Pigeon Talk

[backyard pigeons]

I’m behind on the thread, page 919, but I have two things to share with you all. One sad and one not so sad.

I’ll start with the sad.. The thought to be male parent bird was killed by something. I am going to take the blame for this one as I hadn’t even thought about rodents when just setting the cage on the counter in the garage. Not to mention the 1”x1” squares would let just about any small rodent in I found it this morning before work, I hadn’t been out there the evening before to do a night check though so I can’t be sure when it happened..

I’m not thinking it’s likely that it was a field mouse (we have lots of those in the garage) as they would normally go for the seeds before the bird wouldn’t they? I’ve had mouse infested pigeon lofts before and never saw it happen.. We did catch a pretty large rat in the summer so maybe it was one of those.. I’m mainly worried it’s a mink/weasel as we have a flowing creek right behind our property and I know they like access to those when choosing a place to live. I am about to go rig up the trap with 1/4”x1/4” hardware cloth to help seal any rodent inside when it shuts and then bait it with the carcass and maybe some wet cat food for interest.

On a lighter note, I now know for sure that I have a male/female sibling pair..
View attachment 2000162
That’s the younger bird on the two eggs, most definitely a female

I don’t want them to hatch the eggs so I’m hoping to get some ideas on what I could do instead? I know there’s the fake eggs people always talk about, will the female just constantly sit on those eggs trying to hatch them? Will it be like a broody chicken sitting on fake eggs?

I had only put the bowl of hay in there because they were restless always moving a stick around on the sand when trying to pick a good nesting area that wouldn’t let the stick blow away when they flew to the perches. Also to give me an idea on gender because the female was acting and looking so much like the other I thought I had two males. She was getting pretty possessive of the food and the good perch leading up to the eggs so I thought it was a male territory thing.. guess not so that’s good to know for the future!

I’ll probably remember something I forgot to mention later but for now I’m hitting post as I need to go collect my chicken eggs for the day. Hope everyone is doing well!!

I am so sorry about your bird. I doubt it was field mice.

Yes, it will be like a broody chicken sitting. They will probably sit for 20-21 days, and then give up. if you don't have any fake eggs, go to Hobby lobby and go to their wooden craft section, they have pigeon sized wooden eggs. Is this bird alone? Meaning, did it's mate die? If so, how do you know it's a hen? Both parents will sit on the eggs. so it could be a male or a female, unless you can tell them apart.

I hope this helps. Let us know of there are anymore questions.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

I am so sorry about your bird. I doubt it was field mice.

Yes, it will be like a broody chicken sitting. They will probably sit for 20-21 days, and then give up. if you don't have any fake eggs, go to Hobby lobby and go to their wooden craft section, they have pigeon sized wooden eggs. Is this bird alone? Meaning, did it's mate die? If so, how do you know it's a hen? Both parents will sit on the eggs. so it could be a male or a female, unless you can tell them apart.

I hope this helps. Let us know of there are anymore questions.

So they will give up on the eggs if they don’t hatch? I’ll get to our big craft store (or have someone stop there) and pick up some wooden eggs ASAP!

The bird is not alone but I can tell the two apart pretty easily and it’s only the two of them in the cage, picture below. The “female” is on the right, “male” on the left (if I do have this right)

The one I think is the cock presents itself more like a male while the one on the eggs is more female based. I think the one in my first post recently came into maturity and that’s why they only just started nesting. What made me think she was maturing more is the fact she found her voice finally, the mate has had a voice (and an attitude ) for some time now.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Qwerty3159]

They sell fake eggs specifically for pigeons. Eggs of a different size/color/weight might not fool them.
They'll sit for 3 weeks or so maybe more then give up and eventually try to lay another set, some pairs sooner than others, but using fake eggs is better than just throwing them out so the hen gets a bit of time off after laying for her body to recharge rather than lay constantly.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

They sell fake eggs specifically for pigeons. Eggs of a different size/color/weight might not fool them.
They'll sit for 3 weeks or so maybe more then give up and eventually try to lay another set, some pairs sooner than others, but using fake eggs is better than just throwing them out so the hen gets a bit of time off after laying for her body to recharge rather than lay constantly.

Is there a specific site to buy these eggs from? Does this site ship to Canada?

That’s what I was worried about, her constantly laying eggs and losing nutrients from the constant egg production.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I got mine on Amazon, so yes. Just search "fake pigeon eggs"

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

I inspected the body. There’s no head to be found, all the internal stuff is gone, and the tail end half of the bird is also gone. Would the culprit come back for the rest or is this a done meal?

 

[cavemanrich]

Would the culprit come back for the rest or is this a done meal?

If it is a mink or weasel, I suspect it would have killed all your pigeons. Am leaning toward a possible rat, but I have absolutely no experience with rats.
Secure cage so a rat would not be able to enter anymore. 99.44% sure it was not mice.

 

[WVduckchick]

Portuguese tumblers, ports for short, are so much fun. They are about 1\2 the size of a racer. They have short beaks, but not to short to feed young. They are decent flyers from what I have heard, but rarely tumble. They are a good show bird, if you like showing. They are very colorful. I got them on the spot at the show because they are small, colorful, friendly, good flyers and good show birds. here are some of mine: View attachment 1999578 View attachment 1999579 View attachment 1999580 View attachment 1999581 View attachment 1999582 View attachment 1999583 View attachment 1999584 View attachment 1999585

Gorgeous!!
I especially like the black/white one.

 

[WVduckchick]

@ChickenTenderKesha so sorry for the loss of your bird.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

If it is a mink or weasel, I suspect it would have killed all your pigeons. Am leaning toward a possible rat, but I have absolutely no experience with rats.
Secure cage so a rat would not be able to enter anymore. 99.44% sure it was not mice.

My rescued pair (the siblings) are in the front porch of my house, where there’s no outside entrance for rodents of any size. The deceased bird was living in the garage for the time being while it was quarantined and because I wasn’t sure if it and the mate were staying with me or not. Now I just feel like scum on earth because not only did I separate the feral pair (she gave me the slip again), I got the one killed from not thinking when typically I overthink

I’m now leaning towards a mink.. I thought I saw a “red” ground squirrel a while back and was fairly certain that’s what it was. Maybe I was wrong.. boy do I hope not

@ChickenTenderKesha so sorry for the loss of your bird.

I can’t call it my bird as he was more mother nature’s than mine, but it pains me all the same knowing it wouldn’t have come to this brutal of an end if I hadn’t intervened or if I took proper precautions beforehand. Thank you though