Piggi and Tipsey journal

[amyable]

Hi Christina,
I'm glad John isn't feeling ill at least, although it is a pain to have to wait so long just to be told what they found.

At the 'sanctuary', it is the squirrels that are a real problem. They have almost chewed through the roof of the shed in one place. I found that they were getting in and eating all the food and got the lads to put wire mesh all around the top edge just under the roof. It worked for a while then I've noticed this hole getting bigger and bigger at the top, so they are eating their way back in. It is a real pain.
I don't know if the rats will be around so much in the day, at home they hide if they see anyone, but all the bird food is gone by the morning, so I assume they have it. Maybe if you are about in the day they will stay away, but you can't always be on guard, so best to double up the protection.

Sounds like you'll have to make a two storey appartment complex to accomodate these boys. My two in the shed have to have two feeding stations though, for some reason Charlie is nervous of feeding from the shelf where Danni eats, and I put food at another level, and he goes to there for his ! He eats a lot aswell!!

Are you getting used to not having them inside with you now?

Janet

[chriss80]

Hi Janet,

Those squirrels are pretty terrible. Hopefully they don’t eat pigeons for breakfast.
I think mesh or net in the aviary is a must now. I never leave food in the aviary overnight just in case rats decide to visit; I don’t want them to have reasons to start chewing trough my wood.
Here the rain keeps pouring down. I need a few dry days to start treating the wood of the aviary with paint and put that mesh inside.

I do miss Piggi and Tipsey hanging around with me in the living room. They wore always up to something fun.
When I had to keep them up in that room they seemed less happy, especially Tipsey because he had to be in a cage for his safety. Every time when I entered there Piggi used to try to squeeze out of the door. A few times he squeezed near me and he desperately tried to reach the living room, poor thing. When I was there with them they both used to gather around me. They defiantly did not like that room. Tipsey still wants to be in the living room I think and so does Piggi. Is just from their reactions I got from them when I have briefly showed them the living room. I think the aviary makes them both extremely happy now. They had a bath while in there so that is a good sign. They also love the fact that other pigeons come and just hang around near the aviary. Blackye one of the outside pigeons (remember Blackye ?hehe) tries to find a way in the aviary. She keeps going round it the hope that there is an entrance, she is very insistent. Both go mad when they see her and try to impress. I think there is some love going on there. She also relaxes next to the aviary daily with them especially when is a bit of sun, preening her feathers and stuff. Blackye used to wait for me to give her seeds, after she ate her seeds she went away but now she spends most of her time in the garden and perching on top of the aviary roof and cooing back at Piggi and Tipsey. I keep an eye on the cats so they don’t hang around the garden.

One day when one of John’s friends was visiting and I was taking Tipsey outside to the aviary when I reached the living room area Tipsey started making a fuss and he has slowly slipped away from my arms and I had to put him down. He went straight to this visitors feel and attacked him especially that the visitor was sitting on the on of the chairs where Tipsey used to perch on a stone under.

[amyable]

Hi Chriss,
You know it sounds like the aviary is going to be a big hit with the boys especially now they can interact with Blackye and other pigeons. It probably upset them more being in the house and not being able to go in the lounge, whereas this has definite advantages, seeing as they like the ladies so much !!

I don't know where Tipsey gets the nerve to attack someone who is so obviously bigger like your friend, but he has no fear does he !

I know you must miss being able to watch them in the house, I find I keep going down the garden to the potting shed to sit with the birds. Trouble is they stop doing whatever it is they do when I'm around.

I found a squirrel in the aviary at the sanctuary yesterday and so got some wire mesh and nails and did the job myself seeing as no-one else seems to have done anything to try and stop them. They are renovating all their existing pens at the moment which are empty. Funny, I would have put more importance on the ones with birds in myself!!!

I'm still keeping my eye on these birds to see if I can establish what they are for you.

Janet

[chriss80]

Janet, the birds settled well in the aviary. When I take Tipsey out for a walk in the garden he goes back all by himself in when he feel like. I did not let Tipsey much at all in the garden lately because of all those pigeons having canker some time ago.

Tipsey is one brave bird but he has developed some respect for Piggi since they are both in the aviary and they seem to have their own unwritten rules about the space surrounding them. One day I caught them relaxing together. Tipsey was lying on the floor in the sun and Piggi was sitting near him in one leg and they both look content with each others company.

