Pigeon Talk

[biophiliac]

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Now that you have 2 eggs, is Rosie going to take his day shift turn on them? Hope he's feeding himself well in advance of having to feed babies. Is he normal weight yet?

Oops, cross posted...

 

[Serin]

Now that you have 2 eggs, is Rosie going to take his day shift turn on them? Hope he's feeding himself well in advance of having to feed babies. Is he normal weight yet?

Oops, cross posted...

He feels healthily padded now. His food intake is about at her level now, down from what it was 3 weeks ago. And he's favoring lower-fat seeds, millet and peas now after a few weeks of almost straight safflower. I'm not over there more than an hour or two a day but I did see him sit tight during my visit yesterday afternoon.

 

[Serin]

The second egg has stayed clean since I filled the basket with hay. Both birds yesterday spent a lot of time carrying sticks up to it after they eat or drink so its well furnished with their own touch too. Olive is better at it than Rosie because she can fly straight up; Rosie flies to the shelf and then across to the nest and most of his his sticks fall down.

 

[biophiliac]

The second egg has stayed clean since I filled the basket with hay. Both birds yesterday spent a lot of time carrying sticks up to it after they eat or drink so its well furnished with their own touch too. Olive is better at it than Rosie because she can fly straight up; Rosie flies to the shelf and then across to the nest and most of his his sticks fall down.

I'm just quite invested in the story of Olive from the pet store to now she has quite a life! Rosie and Olive are such a cute, if odd couple.
Did you ever describe how you chose Olive from amongst her companions at the pet store?

 

[Serin]

I'm just quite invested in the story of Olive from the pet store to now she has quite a life! Rosie and Olive are such a cute, if odd couple.
Did you ever describe how you chose Olive from amongst her companions at the pet store?

I don't remember. I got her at The Feed Store (actual name of the shop) in Chicago. They sell mostly farm and pet supplies but also chicks, rabbits, canaries, doves and then a couple types of pigeons. It's an old fashioned store, dark and musty and the birds aren't kept in the best conditions but it was the only place I called anywhere nearby that carried pigeons and I had decided I wanted one. It was purely by chance they sold German owls - one of the breeds I was most interested in - though they called them "chico pigeons" (??) on the phone so I didn't know that until I got there and was considering getting a young white homer.

I picked Olive because she was one of the smallest (I wanted a hen, because I read that pet cockbirds can be bitey, and some were much bigger so I assumed they were the cocks) and the least fearful bird out of about 12 others, all of them blue spreads but one which was red. All of them were mismarked, some with blue all over their heads and chests, and some had longer bills than they're supposed to or very small crests, so I think they were culls from a show breeder. She only cost $16 so they must not have paid much for them. They had them in two cages, one with about ten and then two in a much smaller cage together. All of the pigeons in the big cage moved away from me, but in the small cage both birds seemed more at ease. The other pigeon, which had more blue on it, didn't panic but moved away when I reached in while Olive was less bothered and only pecked my finger when I pet her but didn't move. I asked to take her since she seemed the most calm with people which was what I was looking for. The other pigeon was actually prettier to me with a better crest but I was only looking for temperament. And after Olive molted about 2 months in, her crest grew in fuller.

All the owls were much calmer than all of the homers they had though. All of them were frantic and pecking each other and terrified of people even standing by the cages, so any thought of getting one of them went out the window. They seemed a lot more stressed in their confinement than the owls which all were sitting mellowly.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Matchmaker, matchmaker, I made a match. I found Olive her find, caught her her catch

 

[Serin]

I've researched all the visible genes involved with these two pigeons and come to the conclusion that their chicks would most likely be solid lavenders (ash red spread), with no crest but possibly small chest frills and larger eyes than homers, but shorter bills. Old German Owls seem to have as many as five pied factors involved in producing their pattern but I cannot verify if they are all recessive or if any of them will be expressed in crosses (assuming Rosie isn't recessive for any of them himself - he has no visible pied plumage.)

So this color...

(German Owl x Lucerne Gold Collar)

But this shape.

(Old Frill x Racing Homer)

Maybe with some white wingtips, tail feathers or spots on the head.

I think they would be pretty! I think the cross on the bottom between similarly different shaped parent breeds has a really elegant appearance. And they'd be pretty different visually from either Olive or Rosie.

 

[biophiliac]

I've researched all the visible genes involved with these two pigeons and come to the conclusion that their chicks would most likely be solid lavenders (ash red spread), with no crest but possibly small chest frills and larger eyes than homers, but shorter bills. Old German Owls seem to have as many as five pied factors involved in producing their pattern but I cannot verify if they are all recessive or if any of them will be expressed in crosses (assuming Rosie isn't recessive for any of them himself - he has no visible pied plumage.)

So this color...

(German Owl x Lucerne Gold Collar)

But this shape.

(Old Frill x Racing Homer)

Maybe with some white wingtips, tail feathers or spots on the head.

I think they would be pretty! I think the cross on the bottom between similarly different shaped parent breeds has a really elegant appearance. And they'd be pretty different visually from either Olive or Rosie.

Did you check Rosie to see if he's split for blue? If so you should find some blue flecks in his lighter feathers.

 

[Serin]

He doesn't seem to have any flecks

 

[biophiliac]

He doesn't seem to have any flecks

Curious why you think Spread is a factor? What do you see to indicate this?

Is it bc Olive has no bars showing?