Pigeon Talk

[Pyxis]

Guess what I picked up tonight:

She (I'm saying she, those of you with homers can correct me if you think she's a boy) is a feral that cannot fly. She was picked up outside of an ice cream shop, so I'll probably want to go with an ice cream themed name.

She was with a wildlife rehabber that I happen to know for three weeks. She still cannot fly, but no obvious wing injuries so maybe it's a sprain and it will heal. Anyway, the rehabber doesn't have pigeons to keep her with so, now she's mine.

 

[cavemanrich]

I'll probably want to go with an ice cream themed name.

Can I suggest Spumoni

 

[cavemanrich]

She (I'm saying she, those of you with homers can correct me if you think she's a boy)

Hokum Coco

Posted this on another thread. Informative video.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/just-another-gender-question.1417567/post-23291211

 

[Pyxis]

Hokum Coco

Posted this on another thread. Informative video.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/just-another-gender-question.1417567/post-23291211

According to those tests, she's a hen like I thought

 

[backyard pigeons]

Cool @Pyxis ! It is a hen... I think?

Will she be kept with your NNs? Don't forget to quarantine! at least six feet, or a mask.

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Picked up a bag of Kalmbach game cock conditioner feed today. Going to experiment by using it as a supplement to their normal ration. It's 18% protein, and was 19.99 for a 50 pound bag (always looking for ways to cut expenses a bit here and there haha). Looks pretty decent... Has corn, roasted soybeans, wheat, milo, black oil sunflowers, oats, green peas, and 2 different kinds of pellets in it. Birds seemed to like it, although they were a bit picky with the soybeans, but I'm sure in time they will learn to like them haha.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Looks like a good mix! I’ve been adding a bit of a wild bird mix to my flocks feed as a treat. It has unshelled sunflower seeds, peanuts, and pumpkin seeds.

@cavemanrich I know you like squirrels, ever seen one like this? I thought it was a bald spot at first but the hindquarters and tail are just way more silver than the rest of the squirrels body. Maybe growing his winter coat?

 

[cavemanrich]

Birds seemed to like it, although they were a bit picky with the soybeans,

I noticed that no birds were ever too crazy about soybeans. I used to encounter truck drivers that hauled soybean in their trailers. After they unloaded, there was still plenty on floor, and in corners of trailer. I did sweep up a bucket full, and was offering it to my songbirds (outdoor wild birds) in their feeder. They never consumed any of it.
I think the higher protein value ( in your game cock mix) is from the soybeans added.

@cavemanrich I know you like squirrels, ever seen one like this? I thought it was a bald spot at first but the hindquarters and tail are just way more silver than the rest of the squirrels body. Maybe growing his winter coat?

You are correct about Me and Squirrels I am feeding about 20 currently.

I will go thru over 100 pounds of BOSS from now until spring.
I have black, gray, and brown squirrels. For quite a number of years I had a 2 tone black and gray one. (similar to one you photoed) I guess the squirrels do interbreed. This last spring I seen 4 young ones from same nest, and 3 were black, and 4th was gray.

 

[-Kiwi-]

I say this with a heavy heart, that we are back down to the original Kiwi and Peach. Lime was a victim to the Cooper's hawk hanging around, and Cherry met the same fate a few weeks later. Kiwi and Peach had squabs again, but Nugget was bullying his parents to the point of chasing them off the nest, where he killed one squab and the other one froze. So I separated Nugget. I set him up in a cage where I thought he'd be safe, but that night a cat got him, pulled him through the bars of that cage, and ate him. I woke up to feathers everywhere. I found his leg band chewed up in a pile of feathers. I'm not planning on loft flying the pigeons much anymore and I extended it a bit. RIP all of the pigeon children

 

[Pigeon28]

Well I was finally running low enough on feed to make my own mix, birds ate it all no issues so I’m hoping it works out well as it was much cheaper to make and will work as a chicken scratch for me as well.