Tipsey had a small problem. Ysterday I noticed some blood from under Tipseys wing. When I looked at him and cleaned him there was not even one scratch on his body. The strangest thing was causing it, it was a really black feather causing his bleeding. Basically the blood was coming from the feather. He must of caught the feather under his bad wing with his nail by mistake, you know haw he tangles his foot under his wing sometimes while he walks. I gave Cynthia a call and told her about it and she said that there is a thing as blood feather and if the bleeding doesn’t stop I should pull that feather out because that is the only thing it stops the bleeding. Luckily there was no problem with the bleeding and he did not bleed much. I put some flower like Cynthia recommended and I had no problem after. Today Tipsey is all good and I am keeping a close eye on him. Luckily was no need to pull that feather as it is said it hurts the poor bird. Phew, what a day it was!


Otherwise Piggi is moulting now and he lost all his feather from his head. They are all growing back all spiky and he looks a bit like an alien. See picture bellow. He still thinks is gorgeous and displays proudly every time a hen come near the aviary.

[chriss80]

My husband has his allergy test today and it confirmed what we though it is: allergy to pigeons. The doctor said is a weak allergy but my husband should completely stay away from birds. The doctor said that if he keeps getting exposed to birds his lungs will become fibroses or something like that and he will loose lung capacity.

Some time ago he went for an x-ray and it showed he is all clear. Due to suspicious flue like symptoms in past that my husbands had, even long before the pigeons, we really think he is allergic to more things, including some types of foods and other factors like pollen and dust mites. Some time ago he went for an x-ray and it showed he is all clear. NHS – the atrocious health care system in Britain that is suppose to be free can not be bothered offering him more test to find that out so we have to dig deep in our pockets for further tests in another other place to find out what else exactly he is allergic to.

My husband is very well now since the pigeons are outside in the aviary, no more coughing or anything else like that. He does feel very sorry for the poor guys; he will still give them a pet from time to time because they are so cute. I really miss them being around but I go regularly to their aviary. Can’t wait to find some hens for them to keep them more company.

Oh and on top of everything we discovered that we have feather filled pillows that we sleep on, now that surely did not help his allergy at night, we got rid of pillows when we discovered that. And we have a bit of mold in the house here and there. But on the really positive side that air sterilizer really helps a lot. I am going to write a review sometimes soon about it as I know Cynthia and John would like to know more.

[amyable]

Hi Christina,
I don't know how I missed the post on the 7th about Tipsey. I was only thinking the other day about the 'boys' and how they were getting on in the aviary.
Poor Tipsey in the wars, it is funny how a feather can bleed, it's lucky you had Cynthia to check with and that it's all ok now.
I find my two piggies outside lie quite near to each other in the sun and have a fairly amicable relationship. That is until Charlie gets too close to Danni on a perch or the shelf where they sleep, and then he gets pecked and shoved off the end!! They do have a 'pecking' order.

Piggi's new hair do is so funny, looks like he's put too much Bril cream on and slicked it back.

I am still waiting for a hen for you. The one at the 'sanctuary' would be ideal for Tipsey but she is still very much attached to the Woodie, so I haven't the heart to split them up unless it happens naturally, it would break Woodie's heart!
My latest inmate could well be a hen as she is smaller than the others but very fiesty. If this wing of hers doesn't repair properly, she'll not be able to be released either, and my shed is getting full. Hopefully when she is out of quarantine and finished on the Baytril, maybe I will put her near the others and see if they react differently to her. I keep hoping for you.

I'm glad John is coping with the allergy better now they are in the aviary, it's very hard pinning it down to what is exactly causing it. How long have you had the air sterilizer working? Do you think it is really helping? Would these things have any effect with hay fever allergies do you think?
Sorry to land all these questions on you but it maybe useful for others to know how you are getting on with it aswell.

Thanks for the great update,

Janet

[chriss80]

I have some very good news about Piggi. I did not want to post earlier because I wanted to be sure. Piggi has started to eat all by himself YAY. It all started gradually and slowly with the grit until he tried the seeds too adding more variations all the time . One thing he still won’t eat is big seeds like peanuts or corn but is no problem as he eats all the seeds from the pigeon conditioner mix I have for him. I do think the pigeon conditioner convinced Piggi and being jealous on Tipsey eating.

