Is third time the charm? (Long)

[Fbirdie82]

Hello everyone! This is a really great forum and I send a big thank you Link’s way for inviting me.

Here is my story:

My 4-H leader is a woman I really respect and admire, and she is also a pigeon lover who had many pigeons growing up. After listening to her pigeon stories over the course of the five years that I’ve known her, I found myself engrossed with the fascinating creatures. Last month, and with my parents' support, I decided that I would finally peruse my interest in pigeons. I joined the online AFC (American Frillback Club) and posted a little wanted ad. I was surprised to get a speedy reply from a man named Rick who offered to give me a young pair of blue grizzle Frillbacks and in return I had to join the AFC. On 06/24 I went to meet Rick and his birds. It was a really magical experience for me, being in such a neat loft with all of his beautiful birds.

I was thrilled with the pair that Rick selected for me. The cock was a big, graceful, outgoing bird with beautiful dark blue feathers and an abundance of curls. I’d compared him to the breed standard, and to my inexperienced eyes he was perfect. Then there was the hen. A scrawny, rough looking little bird, she was very flighty and nervous. She had a funny shaped pupil and some bronzing on the underside of her wings. I really thought there was no hope for the hen, but I invited the challenge of getting this crazy looking and acting bird to like me.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck on 07/01, when I came back from a weekend camping trip to find my cock dead. There wasn’t a mark on him. He was just dead. The hen seemed traumatized by the death of her mate. She refused to go anywhere near the nesting box where the cock had died. Seriously discouraged by the death of my favorite bird a mere week after I’d gotten him, I went to the AFC web site and posted that my bird had died. Again to my surprise, I received a response from a man offering me a bird. His hen had died and he had this extra cock. His name was Link.

This is where my story gets interesting, and I hope Link won’t mind me posting this (if you do, I’ll remove it Link!). I also e-mailed Rick to let him know of my misfortune. Rick responded that he had a friend whose hen had died and he now had an extra cock. I got suspicious, and asked Rick his friend’s name. He answered with Link! So both Link and Rick knew each other. I was stunned and amused and gave Link a call to say that I was interested in his bird and wanted to meet him. I thought this whole story was pretty hilarious so I shared it with my 4-H leader, telling her everything I knew about Link except his first name. She had the funniest look on her face and finally asked me the man’s first name. I told her, and as it happens, Link is her brother! What a small world!

Just like Rick, Link was extremely nice; inviting me to his loft and letting me see his birds, and on 07/03 he gave me the beautiful blue grizzle cock that he had gotten from Rick. Whether he knows it or not, Link really got me interested in his Parlor Rollers, and I see myself getting a pair someday. Anyway, it was a Tuesday, and as my parents are divorced I had to switch houses on Wednesday, so I left my precious Frillbacks in the capable hands of my step dad as well as strict instructions on their care. And on 07/07 I got the most horrible news of my life. The day before (07/06) my cock had escaped. It was an accident, my step dad had been cleaning the coop and my German Shepherd had been playing in the yard. Long story short, she saw the pigeon, ran up to the coop and scarred the pigeon. My step dad, who has even less experience with pigeons than I do, had no chance of catching the bird, although he chased it from rooftop to rooftop until it was too dark to see.

Now I was starting to think that maybe I wasn’t meant to have pigeons. I e-mailed Link and told him of my bad news. And for the third time, I was to be shocked by the kindness of pigeon fanciers! Link had another bird that he was willing to give me. A blue saddle cock that I had admired while I was at his loft, and he was offering it to me! I hesitantly agreed, and will be picking up the new cock at a pigeon show on 08/05. I am so excited and nervous at the same time. My crazy little hen has molted and is turning into a really gorgeous bird. She is a lot calmer and will let me catch and hold her now. Her flight feathers and her tail feathers have the most incredible curl, and the curls on her wings are really starting to grow in. I think I was wrong about her, faults or not she is going to be a nice looking bird!

So hopefully third time will be the charm and this story of a wannabe fancier will have a happy ending!

[flitsnowzoom]

Welcome to Pigeon-talk.

It sure does seem like a small world out there. Loved your story, except for the sad parts.
Could you post a picture of the missing bird? or one that looks like he does? and at least give some contact info (state and maybe the area or city) in your profile. THere may be a found report on 911 Pigeon Alert that we can cross-link to you. It's a long shot by this time, but hope springs eternal
I hope you have better luck with this new little bird.

[Fbirdie82]

Thank you for the kind words of support, Flitsnowzoom. I'm in Pennsylvania, and the bird was lost in the Hershey/Palmyra area. He is a very pretty blue grizzle, and bigger than a wild pigeon, as most frillbacks are. Kind of hard to miss him!

And here is my original pair. Sorry that they look a little rough, they are young and I had just gotten them home when this picture was taken. The hen – or at least we hope she’s a hen – is on the left. She has filled out a lot since then. The cock that died is on the right, un-ruffling his feathers!