Pigeon Questions

[LamarshFish]

View attachment 1157680

OK, took a chance and used my flash.

Oh, and yesterday there was a tiny bit of grit in the water dish, so it is eating grit, and I have a guy bringing me some actual pigeon grit (he raises them to catch raptors)

Hmm, I don't see any down feathers, which are typically present on pigeons 6 weeks old or less, and sometimes go away at 4 weeks. Pigeons do not coo or growl until they are about 3 months old, and until they they squeak (especially until about 2 months old, it's all they do, any time you go near them squeak squeak--hence the name of pigeons 2 months or younger, but older than the squab age, being called "squeakers".

Squeakers normally have dark eyes until they get out of the squeaker stage, then they slowly gain the color their eyes will be over a handful of months. If your bird's eye color is truly brown, it could be young, but in this photo they look yellowish. Young birds that are not of light or no pigment color typically have very dark eyes until they mature.

When you go to handle the bird and upset it to some degree, do you describe the noise it makes as a grrrrrrrrr, or a squeak?

 

[LamarshFish]

@LamarshFish How much borax do you put in the water? You mention a 10x20 dish with 4"-6" of water. A tablespoon? A teaspoon? A pinch?

I use about 2 tablespoons for the little tub I give my birds, which I now realize you can actually see in my profile picture sitting on the floor of my aviary. If I had to guess, I'd say it holds close to 2 gallons of water. I think you can poke around the web for a good ratio that would be more accurate to whatever amount of water your tub holds. I think no more than 1 tablespoon per gallon of water is about right.

 

[Kusanar]

Hmm, I don't see any down feathers, which are typically present on pigeons 6 weeks old or less, and sometimes go away at 4 weeks. Pigeons do not coo or growl until they are about 3 months old, and until they they squeak (especially until about 2 months old, it's all they do, any time you go near them squeak squeak--hence the name of pigeons 2 months or younger, but older than the squab age, being called "squeakers".

Squeakers normally have dark eyes until they get out of the squeaker stage, then they slowly gain the color their eyes will be over a handful of months. If your bird's eye color is truly brown, it could be young, but in this photo they look yellowish. Young birds that are not of light or no pigment color typically have very dark eyes until they mature.

When you go to handle the bird and upset it to some degree, do you describe the noise it makes as a grrrrrrrrr, or a squeak?

It was more of a squeak noise, but seemed like it was deep in it's throat like when chickens are talking. It didn't open it's mouth and it was REALLY quiet. It's only done that once, and that was while we had it in a room it hadn't been in before with a cat present and messing with the damaged wing, so I imagine it was pretty distressed.

The eyes actually look milk chocolate brown, the flash lightened everything up. The previous pictures are closer to the actual color of the feathers.

I have cooed at it to see if it would answer me and I got the cutest confused look ever from the poor little thing but no noise.

 

[LamarshFish]

It was more of a squeak noise, but seemed like it was deep in it's throat like when chickens are talking. It didn't open it's mouth and it was REALLY quiet. It's only done that once, and that was while we had it in a room it hadn't been in before with a cat present and messing with the damaged wing, so I imagine it was pretty distressed.

The eyes actually look milk chocolate brown, the flash lightened everything up. The previous pictures are closer to the actual color of the feathers.

I have cooed at it to see if it would answer me and I got the cutest confused look ever from the poor little thing but no noise.

Ok, then, because it looks to be of blue color (darker pigment, which usually means they will have orange or red eyes as mature birds), and you say the eyes are still milk chocolate brown, I'd say the bird is under 3 months of age. If it lacks those fuzzy down feathers here and there, it is likely over 1 month of age.

But I can't be totally sure, hopefully some people that know more about pigeons that me can chime in.

Are its feathers always ruffled up like that? Does it hold it's tail feather down consistently? If so, you'll want to monitor the bird's health closely.

Monitoring the bird's poop is a good way to monitor health. Consistently runny poop is not good, but a bird under stress that is otherwise healthy may have runny poop until its stress alleviates. Pigeon poop can be runny from time to time for various reasons that don't necessarily mean bad health, but if the poop is consistently runny it could mean some health issues. Sometimes pigeons just drink quite a bit of water and literally poop out just clear liquid, and as far as I know that doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. Healthy pigeon poop is lighter brown with some white on it, and is somewhat firm but gets laid down in a way not too different from dog poop (unlike many birds, who have splattery poop). Watery poop with strings of solid poop in it but no white can mean there is some kind of infection, but I think can also occur when there is no problem at all.

Here is a good example of healthy pigeon poop:

To give it the best odds at good health, add some organic apple cider vinegar to its water. It treats and prevents an array of illnesses and parasites. The ratio would be about 2 teaspoons per liter of water.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I use about 2 tablespoons for the little tub I give my birds, which I now realize you can actually see in my profile picture sitting on the floor of my aviary. If I had to guess, I'd say it holds close to 2 gallons of water. I think you can poke around the web for a good ratio that would be more accurate to whatever amount of water your tub holds. I think no more than 1 tablespoon per gallon of water is about right.