I another post I was talking about Tipsey that he got attacked by Piggi quite badly. Now he is all good but when I put them back in the aviary I got them separate as they just won’t be friends anymore. I used some gridlines for now to keep them away but they have a go at each other trough the gridlines. I will be using some net or mesh soon to separate it all better soon. I think is all got to do with Piggi eating now and being very cocky about things. Also it has been raining and I have to cover slightly part of the aviary to keep the rain out when is all windy and that gets the place darker.


Janet, haw was your vacation and haw are the pigeons? Did the lady that was there was all right? Can she tell if any wore females?

[amyable]

Hi Chriss,
Brilliant news about Piggie eating, I never thought he would to be honest after all this time. Obviously feeling all grown up and wants to be in charge of the aviary now!!!!

The holiday was great thanks, sailed along some of the Turkish coast, and roasted like I've never roasted before, even the locals said it was too hot for them this year. Never thought I'd be so glad to be rained on again!!!
I even managed to get a pigeon fix at one of our stops, my husband said only I could find a building full of feral pigeons in a town.

The lady I found to look after my pigeons was great, and they have all come on so well and are off their medications now. I'll update their posts when I get time to show how they've come on.
As far as females go, no luck. It could be that they're all females of course, but one way or another there is no 'hanky panky' going on, if you know what I mean, so they must all be the same sex, or plain just don't fancy each other!!

I'll go into the sanctuary tomorrow and you never know there maybe a newcomer while I've been away. I will keep looking for you and the boys.

Thanks for the update.

Janet

[chriss80]

Janet, it sounds like you had great fun in your vacation. I don’t know what is up with all these male pigeons, I think they are more likely to get in trouble finding food while hens don’t even get their little feet dirty hehe. Haw are your pigeons doing lately?

Piggi and Tipsey are doing well. I am thinking the cold days are coming, I am taking them inside at night in their indoors room!

Piggi has became very shy of me lately since he is all eating by himself is maybe because he does not get to stay all day around me like he used to when he was in the house. But Piggi still does not say no into attacking my hand lol, he is so brave. I do wander lately a lot that if I let Piggi go will he come back, I don’t want to loose him but he has just become so shy of people lately that I wander if he could be realisable I mean to be let loose for a few hours daily or from time to time so he can enjoy some freedom.

Tipsey is the same funny guy , Tipsey is running around lately with sticks in his beak that he picks up from around the garden and is trying to give them to the hens that happened to be on the floor near him lol. Sometimes he goes near the aviary cage and also puts the sticks between the fine mesh and squeezes a few to Piggi. I thought these tow are becoming friends but if there are no gridlines separating them they start fighting, ah they must have sort of agreement only known the them two. I think Tipsey wants a mate and is ready to settle for anything but Piggi keeps saying no to the whole deal lol. Bellow a few pictures of their latest activities:

[amyable]

Hi Christina,

Sorry I have only just got the chance to read this properly. I've just got back from Sheffield, moving my elder daughter to start uni there. I thought parting from Tipsey was hard, this took the biscuit.

Great update as always. That picture of Tipsey with the twig in his mouth reminded me so much of when he was here. He had just started to pick up twigs and potter about with them not long before he came to you.
It's a shame that Piggie has gone more aloof, I suppose he doesn't need to be fed so he is more independent. It will be a very brave thing seeing if he will fly and come back to you, I'd find it scarey. Best of luck if you do try.

My little crowd are doing well thanks. They all seem to be moulting quite heavily, Danni, the PMV has been the worst but is starting to look good again.
Charlie Farley, who had a wound in his chest has healed at last. When I got back from holiday, I couldn't find the wound at all and all the feathers have started to grow back.
Baby Charlie at last is really looking better now. His wing had got infected and the skin had just bled and split. It has really improved and is also growing feathers again. He has been a worry as he always looked so thin, but today I saw a big improvement, and he is getting a little belly on him now. Still can't fly though, but does climb up the ladder if he wants to get up high.
Bandy, the homer with the shattered wing bone is doing well. The wound was nasty and he lost some bone so won't fly again, but the skin has healed quite well and he does flutter up about two feet off the ground now. He's very shy of the others even though he's the largest.
Finally I have a new very tiny brown Pigeon. I don't know what he is but when I asked on here, a couple of people thought he was a roller.
He can't fly at all and just like Tipsey did, falls over and can't right himself. He is a very confident little chap, but the others are wary of him and just stare at him when he's about, as if they haven't a clue what he is. I did really hope he was a hen for Tipsey, but sadly not.
I have a couple of injured Woodies too now, but keep them in doors separately. I need to get them healed and back to the 'sanctuary' so they can mix with some others, certainly can't keep them as they are so scatty.

