Prime Minister's story

[forestforghosts]

I present to you the story of my pigeon, Prime Minister, for your reading pleasure:

In the summer of 2010 I found a pigeon laying behind a dumpster on my way home from work. Severely emaciated, with a crooked leg and tail, part of his wing bone exposed where it had been broken off, and a body caked in feces, he did not even think about fleeing as I bundled him up in my work clothes and carried him home. Over the next month he lived in a towel-lined cardboard box in my bedroom, during which he received several warm baths and "massages" to remove the heavy encrustations from his vent, tail and feet, lots of rest and a two week course of carefully measured antibiotics. I handfed him baby cereal mash and small quantities of probiotics from a syringe until he regained enough strength to eat seed on his own. I was extra careful not to name him or attempt to tame him, as I had every intention of releasing him back outside once he had regained his strength. With all his injuries, however, it wound up that would never be humanely possible.

Three years later Prime Minister still lives with me, a plump, healthy and energetic bird, despite being unable to fly or perch. He is instead relegated to hopping around the floor on his one straight leg while the other sticks out backwards from the hip and is useful only in providing inertia to move him forward. In the summer, he lives in a secure outdoor enclosure on the patio where he can listen to the local birds and bathe in the sun. In the winter, he is semi free-range indoors in a loosely enclosed section of the dining room. This seems to suite him as given the opportunity, he does not make any effort to leave.

Unfortunately, after delaying to do so, I have not been able to tame the Prime Minister. Try as I might he is just far too skittish. Not even peanut could lure him to my open palm. I suppose he has every right to be afraid after all he's been through. That said, he has lived a fairly lonely life save for his ever-looming human house-mates. He has taken a liking to my quails, often trying to court them with coo and dance through the side of their enclosure, but I believe he would be far better off with another pigeon as a mate. At this point, I am tentatively seeking a companion for him, although I am not sure how pigeon dynamics work. I would hate for him to be harassed or ignored by a healthy bird (I might wind up with two lonely birds, in that case), and thus far kijiji ads seeking disabled pigeons have got me no useful responses. Go figure!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Good luck forestforghost I have no worthy insights for you unfortunately.

 

[laughingdog]

try: pigeontalk, as they often have rescues and disabled ferals and other pigeons that those as great as you have given chance at life, have posted up for adoption, free to good home even, though shipping for one bird or driving my make it better to try to find someone with a parlor roller or tumbler adult hen near you.

parlor/parlour rollers and tumblers are forever grounded due to being selectively bred in modified forms of epilepsy and another type of natural predator stimuli response enhanced, probably seperate or together, though dont mention this to hard core competitors as they dont like to admit it, which in turn makes these enhanced rollers and tumblers, once maturity sets in they can only manage to jump up and tumble back down, or roll around or on straight path backwards, on the ground..

i keep parlor tumblers, and they pretty much just waddle around on the ground with these shorter stubbier legs of theirs never bred or let to perch, partly due to the one climbing up high and then she jumps off back flipping to the ground..dufus! so i have to keep them in low wire bottomed cages of only twenty inches so they can hop and stretch wings but not hurt themselves or get covered in their own filth tumbling all over the place when get to excited. you could probably keep them on soft ground kept dry, or soft carpet, or rubber material also as some do. theyre pretty much like owning a colorful land locked penguin.

Parlor tumblers - YouTube

Parlour Roller Pigeon - YouTube

Parlour Rollers - Project Pigeon - YouTube

good luck and keep us updated on how your search and results go! we pigeon people have to flock together.. lol

 

[forestforghosts]

The posts on pigeontalk were one of the resources that helped guide me through the process of handfeeding, medicating and caring for my pigeon. I actually have never bothered joining, however. Thanks for the reminder - I might ought to, even if I can't find a bird there, a community will be useful if I am going to have another one on hand.

It never even occurred to me to look into genetically disabled breeds. I knew some breeds (such as owls) have some pretty severe problems bred into them, but I didn't realize that there were any breeds that actually can't fly. Thanks for enlighteneing me, I'll definiatly expand my search to fanciers and breeders.

It would be difficult to watch those videos of them flopping around if I didn't know they were bred that way - it looks like they have some untreated neurological poisoning! But knowing they are actually healthy, functioning animals makes it more amusing than anything! I could imagine having a couple of them rolling around my house.

 

[Lofty Dreams]

Lucky and poor bird.
Depending upon the Parlor Roller and how big your house it might be best to get a Parlor Tumbler as Rollers will and should continue to roll. I used to have a family of Parlor Tumblers they liked exploring.

 

[laughingdog]

yeah, my parlors are pretty healthy, try to eat everything, explore all over but smart enough to keep the dog and/or cat in view or run/scuttle to in case of preds. they are a thick squat but strong seeming bird. a lot more from a bird that doesnt fly, than you would think. as much as they bang into stuff they never seem to really feel it or get hurt, while my flights are lean and fast manuvering but if crash need bit to recover as so light probably, flying rollers seem tougher, but then again not as heavy or thick either, and so if hit hard into or by something they need a min to bit to recover fully. had a hawk hit one of my parlors while out in yard while dog went in for min to get water (as theyre smart and know the collie stands watch guard over them), of course being the prized yellow hen, and it just rolled out and was tumbling around for seconds with others, while i chased the hawk off that was up in a scrub, entirely confused but looking eager to try again. the bird lost maybe a feather or two maybe three, but think that was from thrashing around by itself, as other lost some too as they usually do (you wont win any beauty competitions with these if you let them roll/tumble around from excitement), and you can expect a lot of broken tail and flight feathers ect, but the body was sound and they all went right back to picking and scratching for stuff from the lawn, like nothing happened, but now flip out literally for sec when see a BOP shadow in the sky. that hen is odd in that she will climb as high as can and jump off tumbling down, then keep repeating this till i stop her, as she has cut herself up bad on head and face wen first got her not too long ago. the young of can indeed fly, as my young are fledging and flutter back to cage when i take them out now, though the one does still back flip (its done it since hatched and moved around oddly like turning around a lot more on own in egg), but now does so fast you cannot see her do it hardly as she is stretching wings.

i didnt want to seem pushy with one of my breeds of birds, as love the idea of the parlor roller, but never before now, had space of one to three football fields to let them really do their thing, and figured the talent and endurance to do so would be wasted on me (as a friend who breeds compitition winners and real good looking and sound healthy birds, offered me some year or so ago), as figured id have to put a catcher's mitt or a pillow out to stop the poor thing each time, as competition bred birds roll straight back for football field lengths while some just roll in circles or all around.

plus i was also always taught as a homer fancier (was taught when ended up with what now know was a flying roller, I was taught it was a defect and to be put out of misery), that "if you cant fly it why try it", but having seen a buddies american rollers, i got gradually into thinking of "tumblers" seen as child, and in trying to look up on new comp, and found all these out here, so just recently getting into the fancier breeds myself, and parlor rollers when saw for a while on net alone, seemed cruel and wrong, but having my own parlor tumblers now, and assured my friends on here that the birds are quite healthy and happy, im interested in a lot more. also never thought was use having the show types you shouldnt fly, as why bother keeping something confined its whole life that was ment to fly, but having some, finding some of those really dont try or want to when tossed or spooked anyway. ounces of experiance are worth pounds of research or studying..