Pigeon Talk

[cavemanrich]

Pigeon landed on a cargo ship out in the middle of nowhere!

https://rumble.com/vtsp4u-a-tired-traveler-far-from-home.html

There are 2 sides to every coin. Story may be true,,,, and may be not true... By not true;; Pigeon could have been a stowaway on board.
Generally,,, homing pigeons do not cross large body of water. They navigate around.
I have run cross postings where the racing pigeon accidentally chooses wrong side of Lake Michigan to fly north. Ends up in Eastern Wisconsin,, instead of Western Michigan. .. Pigeons home was directly east of where he ended up. The lake is only about 100 miles wide at that point.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Had to trim this guys beak down a bit today. I got him a few months back with the beak a little too long but I waited to trim it because he’s very wild and nervous about being caught in the loft.

Turns out I was worried about nothing. He was a total sweetheart during the process- I gave him some peanuts for being a good sport.

 

[cavemanrich]

Had to trim this guys beak down a bit today. I got him a few months back with the beak a little too long but I waited to trim it because he’s very wild and nervous about being caught in the loft.

Turns out I was worried about nothing. He was a total sweetheart during the process- I gave him some peanuts for being a good sport.

The cere is somewhat unusual looking, comparing to homers I kept. Is he a homer, mixed, or other?? Does look young.

 

[Qwerty3159]

The cere is somewhat unusual looking, comparing to homers I kept. Is he a homer, mixed, or other?? Does look young.

He is a 2018 homer, the whole family of birds the guy I got them from races tends to have the big ceres like that. Maybe they are lower quality pigeons that he didn’t want in his stock anymore I didn’t mind at all because they were free

Here’s a better pic from before the beak trim

 

[Qwerty3159]

In addition to some young birds I also got from him the two blue bars in this photo. It’s hard to tell but the hen in the center is built like a house, especially compared to my whites which are more lightly built. She’s 13 years old so I’d be really surprised if I got any eggs out of her but her and the cock in the back should made a good foster pair.

 

[cavemanrich]

Maybe they are lower quality pigeons that he didn’t want in his stock anymore I didn’t mind at all because they were free

Not necessarily lower quality,, but if he races,,,, he keeps his fastest ones. That being said,,, you are getting good birds,,, and you are getting at great price,

What I do like about that pigeon keeper,, is that he offers the extra pigeon to someone else.

Long long long ago,, I hanged around with pigeon racers. (they were in age of my fathers' generation) I did not have any interests in pigeons at that time.
Do you want me to tell you what they did with their loosers,,, or can you figure that out on your own. Well,,, it was not cruel,, but most ended up at the butcher,,, for $1 each. They would not want to share/exchange their pigeons,,,,, with other members since the racing was gambling for ca$h. I do not have details of the money stakes.. That was all inside club deals.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Got some better photos of the little cutie a bit ago and would you just look at them!!

Definitely thinking that the adult in the second photo is Thing 2 (the one not harmed by the raccoon way back), who I also believe is the mother of Fish ..

I did a clean out and put some hay in their enclosure the other evening and one was being slightly more aggressive towards both of the others but mainly Fish. That being said, Thing 1 has always been more dominant/aggressive and showed me that the other night but still eventually let Thing 2 crouch and cuddle up unfortunately leaving Fish to themselves on the other side of the ledge sounding a little pathetic to be honest

I did buy some wild bird seed mix today to start feeding them as Fish is starting to want to fly more (hopefully because I started giving some feed I still feel bad for not doing it sooner..). I went for the one without corn as I have cracked corn aplenty currently and plan to just mix it in while it’s still really cold out.
I made sure to offer grit when I first put some corn up there for them until I was able to acquire some of the bird seed mix and just bought some that’s more of a better nutrient mix I think to help Fish as I’m unsure if they got enough nutrients while devolving.. is it normal for juveniles to twitch their wings at their parents and make a sad squeaking noise ?? They seem so sad and pathetic I just want to bring them inside and feed them until they’re plump

 

[Qwerty3159]

That is pretty normal behavior during the weaning process. Is he eating solid food yet?

Sometimes when I have youngsters like that I like to baby them and make sure they’re getting enough to eat by feeding them separately, but it’s also important for them to learn and take up a position in the flock hierarchy. I think if you’re worried he’s not eating enough you can take the baby indoors or wherever to feed him and he doesn’t mind go for it- in the long run you’ll probably end up with a very friendly pigeon.

 

[Qwerty3159]

What I do like about that pigeon keeper,, is that he offers the extra pigeon to someone else.

Agreed I personally think the highly competitive nature of pigeon racing takes a lot of the fun out of it, but to each their own.

Either way, this guy has been really generous and helpful with me since I started on my pigeon journey.

 

[WVduckchick]

There are 2 sides to every coin. Story may be true,,,, and may be not true... By not true;; Pigeon could have been a stowaway on board.
Generally,,, homing pigeons do not cross large body of water. They navigate around.
I have run cross postings where the racing pigeon accidentally chooses wrong side of Lake Michigan to fly north. Ends up in Eastern Wisconsin,, instead of Western Michigan. .. Pigeons home was directly east of where he ended up. The lake is only about 100 miles wide at that point.

I thought about it being false. One of the workers on the ship could even be the owner and took the bird with him, as a pet/companion. Lots of possibilities.