Pigeon Talk

[Qwerty3159]

Haven't been able to try the painted feathers yet because a Cooper's has set up shop at my house and been eating my wild birds. I found a cloud of feathers the other day and watched it take a dove as well.
This is probably the same one that will visit the loft every once in a while and look up at them through the mesh floor or fly into the doors trying to get in. While its nice to see it going after its natural prey I'm keeping my birds on lockdown for a bit so as not to tempt it. Fortunately we cut an old dying apple tree down which has given me an even better spot for the aviary I plan to build.

 

[cavemanrich]

The feed store I use has all the widowhood fronts but I'm undecided on whether to go for that or make some out of wood and dowling. Wire mesh will be a lot easier and quicker to install though.

You don't need the widows, until you actually do racing. That may be a year away.,,,, You can make your own wooden enclosures easily, and then add doors.
I like the wood option over the metal grate. I just did the metal grate, because I needed something quickly, and saw the refrigerator shelf as ideal repurpose. One shelf screwed into center covered 4 nesting boxes.
An economical option to dowels, especially if you have leftover scrap wood, and a means to cut on a table saw. I have both,,, table saw and plenty of scrap wood.
Cut square pieces 1 cm x 1 cm x length from top to bottom of all the nesting boxes. Pre-drill holes for small screws, or nails where they meet the floor of box, and fasten. Space them at distance to keep Junior from falling out. You could get idea on distance from the box-fronts at the feed store. You could make doors at a later time.
If you do have to go the purchase dowel route, You can still use same method of fastening long dowels the full height of your boxes.


Switching gears to pigeon perches.
I always like the feeling of a natural environment for pigeons and chickens as well. I think its for my viewing possibly more than the birds preference
I use natural branches in my coop for roosts. I used assorted branches in my one time portable aviary in backyard.

An IDEA for pigeon perches is,,,,, short lengths of branches cut and fastened to wall with these.

These perches could be easily moved around, by unscrewing and relocating. EZ Peezy
I know that the V shaped perches do keep the gumdrops off the pigeon below. If there is a lot of room, these can be placed/ spaced so they do not interfere with the dropping bombs

 

[CCUK]

You don't need the widows, until you actually do racing. That may be a year away.,,,, You can make your own wooden enclosures easily, and then add doors.
I like the wood option over the metal grate. I just did the metal grate, because I needed something quickly, and saw the refrigerator shelf as ideal repurpose. One shelf screwed into center covered 4 nesting boxes.
An economical option to dowels, especially if you have leftover scrap wood, and a means to cut on a table saw. I have both,,, table saw and plenty of scrap wood.
Cut square pieces 1 cm x 1 cm x length from top to bottom of all the nesting boxes. Pre-drill holes for small screws, or nails where they meet the floor of box, and fasten. Space them at distance to keep Junior from falling out. You could get idea on distance from the box-fronts at the feed store. You could make doors at a later time.
If you do have to go the purchase dowel route, You can still use same method of fastening long dowels the full height of your boxes.


Switching gears to pigeon perches.
I always like the feeling of a natural environment for pigeons and chickens as well. I think its for my viewing possibly more than the birds preference
I use natural branches in my coop for roosts. I used assorted branches in my one time portable aviary in backyard.

An IDEA for pigeon perches is,,,,, short lengths of branches cut and fastened to wall with these.

These perches could be easily moved around, by unscrewing and relocating. EZ Peezy
I know that the V shaped perches do keep the gumdrops off the pigeon below. If there is a lot of room, these can be placed/ spaced so they do not interfere with the dropping bombs

Ive made a bunch of these perches for outside.

They're not the best but will do. I'm thinking of putting a swinging perch in like wv's but I'll have to see how it works space wise. Like everything I do I'll end up modifying, improvising and fine tuning till I get it right!

 

[backyard pigeons]

Ive made a bunch of these perches for outside.
View attachment 1885912 View attachment 1885911
They're not the best but will do. I'm thinking of putting a swinging perch in like wv's but I'll have to see how it works space wise. Like everything I do I'll end up modifying, improvising and fine tuning till I get it right!

those are my second favorite perches! They don't get droppings on them.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Recently my bird havent had the firmest and best looking droppings. I'll get a pic tommorrow, but any clue what might be causing it? Should I get some dewormer? I have never wormed any of my birds.

