Pigeon Talk

[Old_Strain_Lover]

I dunno if they did for their first owner, but for me they have not. They almost hatched one last fall, but it died hatching because it was backwards in the egg.

How many times have they laid? There is always an off chance that they have some kind of salmonella infection or something. It often causes infertile eggs, babies which die in the shell before hatching, or shortly after hatching. Sometimes the parents themselves don't show any signs or symptoms... they are just carriers of it.

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Does any one else's pigeons have a healthy appetite for redstone? Mine have picked all the redstone out of the mixed grit and completely demolished a redstone grit bowl in less than a day!

Yes most pigeons love redstone. When they really gorge themselves on it they will have reddish droppings. Usually before breeding and while feeding youngsters is when they crave it the most. They are searching out extra minerals and calcium during this time.

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Anyone hear from Hokum Coco lately? I haven't seen his posts in a while

 

[Pyxis]

How many times have they laid? There is always an off chance that they have some kind of salmonella infection or something. It often causes infertile eggs, babies which die in the shell before hatching, or shortly after hatching. Sometimes the parents themselves don't show any signs or symptoms... they are just carriers of it.

Hmm...they've laid for me four times now, always just the one egg. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to throw some Baytril in their water and see what happens. Thanks!

 

[Qwerty3159]

Yup, definitely nesting behavior. Put a bowl in for them and they should get to work

 

[backyard pigeons]

Cyril and Clara have an egg again - but it looks really small. Maybe it's not too small, but do pigeons ever have 'fairy eggs' like chickens do?

oh yes! I have a Portuguese tumblers on a full sized egg, and then a fairy egg. this particular hen seems to lay a second, fairy egg. I'll get a picture when it is light. It's about the size of a dime.

Guys, I think my pigeons have chosen a nest site. Peach (my male) is sitting in a certain spot, grunting and wings twitching, and Kiwi flew over there and started to groom his face. Is this a good thing?

if you want eggs, yes! It's a good thing!

Anyone hear from Hokum Coco lately? I haven't seen his posts in a while

I have not. I have been wondering where he is. He has always offered great advice.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Any tips for getting faster recall out of my birds?
I whistle and try to make a rattling noise with their feeder whenever I feed them and I always fly them prior to feeding but somedays they will just ignore my feed call which isn't a huge deal to me but I would like to be able to reliably bring them in on command because their unpredictable behavior means I usually only let them fly on my days off of work since I don't like leaving them out when I'm not around.
Today I let them out in the morning before feeding and they flew for about 10 minutes then landed on the roof. I had to wait about 20 minutes but they came back in relatively trouble free. At around 4 PM today I let them out again because I needed to repair something in the aviary and didn't want to deal with them stressing out and flying into me. Even though they were on pretty full stomachs they flew for a little bit then came back within a few minutes on their own accord.
It seems that take their cue when to come in at their own discretion because they can both see and hear the feeder and my whistling when they're on the roof but only sometimes they will choose to listen to me .I feed them the same amount pretty much every day.

 

[Qwerty3159]

To clarify I dont really take issue with them sitting out on the roof as much as them being pretty hit or miss when it comes to responding to me calling them inside. I've been flying them several times a week for almost 2 months and havent had any hawk encounters and I want to minimize the time they spend sitting out and exposed to attack

 

[biophiliac]

I love this thread. I may, or may not still be active in BYC without it.

all discussion is healthy, for the most part... I am happy to listen to both sides, but I am a bit to quick to jump in at times. Either way, I'm glad this group is here!

Congrats on the eggs! I have finally been having some luck with birds breeding, and am pleased to say that I have a regular flock of 15 flying! couldn't have done it without yall. Especially @biophiliac and @CCUK a huge thank you!

Congrats on your training and tosses. You have far surpassed my flock training! Especially if they respond to your call to trap in.

Beautiful Olive!

I checked the 2 eggs under Duff last night. Both fertile and looking fantastic. Excellent growth, I’m guessing 7-10 days.

Yay! I have a pair that I'm letting keep their eggs so I'll hope to have them hatching soon after yours.

Does any one else's pigeons have a healthy appetite for redstone? Mine have picked all the redstone out of the mixed grit and completely demolished a redstone grit bowl in less than a day!

Mine do the same. I read somewhere that it has an appetizing smell or flavor added.

Anyone hear from Hokum Coco lately? I haven't seen his posts in a while

The last post I saw he mentioned he wasn't getting alerts. I checked his profile page and his last post was Feb 9. I left a message for him there but I'm not sure if he'll notice it.

 

[cavemanrich]

At around 4 PM today I let them out again because I needed to repair something in the aviary and didn't want to deal with them stressing out and flying into me. Even though they were on pretty full stomachs they flew for a little bit then came back within a few minutes on their own accord.

This is just my thinking
4 PM means that it will be getting dusk soon. I'm sure that pigeons notice this, and HEAD FOR THE HOUSE,,,
My chickens don't all wait until it gets really dark before getting inside coop to roost. Seems,,,,, Late Afternoon, and many are already inside. There are also those few late stragglers that keep scratching, and picking into late dusk. Those sitting on roost early, do already have a FULL CROP.
Your morning flight, when they arrived and were hanging on the roof tops, just sounds like, they enjoyed their flight exercise, and just wanted to chill (enjoy the freedom) upon their return. Then they realized that it was time for breakfast.