Thanks. The birds I look in on would probably love a bath. I noticed a young one had lice and thought a bath might help with that too.

 

[Kusanar]

Ok, then, because it looks to be of blue color (darker pigment, which usually means they will have orange or red eyes as mature birds), and you say the eyes are still milk chocolate brown, I'd say the bird is under 3 months of age. If it lacks those fuzzy down feathers here and there, it is likely over 1 month of age.

But I can't be totally sure, hopefully some people that know more about pigeons that me can chime in.

Are its feathers always ruffled up like that? Does it hold it's tail feather down consistently? If so, you'll want to monitor the bird's health closely.

Monitoring the bird's poop is a good way to monitor health. Consistently runny poop is not good, but a bird under stress that is otherwise healthy may have runny poop until its stress alleviates. Pigeon poop can be runny from time to time for various reasons that don't necessarily mean bad health, but if the poop is consistently runny it could mean some health issues. Sometimes pigeons just drink quite a bit of water and literally poop out just clear liquid, and as far as I know that doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. Healthy pigeon poop is lighter brown with some white on it, and is somewhat firm but gets laid down in a way not too different from dog poop (unlike many birds, who have splattery poop). Watery poop with strings of solid poop in it but no white can mean there is some kind of infection, but I think can also occur when there is no problem at all.

Here is a good example of healthy pigeon poop:

To give it the best odds at good health, add some organic apple cider vinegar to its water. It treats and prevents an array of illnesses and parasites. The ratio would be about 2 teaspoons per liter of water.

It does a lot of those clear liquid poops, but the ones I cleaned up yesterday were solid, not quite as well formed as the ones you posted but solid piles. The first night it had lime green liquid poops, but it had just been caught and brought in the house, plus it may have just broken it's wing and been stressed from that still.

When it's upset it hunches and fluffs like that, I had just walked in on it while it was sleeping and flashed my phone in it's face, so that explains the upset look, when it isn't upset, like when it's eating, it stretches back out and slicks down and looks like a real bird.

I haven't noticed how it holds it's tail, I think generally down, but not dragging the ground and it holds it's tail about even with it's wing tips now that I have the one wing taped so it's not dragging.

One thing I just thought about, we are going out of town next weekend, have the hotel booked and everything... Will be leaving sometime Friday and coming back late Sunday evening, do you think the bird will be ok if I give it food 24 hours a day and leave it for that long? Or do I need to try to find someone to check on it? I don't know anyone that knows birds and would hate for it to get loose and get hurt because someone else opened the cage (it would fall off of a 4 foot high dresser if it got out). It still hasn't made a mess of it's water (changing it anyway), so I think that will stay clean for that long, and I think I can put it's food in something it can't get in and poop in it.

 

[LamarshFish]

It does a lot of those clear liquid poops, but the ones I cleaned up yesterday were solid, not quite as well formed as the ones you posted but solid piles. The first night it had lime green liquid poops, but it had just been caught and brought in the house, plus it may have just broken it's wing and been stressed from that still.

When it's upset it hunches and fluffs like that, I had just walked in on it while it was sleeping and flashed my phone in it's face, so that explains the upset look, when it isn't upset, like when it's eating, it stretches back out and slicks down and looks like a real bird.

I haven't noticed how it holds it's tail, I think generally down, but not dragging the ground and it holds it's tail about even with it's wing tips now that I have the one wing taped so it's not dragging.

One thing I just thought about, we are going out of town next weekend, have the hotel booked and everything... Will be leaving sometime Friday and coming back late Sunday evening, do you think the bird will be ok if I give it food 24 hours a day and leave it for that long? Or do I need to try to find someone to check on it? I don't know anyone that knows birds and would hate for it to get loose and get hurt because someone else opened the cage (it would fall off of a 4 foot high dresser if it got out). It still hasn't made a mess of it's water (changing it anyway), so I think that will stay clean for that long, and I think I can put it's food in something it can't get in and poop in it.

The tail position you describe is normal. Dragging on or near the ground would indicate a problem.

The runny poop you describe that is clear I think is pretty normal from time to time. The fact that the poop was green when you first took the bird in, but then it changed and now looks normal, is a good sign.

As for going out of town, there are ways to leave pigeons for days at a time and they can do just fine, but I think you'll need to make adjustments to what you had in mind in order for it to work out well. First, while a pigeon can go a few days without food, I don't think it's good for them. Water is a different story--pigeons should ever be without clean drinking water.

