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Viirin said:
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?

I don't have any chickens nor do I want any (I'm a renter with no yard). I like feeding whatever birds randomly show up to my apartment, and have now been friends with a flock of mourning doves for almost 3 years.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?

Six. I only named two of them- Whiney and Brave. I really miss my Woodwing, and her mother, Sweetie.

(3) What breeds do you have?

There are a lot of pigeons that live on top of my building, but I refuse to feed them, but do they count? I have mourning doves due to their own choice (they're wild, despite how often they come in my apartment and even jump on me).

(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?

As someone without the ability to socialize with friends and lacking family, it's nice that the skies contain happy flappers that sing at me every day.

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?

I'm a game designer, modder, novelist, chef, carpenter, programmer, and am trying to go to school to become a psychologist, and trying to get the opportunity to be a mycologist.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.

I'm on disability, never had a family, and can't have any pets anymore.

(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? :D

I just learned about you guys less than an hour ago when trying to look up dove egg info since I saw a broken egg in the road outside and wasn't sure if it belonged to one of my birds or not.
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Hello and welcome to BYC!
 
N F C said:
:welcome

Hello, do you have any pictures of the doves that visit you? They must be interesting to watch so close at hand.
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Thank you everyone! The above aren't the only pictures I have of my doves, I have a LOT more. I usually have my webcam aimed at a wall or something, unless I wanna take pictures and then I'll put it outside the window on the sill where I know the birds are going to be. They're with me the entire time the sun is up, every day!

I mean they do leave sometimes to get water or something, I guess, but I'm not sure where they get it from. I've tried setting it up so they could get the water from me too, but they haven't shown any interest in it. Do they act like some animals, getting their water needs from their solid diet?

I do have to move the camera sometimes though, since the birds like to dig in the seed. They use their beaks like shovels, knocking the seed around, usually throwing it at me or getting it under the camera, then they have to move the camera to get under it but my camera isn't great, so it's just a blurry mess when they're that close.

I got really surprised at them last year, when it was snowing but they didn't migrate. Instead, they just hung out in my window, using my heater. Funny little birds! Then a few months ago, Woodwing decided to try to build a nest under my computer desk, but she decided not to and left. I don't know what inspired her to come in the window, jump onto my lap, walk down my leg, jump under the computer desk and scout the place out, but I guess that's her choice. She was in my apartment acting like a dog... so she was just like that, I guess?

What I mean by a mourning dove acting like a dog: When I wasn't home (usually at a doctor's office or grocery shopping), she'd be in my apartment, standing at the front door, staring at it. I know this because when my caretaker and I got back, she was there at the door, watching us come in. She'd just watch us put groceries away, not caring that two humans were walking around next to her. She even flew at my caretaker the first day the two of them were in here (my apartment) with me, I guess with the dove thinking my nurse was an invader and she had to protect me?

Has anyone else had a wild bird protect you inside your own house against your guests before? It can't just be me.
 
Viirin said:
Thank you everyone! The above aren't the only pictures I have of my doves, I have a LOT more. I usually have my webcam aimed at a wall or something, unless I wanna take pictures and then I'll put it outside the window on the sill where I know the birds are going to be. They're with me the entire time the sun is up, every day!

I mean they do leave sometimes to get water or something, I guess, but I'm not sure where they get it from. I've tried setting it up so they could get the water from me too, but they haven't shown any interest in it. Do they act like some animals, getting their water needs from their solid diet?

I do have to move the camera sometimes though, since the birds like to dig in the seed. They use their beaks like shovels, knocking the seed around, usually throwing it at me or getting it under the camera, then they have to move the camera to get under it but my camera isn't great, so it's just a blurry mess when they're that close.

I got really surprised at them last year, when it was snowing but they didn't migrate. Instead, they just hung out in my window, using my heater. Funny little birds! Then a few months ago, Woodwing decided to try to build a nest under my computer desk, but she decided not to and left. I don't know what inspired her to come in the window, jump onto my lap, walk down my leg, jump under the computer desk and scout the place out, but I guess that's her choice. She was in my apartment acting like a dog... so she was just like that, I guess?

What I mean by a mourning dove acting like a dog: When I wasn't home (usually at a doctor's office or grocery shopping), she'd be in my apartment, standing at the front door, staring at it. I know this because when my caretaker and I got back, she was there at the door, watching us come in. She'd just watch us put groceries away, not caring that two humans were walking around next to her. She even flew at my caretaker the first day the two of them were in here (my apartment) with me, I guess with the dove thinking my nurse was an invader and she had to protect me?

Has anyone else had a wild bird protect you inside your own house against your guests before? It can't just be me.
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Birds can get attached to you even the wild ones! I used to feed a pair of Ravens, for years they would call to me every morning for breakfast and beg for dry dog food for their babies. One time I was outside walking near my home and I remembered something I needed to do asap at home so I started running really fast. Out of nowhere the male Raven flew in and dove right over top of me and in front of me as if I were being chased and he was protecting me. Often when a hawk came into the yard near me, the female Raven would land in a tree near me and call as the male mobbed the hawk. So yes, I think they do recognize people that care for them and naturally want to protect those that are important to them.
 
TwoCrows said:
Birds can get attached to you even the wild ones! I used to feed a pair of Ravens, for years they would call to me every morning for breakfast and beg for dry dog food for their babies. One time I was outside walking near my home and I remembered something I needed to do asap at home so I started running really fast. Out of nowhere the male Raven flew in and dove right over top of me and in front of me as if I were being chased and he was protecting me. Often when a hawk came into the yard near me, the female Raven would land in a tree near me and call as the male mobbed the hawk. So yes, I think they do recognize people that care for them and naturally want to protect those that are important to them.
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That's awesome! Yeah I like to say at my support group that "It's wonderful that the prettiest birds in the area that sing the prettiest songs wake me up in the morning, and if you translate it into English, it's 'Hey, wake up, I want more sunflower seeds!'"

Before I moved out here, I fed other birds, and the ones that decided to spend the most time with me were some crows. One perched on one of the pine trees in my front yard, and I'd find her footprints in the snow leading up to my front door. I had wondered who was knocking.
 
Viirin said:
That's awesome! Yeah I like to say at my support group that "It's wonderful that the prettiest birds in the area that sing the prettiest songs wake me up in the morning, and if you translate it into English, it's 'Hey, wake up, I want more sunflower seeds!'"

Before I moved out here, I fed other birds, and the ones that decided to spend the most time with me were some crows. One perched on one of the pine trees in my front yard, and I'd find her footprints in the snow leading up to my front door. I had wondered who was knocking.
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Crows and Ravens are the smartest of all the wild birds and are on the top of my list! ❤ However I love all birds, I've been a bird nerd all my life since I was a little girl. The world would be a lonely place without birds and their song.
 
TwoCrows said:
Crows and Ravens are the smartest of all the wild birds and are on the top of my list! ❤ However I love all birds, I've been a bird nerd all my life since I was a little girl. The world would be a lonely place without birds and their song.
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Oh, I absolutely agree. I've even paid the crows to protect the neighborhood, and they did! (Paid in popcorn, of course. I didn't want to give them much stale bread since I didn't know if corvids could get angelwing.)
 

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