babies, or one squab is so much larger it takes more than it's share leaving the other undernourished. Whatever the reason if the malnourishment is severe enough it can permanently stunt the growth of the bird, causing it to not live up to it's physical potential. ETA: If that's the case with her, perhaps she has in extra tenacity[will to live] what she lacks physically.

I wish you had included another bird to compare size. She may not be a stunning beauty but is not without some appeal . She may have other qualities show up with time. Do your birds still go by numbers vs names?

 

[biophiliac]

Racing Homers are valued for their performance, like thoroughbred horses. While it's nice to have pretty birds and pretty horses, it's better to have good performing ones IMO. 'Seabiscuit' was not considered a beauty - thought to be funny looking and awkward gait if I recall correctly.

Is she your only ash red bar?

 

[Hokum Coco]

what may be the deal with her?

It may be a case of inbreeding.

Then again some birds jest get short changed in the genetic gene pool regardless of the blood line of the parents.

Smaller birds have been know to be the best racers in some cases.

 

[LamarshFish]

Do your birds still go by numbers vs names?

Yeah, just numbers.

Is she your only ash red bar?

No I have one more, she is normal looking.

In may be a case of inbreeding.

The guy that owns the loft this particular bird came from uses no breeding program, just let the birds do as they please, and there are a lot of them (70-100), so that's distinctly possible.

 

[LamarshFish]

She may have other qualities show up with time.

Well, it turns out she's a really good nest builder lol.

All my other birds have deep red or reddish orange eyes, but hers still look pretty dark to me. I wonder why? Maybe something that has to do with her pigment, since white pigeons' eyes are dark.... Speaking of which, I was driving on the freeway the other day and saw a flock of 6 white homers flying together, it was pretty cool.

 

[biophiliac]

Wow, that is a massive nest! Those white spots on her head may have something to do with the dark (bull) eyes. You have a second nest bowl ready for them? This is another pair nesting, or the same one?

 

[LamarshFish]

Wow, that is a massive nest! Those white spots on her head may have something to do with the dark (bull) eyes. You have a second nest bowl ready for them? This is another pair nesting, or the same one?

That nest bowl above them is just an empty nest bowl. I have nest bowls on 6 of my 8 large next boxes.

Yes, this is a different pair than the other pair that was nesting before. I have 2 nesting pairs. Except the first pair to start nesting has now sort of scaled it back--one day I'll go in and the nest is nice and built up, then the next day it will appear they have sort of deconstructed it.

#4 (the tiny weird looking pigeon), her nest is the nicely built, large one.

 

[biophiliac]

So the little 'ugly' one has some sex-appeal to her mate anyway