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#1
3rd November 2009, 02:03 PM
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#2
3rd November 2009, 11:13 PM
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Batch 3 44 days
Eggs 13 days Drama on the pigeon front yesterday. I ran out of food and didn't get a chance to buy any till the evening. They all stood around very confused. All I had was rice. They loved it. Is rice good for pigeons? I gave them some bread too but that dried out quickly. Joey spent the whole day on the balcony above as usual. He really struggles to fly. When ever Joey lands of takes off there is such a scuffle of feathers. He has to flap like mad. When he lands it is also very ungainly and he struggles to balance as he first comes down. He's doing very well though. His tail feathers are interesting. They are broad at the tips but much narrower nearer his body. Silverfoot has been causing trouble at usual. Yesterday he hung out on the balcony rail above and cooed away (trying to woo Joey). He's definitely still looking for a mate as he's tried to nap both Abby and Mom, but they're taken. He likes this area too. I think his plans (if pigeons make plans) are to move in on the balcony above and have free food when ever he needs. He can also check when the coast is clear from up there. The babies slept on the box above Mom yesterday again. Lucy arrived really late. It was already getting dark and Joey was feeling lonely. He was making his bed in his old nest. Then Lucy arrived and they both went up onto the box. When they sleep Lucy sleeps standing up, with Joey snuggled under her. I was just wondering, there is no traction on the box, so I hope this doesn't splay her legs. I think she's past that stage though. I bought food yesterday and there was a huge feeding frenzy when I put it out this morning. Mom even got off the nest to join in the feast. Joey has made it two balconies up. Today him and Lucy are chilling out from the 5th floor. Last edited by malfunctional; 8th November 2009 at 12:23 PM.
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#3
4th November 2009, 08:04 AM
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Have you noticed how when a pigeon is about to do something, their body language tells it all. I think it is all in the eyes. They don't seem to move much in a pigeon's head so it has to tilt its head in the direction it is looking. To get a better look the pigeon always looks with one eye. I can tell what they are up to, especially when they are about to fly. It is almost like they have to psyche themselves up first.
From their behaviour I believe Abby and Banger's 2nd batch hatched today. Bangers is super hungry and has been eying out the food dish from the balcony above. From there he can't see Dad and Dad can't see him. After much careful planning Bangers finally decided he was Brave enough to jump down and grab some food. Dad got up and immediately gave chase. Bangers ran along the raling and noticed the other food dish was full. With Dad in full pursuit Bangers stopped along the rail to eat. Dad started pecking at his wing, but Bangers was hungry. He grabbed what he could with his dad chewing his arm and then finally made a fly for it. Dad followed, but soon returned to his eggs. Bangers too, came back and a little wiser this time. He ate from the raised food dish in peace without disturbing Dad. He's a slow learner. This happens often.
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#4
5th November 2009, 01:46 AM
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The babies are still sleeping here. Yesterday Joey arrived really late. It was starting to get dark and I thought it would be the first night without them. Without Lucy to direct him he was back in the nest as usual. Lucy arrived even later and immediately climbed up onto the box. I don't think she like it too much up there on her own so she joined Joey in the nest. That too wasn't good enough for her and she ended up spending the night perched on a bag of potting soil.
Oh, and yesterday when Mom arrived for nest duty she climbed in the bucket with Dad. They snuggled for a bit before Dad got out. Very cute. So much love. This morning Dad arrived for food and they cooed back and forth to each other for awhile. Joey has spent the day on the balcony. It seems her is better than one floor up today. He doesn't do much, just lies around waiting for some thing to happen. As he was here when Dad arrived he tried his chances and begged for food. It didn't work, but there was no love lost. Joey still often cries and flaps his wings while eating, but never when he doesn't have a spectator. I saw Dad chase Lucy away at one point yesterday. I think he's realised that she's all grown up, even if her brother is struggling a little. First rain since the big storm today. Just a few spots but Mom was nice and dry in her new box. The new babies that hatch in there are going to have to grow quite a bit more than these guys before they can get out, plus they won't be able to scoot their little bums over the edge so it's going to get pretty messy in there. Better in there than on the balcony though.
