Pigeon Questions

[LamarshFish]

OK, I gave him a bath with borax water and he was NOT happy... but I got him pretty well soaked...

Now, how skinny are these guys supposed to be? When I got him wet, his keep bone actually stuck out past the wet feathers... he will be getting 24 hour a day food over the weekend, but should i go ahead and start that now to get some weight back on him?

They do look skinny when totally soaked, but if you think it looks too skinny it might be. Leave the food for it 24 hours for a few days and see what happens. If there is just tons of poop in there, you might want to remove it, it just means he is eating and pooping it all out.

There is a chest bone on birds, and when they are young it does stick out a bit, but I'm not sure whether what you describe is too far or not.

Mixing peanuts into the food is a good way to get him into them, but you can also give him peanuts in a separate container or just scatter them on the floor, so he knows they are something different and special.

I recommend treating its water with organic apple cider vinegar. It has many health benefits, and could cure some issues the bird might have. 2 teaspoons per 1 liter of water.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I had to share because I found it beyond funny. I've tried to come up with a way to give the pigeons I sometimes look after a bath. There isn't an area outside the loft that I can get a tub into. So with the random nice day we had I gave them a pigeon shower.

Set the hose to steady rain and held it over wher they could get it. They were lifting their wings like they were washing their armpits! They all crowded around and shook and fluffed. They would walk off and come back.

They clearly enjoyed their shower!

 

[Kusanar]

OK, well, Felix has now figured out he can peck at me and screams bloody murder when I try to mess with him... He has also decided he wants to take baths in his water dish... I know, I know, I was warned... But he still won't take a bath in the tub like he's supposed to... I haven't seen any bugs on him since he got his forced borax bath so that's good.

He tried to fly when I put him in the tub last time but couldn't get higher than the edge of the tub, so still not flight worthy... spoiled little bird though.

 

[Kusanar]

Also, another question. Since Felix is a squeaker and that's the stage that you buy new birds at, is there any chance he could be re-settled back to a different location? Currently, his cage in my house is only about 100 feet from where he was caught, so homing back to his original area wouldn't be an issue, but if I keep him, he can't stay in my bedroom forever... so, he would go out to my farm about half an hour away. If I move him, is there a chance he would stay? He can't fly yet, but if he does start flying some, I don't want to risk him trying to fly across a few counties to get back to the city where he came from. @LamarshFish

 

[LamarshFish]

Also, another question. Since Felix is a squeaker and that's the stage that you buy new birds at, is there any chance he could be re-settled back to a different location? Currently, his cage in my house is only about 100 feet from where he was caught, so homing back to his original area wouldn't be an issue, but if I keep him, he can't stay in my bedroom forever... so, he would go out to my farm about half an hour away. If I move him, is there a chance he would stay? He can't fly yet, but if he does start flying some, I don't want to risk him trying to fly across a few counties to get back to the city where he came from. @LamarshFish

Tough to tell. Although many say you can settle pigeons that have not already settled to a loft / homed to a location so long as they are less than 6 months of age, I have found it is hard to do much older than 2 months. That being said, I think your other location is close enough such that if it fails, your bird will end up back in your neighborhood anyways, but you won't be able to catch it since you don't have an outdoor loft with a bob door and what not. The concern with flying pigeons from a location that is not their home location is more of a big deal at long distances, where the concern is that the pigeon's homing instinct will overpower it's ability to survive and rest, eat, etc (i.e., the risk of it dying trying to fly home hundreds and hundreds of miles (maybe thousands) when it is not conditioned properly to do so).

 

[Kusanar]

Tough to tell. Although many say you can settle pigeons that have not already settled to a loft / homed to a location so long as they are less than 6 months of age, I have found it is hard to do much older than 2 months. That being said, I think your other location is close enough such that if it fails, your bird will end up back in your neighborhood anyways, but you won't be able to catch it since you don't have an outdoor loft with a bob door and what not. The concern with flying pigeons from a location that is not their home location is more of a big deal at long distances, where the concern is that the pigeon's homing instinct will overpower it's ability to survive and rest, eat, etc (i.e., the risk of it dying trying to fly home hundreds and hundreds of miles (maybe thousands) when it is not conditioned properly to do so).

Yeah, if he left the farm, it's less than 50 miles, probably a lot less if he goes in a straight line.

I went back to Pet-Co and lo and behold, they have small bags of dove food. So, I got him a bag of dove food and have been mixing the 2 feeds as the dove food does not have sunflower seeds which seem to be a hit with him.

It's really funny, our upstairs cat really doesn't have a clue what to do about a bird in the house. I had Felix out and was holding him in the living room where she was and she was giving him the funniest looks. I'm betting he would be fine loose with her, first time he smacked her in the face and she would run and hide! Not that I'm going to do that, but I don't have to worry about her trying to take him from me.

 

[LamarshFish]

I'm betting he would be fine loose with her

The pigeon would be fine loose with the pigeon.... until the cat decides that shouldn't be the case, sort of like how my cat likes it when I pet his stomach and then all of the sudden decides it's time to sink his teeth into my hand. Cats will be cats.

I'd keep them separated, and if the pigeon is out, supervise them.

 

[Kusanar]

The pigeon would be fine loose with the pigeon.... until the cat decides that shouldn't be the case, sort of like how my cat likes it when I pet his stomach and then all of the sudden decides it's time to sink his teeth into my hand. Cats will be cats.

I'd keep them separated, and if the pigeon is out, supervise them.

Yeah, when he's out of his cage I'm holding him or he's in the bath tub with the bathroom door shut.

I know he wouldn't stand a chance with any of the basement cats, they would eat him in about 2 seconds... but Sparta is scared of him, it's pretty funny.

 

[LamarshFish]

I know he wouldn't stand a chance with any of the basement cats, they would eat him in about 2 seconds... but Sparta is scared of him, it's pretty funny.

It's more funny that you have different cats for different levels of your house lol

 

[Kusanar]

It's more funny that you have different cats for different levels of your house lol

Sparta is my husbands cat, she was raised with only a few people and no other animals around, actually, she is my husbands ex gf's cat but when she broke up with him she left the cat... She is the upstairs cat.

The basement cats are 1 stray and 4 kittens from feral mothers. They are VERY affectionate and really want to be friends with Sparta but any time they get near her she hisses and gets herself so worked up that she starts hyperventilating and will eventually vomit (which then the basement cats eat... gross) so, as a general rule, Sparta is upstairs and the other 5 are downstairs so that all of the ones that play and rough house are together. Also, the dog is downstairs with the basement cats, poor guy, a few of them are bigger than he is and he gets bullied... They have to be separated when they eat or the cats will steal food from the dog!

So, upstairs, we have mealworms, snails, a fish, a pigeon, and one anti social cat... downstairs we have 5 cats and a dog... not much else would survive down there...