So, that being said, even though your pigeon isn't soiling its water, I would not feel comfortable leaving it without ample amounts of water from a device they cannot soil, such as some form of gravity drinker with a resevoir that is not exposed but that the bird sort of has to stick its head in to drink. So, something like this: https://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/drinkers-feeders/1651-mini-drinker-0-7l-1

Since you only have one pigeon, you don't to be so much concerned about running out of water even in a small 24oz drinker. I have 9 pigeons and they go through a liter of water almost in one day.

For food while you are away, I would also put it in some kind of gravity feeder that the bird has to stick its head in to eat, for the same reason, so they cannot soil the food.

If you do not have time to buy a gravity drinker and feeder like I described above, there are ways to make them at home out of 2 liter pop bottles and such, just google it and you can figure something out pretty easy. Here's just one example:

I would also put something on the bottom of the cage that is not newspaper and will absorb poop, as well as give the bird the option to perch on something a bit higher up.

Pigeons have a tendency to perch on things, so make sure your feeder and drinker are either shaped in a way where it cannot perch, or make sure the feeder and drinker are secured (zip tied, etc) to something in case the pigeon does stand on it, it will not knock it over and be without food or water.

 

[Kusanar]

The tail position you describe is normal. Dragging on or near the ground would indicate a problem.

The runny poop you describe that is clear I think is pretty normal from time to time. The fact that the poop was green when you first took the bird in, but then it changed and now looks normal, is a good sign.

As for going out of town, there are ways to leave pigeons for days at a time and they can do just fine, but I think you'll need to make adjustments to what you had in mind in order for it to work out well. First, while a pigeon can go a few days without food, I don't think it's good for them. Water is a different story--pigeons should ever be without clean drinking water.

So, that being said, even though your pigeon isn't soiling its water, I would not feel comfortable leaving it without ample amounts of water from a device they cannot soil, such as some form of gravity drinker with a resevoir that is not exposed but that the bird sort of has to stick its head in to drink. So, something like this: https://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/drinkers-feeders/1651-mini-drinker-0-7l-1

Since you only have one pigeon, you don't to be so much concerned about running out of water even in a small 24oz drinker. I have 9 pigeons and they go through a liter of water almost in one day.

For food while you are away, I would also put it in some kind of gravity feeder that the bird has to stick its head in to eat, for the same reason, so they cannot soil the food.

If you do not have time to buy a gravity drinker and feeder like I described above, there are ways to make them at home out of 2 liter pop bottles and such, just google it and you can figure something out pretty easy. Here's just one example:

I would also put something on the bottom of the cage that is not newspaper and will absorb poop, as well as give the bird the option to perch on something a bit higher up.

Pigeons have a tendency to perch on things, so make sure your feeder and drinker are either shaped in a way where it cannot perch, or make sure the feeder and drinker are secured (zip tied, etc) to something in case the pigeon does stand on it, it will not knock it over and be without food or water.

Ok, the water is currently in a hang-on-the-cage type dish and I have been giving it a little bit of seed in the morning on the ground (since I don't really have time to remove the dish in 20 minutes in the morning) and then giving it all it wants for dinner. I have another container just like the one the water is in that I can put food in.

This bird violently resists sitting on anything other than the ground, even when it got in the food bowl it was IN the bowl not ON it if that makes sense...

I will put a puppy pad in the floor and I might still get a friend to stop by and make sure he hasn't made a huge mess.

 

[LamarshFish]

Ok, the water is currently in a hang-on-the-cage type dish and I have been giving it a little bit of seed in the morning on the ground (since I don't really have time to remove the dish in 20 minutes in the morning) and then giving it all it wants for dinner. I have another container just like the one the water is in that I can put food in.

This bird violently resists sitting on anything other than the ground, even when it got in the food bowl it was IN the bowl not ON it if that makes sense...

I will put a puppy pad in the floor and I might still get a friend to stop by and make sure he hasn't made a huge mess.

The food will probably be fine in the dish, but a gravity feeder is best, it keeps the bird from standing in the food or otherwise soiling it. For a homemade feeder, all you have to do is cut a hole or square out of the bottom of a 2 liter a few inches from the bottom, load it with feed, and make sure it's secured to the sides of the cages.

The water is another story. The problem is that if for any reason (even though it hasn't done it yet) the bird soils the water, he could become dehydrated. Fresh water is a must. I recommend building one of those homemade drinkers like in the YouTube video above. Just make sure the bird cannot knock it over.

Having somebody come check on the bird is wise! All they'd have to do is check in Saturday evening once to make sure there is fresh water and that the bird is ok.

 

[Kusanar]

Well, first things first, I found a "roost" for the bird. I remembered I had a ferret litter box downstairs that hooks into the corner of a wire cage, so that is hanging in the back corner now... I guess now we get to see if he'll use it at all. I will look at different feed and water solutions this weekend.