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#5
6th November 2009, 02:40 AM
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Batch 3 46 days
Eggs 15 days Joey seems to be doing really well. He still looks super scruffy, so I thought I would give him a little check up. Obviously like all pigeons he doesn't like being handled, and I didn't really want to scare him away but I wanted to check he was ok. I cornered him in a corner of the balcony and he managed to dive past me and run back to his nest. This is his "safe zone" but with him growing as he is I thought I wouldn't have another chance. He cornered himself and I grabbed him. With all this happening right in front of Dad in the nest. Dad didn't even flinch. Anyway it turns out that Joey seems totally healthy. His feathers have an interesting phenomenon though on his tail. They are broad near the tip, and then they thin out quite a bit and then thicken again. It's almost as if whatever was wrong with him impacted his feathers, but now they are starting to grow out properly. I'll try post a picture. Anyway what was interesting about this whole encounter is that Joey was obviously really tense while I was examining. I tried to calm him down a little by gently stroking him and when we was calm I stopped holding him to let him go. He was on my lap at the time and he didn't get up or anything, his eyes started closing and he dozed off. It was so cute, sitting there with this little guy sleeping on my lap. After about 20 minutes he woke up, realised where he was a flew straight outside, not traumatised at all. Last night the babies climbed up on the box and slept above Mom's head again. Mom is such a docile bird, she really doesn't seem to mind. On the other hand I saw Dad chasing and pecking poor Lucy away from the balcony this morning. Joey wasn't around so I figure Dad might have already got rid of him. I'm sure Dad doesn't want these guys around when the next batch hatch. It'll be sad to see them go. Poor little Joey, I don't think he'll be too good in the big world on his own but I'll see what happens. When Dad is on the nest it is all ok. Today as soon as they swapped (10:45), Joey saw Mom hanging out on the balcony and arrived in no time. He knows when it is safe. He is now hanging out next to Dad, watching the world go by below, dreaming on joining it for real soon. Silverfoot is definitely trying to move in upstairs. He reminds me of Henry the Dalmation. He sits up there cooing away for a mate. It is especially interesting when he is cooing away from the plants on the balcony to Joey who is sitting nervously on the railing. I'm not too keen on this set up. I think one family of pigeons is quite enough so I'm still trying to discourage him. I think perhaps Dad might do a better job keep the balcony population down though. Once nesting season has ended, it may all be different. Last edited by malfunctional; 8th November 2009 at 12:23 PM.
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#6
8th November 2009, 10:04 AM
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Sadly the above photo is pretty much the last time I've seen Joey. Something must have happened to him because he was never more than a couple of balconies away from here. He was also eating here. I don't think he knew anywhere else to get food. He also hasn't slept here since Thursday night.
Poor guy. He seemed to be doing so well. Yes he had a totally ruffled look, but he was full of energy (other than his frequent sleeping) and he seemed to be getting by ok. I probably should have done something more for him. The weather has been pretty bad here for the last couple of days, so he might have had some problem in the storm. The other thing is that Dad has been vigorously chasing away Lucy. I feel really bad for the poor girl. This is the only home she knows and now Dad won't even let her pop in for some food. The eggs are a couple of days from hatching, so this all makes sense. The main problem is that the raised food dish on the balcony is water ladened, so the food down below is much nicer for them. Dad even gets off the eggs to chase her away and it takes a lot to get him off his eggs. Lucy still slept here yesterday but it doesn't look like she'll be here tonight. I'm not sure about Friday, but last night might have been her first alone, with no Joey to help keep her warm.
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#7
9th November 2009, 07:44 AM
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Still no Joey.
 Lucy didn't sleep here last night, but she has still been visiting to get food. No social calls though as Dad is getting especially protective. The first egg had already started cracking this morning (I put a small dot on the first egg to discriminate). Dad has been chasing Bangers away for most of the day, so I've had a few chances to take a look. No squab yet. I actually got to touch Dad today. Before Bangers had been bothering him I wanted to see if there was a squab. I tried to get Dad to scoot over but he would not budge. I moved a little closer but still he didn't budge. In the end I was stroking his wing with my finger and he was staying put. He's gotten very brave recently, which is great. This batch will be called Russell an Tanith. I expect Russ to be out before tomorrow morning. Bangers and Abby have not been keeping regular shifts for the last couple of day so I'm guessing batch two for them is old enough to be left alone. Abby's little tag I put on her is coming off. I was wondering how long those things would last. 6 months seems pretty good. And another thing. When I did look in the nest I noticed that there are a few poops. Not many, but a few. Usually Mom and Dad are really good at keeping the place clean. I guess they know that in a couple of days it will be totally covered.
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#8
9th November 2009, 09:03 AM
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Quote:
__________________
 BEECH TREE KNOLL LOFT
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#9
9th November 2009, 12:31 PM
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I hope Joey is alright
that is very sad. Lucy seemed like she would/is doing well on her own though so thats great to hear. I know its the natural cycle of life but it must be sad to see them go especially after watching them grow up over the past weeks.
__________________
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn". -John Muir
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#10
9th November 2009, 11:33 PM
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Yip, I'm a regular cleaner. It has actually got to the point where I can clean the balcony without Mom or Dad, whoever is on the nest leaving. I think they have realised that I'm not going to eat them, even though they aren't too keen on me.