I have to make some decisions about where these can go one day as they are all unreleasable unfortunately, but for now they are ok in the potting shed, not quite what it was built for my husband reminds me!!!

Talking of husbands, how is John and his allergy? doing better I hope.

I really love your pictures of the birds by the way, they come out so well. Look forward to seeing more.

Janet

[chriss80]

Hi Janet,


I have been catching up today with your latest post, I am so sorry for the poor bird you had that did not made it, I did not sow that post until today.

I am not letting Piggi a taste of freedom yet as I am really afraid to loose him, maybe one day the time will come I don’t know he is one independent bird now and he even eats the really big peanuts now.

I am glad your pigeons are better now.

I sow the tiny brown pigeon, one cute bird that is. In the beginning the pigeons that hang around my garden used to stare at Tipsey too but now they are used to him hanging around between them. Sometimes they bring some new fledgling with them and the poor things always get so scared of Tipsey.

The woodiest always seem so shy to me too. I never see any around where I live.
That remained me that I had a few months ago a sparrow hawk visiting my aviary and garden. I think it was a sparrow hawk not sure but in any case it was defiantly a small bird of prey. Luckily I have not see him around ever since and no birds from my garden flock gone missing.

Is quite funny as I get to keep an eye on all the pigeons that I realised. Some hang around at the lake some come back in the garden, I guess is whatever they prefer. I still see Norman, he was the normal grey looking bird that stayed with me for ages and was occasionally dizzy. I am glad to see him well though sometimes I look at him between the other pigeons and I think he has slightly strange body position sometimes, either that or he is not completely comfortable with my garden flock. He is one happy Norman thought.


I am sorry to hear your husband is not very positive about the pigeons. Let me know about what decisions you will be making maybe we find some good ideas


Johns is feeling very well now, and keeps away from the pigeons usually. Right now we have 2 new white pigeons that visit our garden and they are absolutely gorgeous and John is completely in love with them. Sometimes they even eat out of his hand.

[amyable]

Hi Christina,

I've just been looking at the pictures of Tipsey again and I can't believe it's the same pigeon that I first saw at the 'sanctuary', I should have taken a picture then, you wouldn't recognise him. To think, if he'd stayed there he would be dead by now, but just look what a great life he's having with you. Such a shame the youngsters are frightened by him, he is a bit 'full on' for them I suppose.

I've had a bit of a set back with Charlie Farley this week. I thought his chest wound had healed up well, when I came back from holiday I searched for the hole, even wet his feathers to have a good look but couldn't see it.
As a result I hadn't picked him up for a while. Yesterday I cleaned them out and caught each one to give them some probiotics. I found his wound was still there after all, so I'm taking him to the vets to deal with it now.

Isn't it funny how the white pigeons catch your breath. I'm not surprised John has fallen in love with them. How cool they feed from his hand, I can't get mine to do that even now. Try and get a picture for us.

I'm going to be in trouble again soon, I came home with a lovely white and black 'roller' I think today. It looks the same as the little brown one I've got now, but this poor one is totally blind in one eye. It can fly ok but I was scared to leave it at the 'sanctuary' as the lad I spoke to hadn't even noticed it was blind. so they might have let it go.
Hope it gets on with little Roly, as the others give him a wide bearth, so he could do with a friend.

So Norman is doing well, great news, good to be able to see them about.

Has Pidgie had his freedom flight yet? I'd put a bit of elastic on his leg and hold onto the end first so he comes back !!!

Look forward to hearing your news again soon,

Janet

[Feefo]

Hi Cristina,

I was just looking at the picture of Tipsey with the twig in his mouth and his eyes closed. That is so funny! He looks so proud of himself.

Cynthia

[chriss80]

Piggi on the loose, the hawk and its victims but all with a happy ending.

I have been quite busy lately. I have found a new bird with an injured foot which turned out later on to be because I have a hawk going round my garden and has a go at pigeons. And is not even a proper hawk, is one of those tiny sparrow hawks, he is only slightly bigger then a pigeon.

Yesterday I go at Piggi, not feeling at my best as I caught a flue from some people and the little bugger decides to squeeze past me and make his grand escape. And so gone he was.

