Pigeon Talk

[avjudge]

An update: as I had hoped, keeping the parents near the nest (i.e. locked in the aviary) has kept the baby safe. All of the small peck marks are healing up or have completely disappeared. I continue to keep triple antibiotic on two wounds, the large scrape and another cut I found behind/under the wing on the same side. Neither shows any swelling or discoloration, but the cut behind the wing does have yellow crusties around it.

This is the first time I have been hands-on with a baby; generally for the few I have had I just check in with a quick look every day or two to make sure everything is going well. So I am really getting a feel for how fast the babies grow – I note it when I’m watching, but actually holding the baby each day and feeling how much more physically able it is really drives it home! Just three days ago I would pick up and then have to place down the baby. The full crop and the big butt completely overwhelmed the strength of its legs. Now when I am done checking and treating I just move my hand into the nest and open it flat and baby walks right off.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I replied to your new thread - hoping for the best!

The baby I had to pull and handraise is doing well. At this point, he is too able bodied and annoying to keep indoors so he has graduated to living outside. Since he’s so small he’s in his own separate coop adjacent to the main loft. He is still stunted but continuing to eat, grow, and develop. Hopefully by July he will be flying!

He’s still pretty tiny. But he’s starting to get better at flying, probably another week or two in isolation until he can defend himself and he can go in with the others.

 

[Amer]

He’s still pretty tiny. But he’s starting to get better at flying, probably another week or two in isolation until he can defend himself and he can go in with the others.

He grew more slowly than mine (of similar age?) did.
He started eating on his own before mine ever tried.
Now mine can fly and is almost as big as its mom.

 

[Qwerty3159]

He was very stunted and starved by the mother. The day I pulled him, I had returned from a work trip of several days and it seemed she hadn’t fed him at all.

He’s been feeding himself now for a couple weeks so I think it might just be a waiting game. Slowly but surely all the feathers are coming in. But this is definitely a delayed development

 

[Amer]

He was very stunted and starved by the mother. The day I pulled him, I had returned from a work trip of several days and it seemed she hadn’t fed him at all.

He’s been feeding himself now for a couple weeks so I think it might just be a waiting game. Slowly but surely all the feathers are coming in. But this is definitely a delayed development

That’s interesting though, he’s been feeding himself for longer than mine has

 

[avjudge]

An update: as I had hoped, keeping the parents near the nest (i.e. locked in the aviary) has kept the baby safe.

Baby continues to be safe and even better, has healed up nicely! I’m having fun handling this baby so much more than my others, and it doesn’t seem to resent me. In fact it seems to be begging me for food, if I’m interpreting right, even when I check on it while the crop is full.

All of my other babies (only 4! And 3 were several years ago, only one recently) have had a lot of white so this is the first time I’ve seen this combination of remnant yellow baby fuzz hanging on while dark adult feathers fill in.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Hello, everyone! Sorry if this is not the right place to ask but I will assume this is a talk about anything overall pigeon . . . I saw a pigeon in a feral flock nearby and I wanted to know what kind of genetics made her look like this! I think she is so beautiful!

(The one in the center.)

 

[Amer]

That pigeon definitely has the “sooty” gene causing the dark dappling.

 

[Amer]

So my best guess is sooty blue check.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

So my best guess is sooty blue check.

I searched "sooty blue check pigeon" on Google and I found ones that looked different. Genetics are interesting and weird, what is making her brown and black?