I'm very sad about Joey. I don't think he's ok. He was such a scruffy guy and really did not seem ready for the big world out there. Still he braved his way into it. When I caught him to check up on him on Thursday I felt like I should clip his wings or something just to make sure he wouldn't fly away and get into mischief. That felt too cruel, but now I'm thinking it would probably have been a good thing. If another pigeon turns out like that I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I was very upset when Dad started chasing Lucy away. She was still sleeping here at the time (Saturday night) and knew no other home. I tried to stop Dad from being so mean, but really what could I do. I'll still see Lucy occasional when she is hungry. The big news is that Russ has hatched. He hatched over night as expected. So he spent 18.5 days in his egg. With the last batch Lucy came out at the same time even after being laid much later. Tanith on the other hand does not seem to be making her way out of the egg just yet. It is difficult to tell though as Mom is fiercely guarding the little ones and Dad is protecting from the balcony above. I only saw Russ as Mom was feeding him.
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#11
12th November 2009, 01:23 AM
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Bangers 303 days
Lucy 52 days Russell 2 days Tanith 1 day Tanith's little egg started showing signs of cracking on Tuesday afternoon. Dad was on the nest the whole day and refused to budge to let me see if Tanith had started making her way out. It even got to the point that I could go right up to him and stroke him and he wasn't going to move. He wasn't happy about it at all though. He fluffed out his feathers and made himself look twice the size. Very scary. In the end I actually picked him up to see the cracking. He is so brave now, and so soft and smooth. No wonder the babies like it under him so much. Wednesday morning and Mom was still fiercely guarding the egg. After a few wing slaps she had finally moved over enough for me to see Tanith, just as she was popping out the egg. I have a great photo which I'll put up soon. Being a day younger than Russ, it is easy to tell the difference between them. They are growing fast and Russ is much bigger. Hopefully I can continue to keep track of them. I'm so glad Tanith didn't take any longer. I've read that they don't have much chance of survival if they are more than two days apart. Dad has been guarding the nest area when ever he's not on duty. On Tuesday he disappeared for a few minutes and Lucy, Sliverfoot and Bangers arrived together almost straight away to get some food. Being tiny Lucy had to submitted, and Bangers also fended off Silverfoot. Lucy however was brave enough to jump down onto the balcony and grab some food there. The other two know better. Dad returned quickly to chase them away and Lucy from below. He followed her just to make sure she kept her ground. Dad stuck around for quite awhile before roosting for the night. The weather was getting quite bad and soon Lucy arrived. She had obviously decided that her other roosting spot was not quite as sheltered and her old nest was best. She stumbled around the balcony for quite a while trying to decided where was the least windy least wet part of it to sleep. She looked so miserable and cold out there that I felt obliged to do something. In the end I waited until it was reasonably dark before going out there and putting their old nest inside another box to shelter it. Lucy was terrified as usual and scrambled around trying to escape while I was out there. She was squeaking like the little kid she is. I grabbed hold of her, calmed her down and bit, but the flower pot inside the box and gently placed inside. That's where she stayed the whole night. She obviously decided that that was a good idea. It didn't encourage her to come back the next night though. That might however have been because Mom complained to Dad and the next night he kept guard even later. Lucy arrived to eat yesterday morning. The raised feeder was empty so I put some food on the balcony. This I can do without scaring them off. Lucy jumped down for it and Mom suddenly jumped out of the nest, not to chase her away. Pretty soon she arrived back with Dad. He obviously has a local hangout and she'd been over there to tell him about the food. Dad ate vigorously and then just sat on the balcony watching the day do by. After about 30 minutes he started feeling guilty about Mom being on the nest. He gave a few coos and Mom made place for him. Dad had a busy stint on the eggs with a lot of protecting to do. Every now and again I would hear a huge flutter of feathers and see Dad parading along the balcony rail, after just chasing someone away. It gave me a good chance to see the little babies. They are so cute. Little balls of fluff squirming around looking for heat or food. I've noticed that when the parents jump into the nest (and they have to jump because of the depth of the bucket), they don't really mind where they land. With the eggs it was difficult to tell, but with the chicks I am quite certain that the land directly on them. A pigeon doesn't way much so I guess it is all ok, but yesterday Dad landed with his foot over Russell's neck. Poor little Russell couldn't do much. He just wriggled a little, but invariably was stuck. I checked on Dad a few minutes later and he hadn't changed positions so I went out and moved him off Russell, who was wiggling away happy as ever afterwards. No harm done. Dad was on duty till about 4:30 when Mom took over again. It's so cute when she takes over as Dad doesn't leave. Rather they sit in the nest together for a little bit and chat about their days. About 20 minutes later Mom just upped and left while Dad was still eating. He hung around for a bit and then realised she wasn't coming back so he jumped back on the nest. Good old Dad. Always filling in when needed. Mom arrived back and decided a good dinner was in order, but Abby chased her away so that she could get some. Meek Mom eventually made it back to the nest after Abby had gone. Dad stuck around from a distance guarding after that. Anyone that came past only had a couple of seconds before he chase them away. In this situation they all go for the corn. It's bigger so you get much more for your peck. A definite plus when you are about to get attacked by an angry father pigeon. Not much activity yet today. The parents did both scramble off for a few minutes, leaving the babies alone for the first time. The lay contentedly in the sun which was reflecting in from somewhere. Happy pigeons.