 

[Serin]

Today I found a baby parrot while out walking! There's a colony of them, descended from escaped pets, that have a lot of big nests under a bridge nearby. He only has one wing! This little one jumped out to fly for the first time and must've fallen like a rock as a result. I just happened to come across it before a predator. The wing is healed and must have been hurt when it was very little but with this disability it would never survive out of the nest so for now but probably not forever he is a new member of my house bird flock... he's so young he can't eat on his own yet but I've gotten him to take formula. And he's so young, he doesn't have any fear of people either.

Meet Nemo.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Today I found a baby parrot while out walking! There's a colony of them, descended from escaped pets, that have a lot of big nests under a bridge nearby. He only has one wing! This little one jumped out to fly for the first time and must've fallen like a rock as a result. I just happened to come across it before a predator. The wing is healed and must have been hurt when it was very little but with this disability it would never survive out of the nest so for now but probably not forever he is a new member of my house bird flock... he's so young he can't eat on his own yet but I've gotten him to take formula. He's so young, he doesn't have any fear of people yet.

Meet Nemo.

View attachment 1886231 View attachment 1886232 View attachment 1886233

Oh my! Is it a monk? so it only has one wing?

 

[Serin]

Oh my! Is it a monk? so it only has one wing?

Yes he is, though I know them as quaker parrots as that's what pet stores call them. He has one full wing and his left side is cleanly lopped off above the wrist and has no flight feathers. But there's no wound, so it happened when he was tiny. Maybe another pair of parrots wanted his nest and attacked him, or mom and dad were too rough and did it by accident. Sadly he will never fly, and the leg on that side is sprained and very weak too. Fortunately parrots climb very well with their beaks and can get around when disabled better than any other birds. Right now he hops on one foot and falls around a lot, but as sad as it is, there's no better age to adapt to disability than this young. The leg will probably recover.

Sorry I don't know about your droppings issue but Olive's droppings were loose and nasty in the day before she laid eggs. Not since though.

You can see the full right wing versus the tiny remnant of the left wing. At first glance I thought just the feathers were gone but he has no wrist at all so no place for feathers to grow back from.

 

[biophiliac]

Yes they seem to enjoy it and fly around the whole duck pen now. I only open it up for a couple hours in the evening, because I have to close the duck’s gate when I let the pigeons in there, and I don’t like to shut the ducks out while I’m not home. But a couple hours at a time seems to be plenty for them, as they end up back in their own section fairly quickly.

That is just perfect for their 'free flying' experience whilst keeping them safe.


Wow you’ve done great. What’s left to do?
I also like the nest boxes. I might have to copy them. Now that I have more adults, I’m probably going to need more.

Always need more nest boxes... a shortage resulted in one of my pairs building a nest UNDER the loft! The hen is one of Loper's babies hatched only March 28 2019. I pulled 7 more eggs yesterday including the 2 from the young hen. (I didn't even know they could lay the young.) One of those is so strange, very porous and rough bumps all over the surface as well as seeming completely hollow and empty. It weighs literally nothing on the scale! I try to get a photo tomorrow.!

Recently my bird havent had the firmest and best looking droppings. I'll get a pic tommorrow, but any clue what might be causing it? Should I get some dewormer? I have never wormed any of my birds.

The first thing I try is a 5 day course of Amprolium in their drinking water for coccidia. I have never wormed mine either.

 

[biophiliac]

Today I found a baby parrot while out walking! There's a colony of them, descended from escaped pets, that have a lot of big nests under a bridge nearby. He only has one wing! This little one jumped out to fly for the first time and must've fallen like a rock as a result. I just happened to come across it before a predator. The wing is healed and must have been hurt when it was very little but with this disability it would never survive out of the nest so for now but probably not forever he is a new member of my house bird flock... he's so young he can't eat on his own yet but I've gotten him to take formula. And he's so young, he doesn't have any fear of people either.

Meet Nemo.

View attachment 1886231 View attachment 1886232 View attachment 1886233

OMG he's adorable! I didn't know they could establich themselves this far north. What would they find to eat in winter?