Pigeon Talk

[biophiliac]

I'm finally ready to get Doba outside today. The plan is to transfer her to the large cage below and release her from there when I can watch for awhile. Depending on how it goes I can return her there if necessary or use the three cages to time out some of the young cocks if they bother her. Just winging it obviously.

 

[biophiliac]

From my understanding, it’s for possible mites and lice, and good for their feathers.
And it doesn't harm them if they drink a bit while bathing, mine seem to want to taste the bath water before they plunge in. It can make their poop runny if they drink a lot so best to dump it after bath. Sometimes I just give them plain water to bath in and sometimes they find their own places to bathe after a rain. I think they mainly need the water to shed excess feather dust.

I ordered a couple of these from Foys. Cut a small slit in the wire to slip the base through, so the bottle hangs on the outside
View attachment 1561072

edit added. - Oops! I see part of my comment is embedded in the quote.

Haven't seen them but I like those, especially for only a few birds or for nest boxes. I add some acv to retard the formation of biofilms. Some people drink it for health purposes so maybe its good for the birds too.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

From my understanding, it’s for possible mites and lice, and good for their feathers.



I ordered a couple of these from Foys. Cut a small slit in the wire to slip the base through, so the bottle hangs on the outside
View attachment 1561072

Those are neat.. I'll have to check em out..

You'll never believe this. With my pmv scare/lock down my DW has just been given a pigeon from the stables with a suspected broken wing! I've told her not to go anywhere near my pigeons! I'll have to see what I can do when I get home later. Since when did I become pigeon rescue HQ?! I'll update later when I'm home. I may need advice on a broken wing.

Blame Boomer...
You can manage this.. you just need a hospital loft!!

There are a few good recent threads on wing breaks. One recent chicken wing amputation, she just posted updated, fully healed, pictures. If you don’t find it soon, I’ll find the link when I get to work.

I saw that when she/he did the amputation. Haven't seen the update tho..

I'm finally ready to get Doba outside today. The plan is to transfer her to the large cage below and release her from there when I can watch for awhile. Depending on how it goes I can return her there if necessary or use the three cages to time out some of the young cocks if they bother her. Just winging it obviously.View attachment 1561123

hope all goes well...

Dh is taking cages tonight... he forgot last night.. I hope this works!

 

[LamarshFish]

I've never seen one on a bird before but the fields around them had sheep in so they will be prevalent.

I had never seen a tick on a bird until last weekend I was grouse and woodcock hunting, put a grouse and two woodcock in my cooler to take home and dress out, and upon emptying the cooler found what looked like a large dog tick in the bottom of the cooler. Had to come from one of the birds.

So how odd is this... after I gave the pigeons that first bowl of water, I know at least 2 got in it. The next day, I used a little larger pan, rectangular, and remembered to add the Borax. They didn’t get in it at all, and i left it several hours. So today, I went back to the original bowl. Checked and no one had been in it. Dumped the Borax water and refilled with plain water, and someone got in it.
Too much Borax? Or Maybe the original owner didn’t use it and they could “smell” it? Or coincidence?

Maybe. I will say, some days, whether I offer a treated bath (with pigeon salts or borax) or just plain water, my birds just decide they don't want to bathe. Doesn't happen too often, but it does happen. I think they prefer to bathe with the sun is hitting their aviary and temps are above 40F as a general rule. But the borax could be the issue. If you notice, pigeons do take a taste of bath water before bathing in it. Not sure why, but they do. Still yet, I wouldn't totally forget about borax baths, I would just experiment with it for a while. I do about 1/8 cup of borax per 2 gallons of water, pretty roughly measured.

What's the borax for anyway?

It doesn't totally eradicate parasites like a true parasite/worm treatment would, but it definitely makes life crappy for the parasites. It also serves as a detergent for their skin and feathers, and makes their feathers nice and silky.

You'll never believe this. With my pmv scare/lock down my DW has just been given a pigeon from the stables with a suspected broken wing! I've told her not to go anywhere near my pigeons! I'll have to see what I can do when I get home later. Since when did I become pigeon rescue HQ?! I'll update later when I'm home. I may need advice on a broken wing.

Most of my birds are born in my loft, but if I ever get pigeons from outside my loft they are quarantined for at least a week, and also wormed with powerful stuff like Ivermectin. Inspect the crops, and pay close attention to them, listen for sneezing and wheezing, etc. Administer a broad spectrum anti iotic if anything seems strange.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I'm finally ready to get Doba outside today

I hungry bird has more motivation to return to its loft.

 

[WVduckchick]

I will pay special attention. There are 36 wings in my loft. Anything can happen.

Check this one out.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/graphic-pics-wing-amputation-advise.1246736/

Edit - Before and after pics on Page 1 and Page 20

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Check this one out.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/graphic-pics-wing-amputation-advise.1246736/

Edit - Before and after pics on Page 1 and Page 20

Wow, he looks great! She did a fantastic job!

 

[CCUK]

Thanks for all your replies. We'll the good news is that she is eating....alot and drinking. She has a clean vent and apart from a broken wing looks in good health. The bad news is that I tried putting vet wrap around her and no matter how I did it she couldn't walk or it was to tight against her crop. I was maybe thinking about using a sock? I'll give her some symphytum pillules. They did seem to help lucky. I read that thread on wing amputation and I'll be honest that took some balls to do that and be successful! She did extremely well. I'm also thinking of getting charitable status then I can maybe get some funding to build a bigger loft. Kind of like A&E for pigeons!

 

[CCUK]

This is the broken wing.

 

[CCUK]

Those are neat.. I'll have to check em out..

Blame Boomer...
You can manage this.. you just need a hospital loft!!

I saw that when she/he did the amputation. Haven't seen the update tho..

hope all goes well...

Dh is taking cages tonight... he forgot last night.. I hope this works!

Boomer did start this crazy journey! All I did was take in a stray!! I thought chickens could be full on but this is a bit unbelievable at the moment. I think I must be the only person, apart from my neighbour, who I don't talk too, that has anything to do with pigeons! Good luck with your pigeon trapping tonight.