So there was me looking all day yesterday after him to come back.

While watching some wild pigeons in my garden to see if Piggi is between them then out of sudden they all fly at once. That is not very unusual as pigeons just do that for no apparent reason many times. As usual I look outside to see if any cats are around and I spot this black thing in a corner of my garden moving between the fence and some wood. I go fast to look and this strange looking thing flies past me at a lightning speed, and I realise is a bloody hawk. Then I look on in the corner to see what was he up to in there and I see a grey normal looking pigeon that tried to squeeze unsuccefully in a corner there. I approached it and honestly I thought it was dead as I see a few fathers around. I pick the bird up and the bird was not moving and had its beak wide open, I inspect it better for half a minute and I do not see any blood at all, just a few feathers coming off but nothing else. I was trying to figure it out if the bird had a pulse but I was so nervous about it that I could not notice something but I was unsure. I moved its legs and wings that went back into their place, I kind of started to realise the bird is in shock. I take the bird in the house and get it straight into a cage, move away and hide in corner, the bird starts to move slightly and stretch his neck up as if it would be alerted. Slightly is start getting all up in a normal position and soon slowly getting back to normal. An hour later the bird was drinking water and eating all the seeds it could find. This bird turned out to be Norman, an old patient of mine from many months ago that had canker and I treated him for it, after that he also showed symptoms of PMV and he was all dizzy and acting odd. But slowly he got better and after many weeks I let him go and so he went back to his flock but still paid me visits so he can get little treats from me. So this is Norman getting his necks saved again, one luck bird and he is such a pretty boy I do love this bird. Now he is going to stay with me for 10 days or so and I am giving him some antibiotics just in case the hawk inured him, though there is no obvious sign of injury on him.. one luck guy.


After what happened with the hawk and Norman my poor little Piggi was still out there on the loose and I watched the skies all day for him to come back and worring that hawk could get him. The night came and so did the morning. And this morning I was incredibly lucky to have Piggi coming back home. I was watching outside since early morning so I don’t miss him if he comes back and he is all disorientated. I left the aviary door open for him to come back. At a point a flock of pigeons arrived but still no Piggi among them. I go into the kitchen to look for something and when I look back at the aviary there he is Piggi in all his glory, safe and sound perching on his favourite spot in the aviary. And so I go and close the door to the aviary, say hello to him and he salute some back with coo dancing and he eating seeds out of my hand. I had for him many peanuts ready as I know he loves them and he sure did ate them all. What adventures did he had only him knows. Me and my husband wore so worried because of that hawk that couldn’t find a worst time to visit my garden. Tipsey is happy to have Piggi back too. Happy ending!

On top of that I found a bird with an inured foot that I am treating now with antibiotics. The bird is getting better luckily. I am sure that hawk had something to do with it.

[amyable]

OMGosh! Christina,

Tell Piggi not to dare do that again, my heart was in my mouth reading that story incase he hadn't come back.

You must have been so worried all that time he was gone, it's like one of the family missing. It was probably the only way you would ever have had the nerve to let him try freedom, I bet he wished he hadn't gone after a few hours too. It's amazing that he came back and popped in the aviary while you weren't looking, as if he knew he'd been a naughty boy!

Now he knows where he's well off, no peanuts to hand out in the big bad world aye Piggi !

It was also a good way for Tipsey to realise that Piggi's not so bad after all, better a mate like Piggi than no mate at all.

Norman obviously has a slight disadvantage in the wild from whatever was wrong with him a while ago, that'll make it hard for you to see him go again. I wonder how many lives a pigeon has compared to a cat. Lucky he has you watching out for him.
It's hard to see a pigeon caught by a hawk, I had one coming to my garden for a while and he caught a Woodie even though they weren't much different in size.
Every so often if I'm in the shed with the pigeons, I see them all look up in the sky at the same time, and sure enough the hawk is circling up high, they know it's there. It still spooks them even though they're safe inside.

That was a good ending and let's hope Piggi doesn't try that stunt again. If he had a lady he might not want to go as quickly. I really wish I could find one for you.
There's only one at the 'sanctuary' who's been there for a long time, but there is a new flighthless male in now and they have teamed up, she booted the Woodie out that she flirted with before when they were on their own. Fickle lady.

Thanks for that story, let's hope you don't have too many more like that to tell.

Love to you all,

Janet