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#12
13th November 2009, 10:15 PM
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Tanith 3 days
Russ 4 days Russell is much bigger than Tanith. All my previous squabs have hatched on the same day so they have always been pretty much the same size. I know they are growing fast at this stage, but it she ok? Is this normal? Will she catch up with Russ? Will she be big enough to beg food from Mom and Dad?
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#13
14th November 2009, 07:28 AM
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Been busy these past few weeks and am catching up on your story now. Posted some new photos over in my Henry thread, too.
 Congrats on the new squabs! I hope Joey made his way into the world okay. I don't think any of our squabs stayed as long as yours have. The parents certainly never let us touch them.
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#14
17th November 2009, 01:58 AM
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A lot changes on the pigeon front in a couple of days. We were away for the weekend and came back to find one big plump squab and one tiny little one. I posted a few comments on the emergency hotline which recommended I supplement little Tanith's food as her big brother was probably taking it all.
Once we had everything ready it was almost sleep time for everybody. Mom was on the nest with the little ones underneath and it was starting to get dark. I gently grabbed Mom off the nest and soothed her. She was a little panicky, but not too bad. We picked up little Tanith and brought her inside and placed Mom back on the nest. She never even looked underneath herself, and just made herself comfy again. Little Tanith seemed very active and had no idea what was going on. Her head was bobbing away and she seemed fine, just a little small. Her crop seemed full so she had had dinner. We decided to let her be and returned her to the nest. The same operation was repeated in reverse with Mom lifted off the nest, Tanith returned and Mom placed back on top without being any the wiser. Tanith crawled under Mom to get cosy for the night and all seemed well. This morning however, no Mom. I was up early and she had already left. She never returned (it's been 5 hours). I hope last night didn't spook her too much. We were very gentle but I can't read pigeon brains. Dad however has been around the whole time. He took his shift a good 3 hours earlier than usual. I haven't even seen Mom around the building or getting food from our feeder. I'm sure she'll be back though. I saw Dad feeding big Russell this morning so I figured I'd try method number two suggested on the emergencies thread. Dad flew away and I moved Russell to the previous nest in the hope that Dad would feed Tanith a little more. Dad came back, jumped on the nest and sat on Tanith for awhile. I didn't see any feeding though. I started feeling sorry for poor Russell on his own in the other nest, so I returned him to his original nest a little later, when Dad was off chasing away Bangers. Dad is back sitting on them both. I think I'm going to leave nature alone for the moment. I think all my interfering is not helping these guys. I'll see what happens. We're away again for quite a few days in the next couple of weeks so I don't think feeding her every now and again rather than regularly would be a good idea either. I must say that these guys are a little strange in terms of behaviour. It seems that most of their behaviour is instinctive rather than cognitive. Some examples I've noticed: 1) If the nest is moved, they can't find the new nest even if it is right there 2) If a baby is missing they don't notice it missing. 3) If the food bowl is a different colour they don't notice it at all Then there is the nesting location. I think it does not really have to do with the feasibility of my balcony. I think they just lay eggs here because they did before and there is a place to lay them so they do. They don't think, hmm there is this guy that scares us, maybe we should go somewhere else. They just just keep at it. Any other balcony would probably be better seeing as I'm one of the few in my building that works from home. It's the only balcony where they'll get disturbed. Then again it's also the only one with food!
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#15
17th November 2009, 10:38 PM
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Dad sat cooing away on the balcony calling Mom yesterday evening. He eventually persuaded her to sit on the babies for the night. She was gone again this morning as soon as the sun came up.
Dad was around patrolling the balcony. Two big fights happened, one with Bangers and one with Abby. I think the fact that those two are fighting him back now may be a sign that he is losing his dominance. He still chased them away though. Then again I don't think pigeons can really hurt each other. Dad is nesting again. He jumped into the old nest and called Mom for awhile. I will see how that develops. Baby Tanith is full of life and squeaking away. She just isn't growing at all. I think she has the same problem that Joey had after 3 weeks. He stopped growing at that stage. She does still have a full crop so she is getting fed. We'll see what happens.
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Hybrid Mode
