Pigeon Talk

[cavemanrich]

I have heard of kittens in a box left at a pet store door overnight
(on news),, I'm sure it happens much more often than news has time to report.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I have a brainstorm about eliminating WETNESS
Give this idea some thought,,,,,,,,, it is what I would do. (if I had wet base floor)
Fact; water will drain from higher,,, to lower
Place a layer of stone so it is about 4 inches higher than ground outside aviary. Cover stone with landscape fabric. (allows water to drain thru, and also keeps weeds from growing up.),, On top of fabric , layer about another 4 inches of sand. The fabric will keep the sand from falling thru into the stones. Sand drains very well when there is a hollowed cavity beneath. Stones create that semi hollowed layer.
I suggest 4 inches, but you can have good results with different thicknesses. Trial and error.

Thanks for that! I definitely wouldn't have thought to use the landscape fabric. Plus, with that method if the old sand got too dirty I could just remove it all at once without taking the gravel with it.
Fortunately most of the inside of the aviary is lower than the bottom edge so I shouldn't have to do any digging. I haven't had any actual flooding from outside water, but because its lower it won't drain. I did some measurements and I should be able to fit about that much gravel and sand on most of the floor- at least in the worst areas.

Wondering what the heck I'm doing with the tape measure again, no doubt.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Just found this on YouTube. Quite a sad start but a really nice ending. @WVduckchick will enjoy it!

i love it! I just now watched it.

I really like this persons attitude
View attachment 1957806

me to! It's so sad that they don't even care about the birds they raised...

Edit: not the person who took care of them, but who dumped them.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Day 4 in a row. Woke up to this guy running around on the roof trying to get in while a big squirrel stuffed itself at the feeder just 30 feet away
At least with every one of Mr. Cooper's visits my pigeons seem less stressed about it. They used to freeze up but at this point some of them don't really even bat an eye.

 

[cavemanrich]

Woke up to this guy running around on the roof trying to get in while a big squirrel stuffed itself at the feeder just 30 feet away
At least with every one of Mr. Cooper's visits my pigeons seem less stressed about it.

Seems most predators prefer poultry style meat.. The squirrel is supposed to taste like chicken also.,,, I never had any,, but a few of my Mountain Friends ate them regularly

Pigeons seem to have gotten used to the visitor,, and know they are SAFE INSIDE.

 

[cavemanrich]

That Coopers hawk is not very big. Might have a difficult time wrestling a squirrel

 

[Qwerty3159]

That Coopers hawk is not very big. Might have a difficult time wrestling a squirrel

Good point. I think it's a small male as some of my larger pigeons look like they'd have a weight advantage on the hawk. If it wasn't for these I don't think they'd be able to take such large prey compared to their own size.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Good point. I think it's a small male as some of my larger pigeons look like they'd have a weight advantage on the hawk. If it wasn't for these I don't think they'd be able to take such large prey compared to their own size.
View attachment 1958375

Ooooooh the plot thickens lookit that bracelet hes sporting!

 

[cavemanrich]

lookit that bracelet hes sporting!

That is definitely a FASHION STATEMENT.

 

[biophiliac]

In the old loft that pair once used a shed snake skin that the cockbird found wrapped around one of the legs of the loft. I should've taken a picture, it was cool!

@biophiliac I'm sure I've bothered you about this before but you have gravel in your aviary, right? The drainage in mine is pretty bad so I think I'd like to layer some gravel with some sand above. I made a test patch with an area of play sand and it seems okay but it was already damp in the bag and just hasn't dried out.

Yep, I have gravel over landscape cloth as a weed barrier. It also slopes down away from the loft which helps a lot with the drainage. Personally I think gravel alone would be better than adding sand. I never have to scoop poop in the aviary. You can use enough gravel to raise the grade in your aviary so there's a downward grade toward the edges. Your birds walking and bathing a top 4 - 8 inches of gravel will stay nice and dry. Since the roof prevents the rainstorms from flushing the poop down thru the gravel, you could use a hose when needed.