Powder on their Feathers

[Victor]

My Tooter will "tell" me when he wants a bath too. He will try and stuff his big ol' pigeon self inside his hanging water dish!

I put a modifeid ice cream plastic round container with 3-4 inches of lukewarm water and he will step inside on his own...when he decides to, and just shake his tail feathers and flap his wings. I GOTTA remember to get his grit and seed out before his next bath.

A spray mist is a good idea.Don't be afraid to put lukewarm water is it.If is is warm enough for a human baby to touch and it will cool down a degree or 2 between the bottle and reaching the pigeon anyway.

[Camrron]

Terri, you are so right about pigeons not being shy about expressing their feelings. I did try giving Buddy a shower this afternoon but he sat there on the edge of the tub and looked at me as if I were a complete lunatic. Best pigeon expression I have ever seen! It was priceless. So he didn't take to it too well but after reading your post my feelings are not really hurt.

I will try again tomorrow. If I had checked here earlier in the day I might have seen your comments about putting the nozzle pointing up so it's like rain. It seems like such common sense, so intuitive, but I just didn't think of it when I put the shower on. Tomorrow is another day.

The other thing I tried was splashing some of the water with my hand. This really got his attention even though he still would not venture in. It reminded me of when I was first teaching him to eat by pecking at seeds with my finger. He seems focussed on hand actions. In one of the posts I read a few days back I think Treesa had made mention regarding hand pecking. Something along the lines that pigeons sometimes don't connect that the hand is part of the person.

Anyway if I flap my hand in a birdlike way or tap on counters etcetera Buddy flys there. There does seem to be a disconnect in his mind between me and the hand that is flapping, between me and the finger that is pecking. Like I am quite tolerable but the pecking finger is an adversary. I don't think that it is because he has a small brain either or that he cannot figure the difference between the parts and the whole of a person. To me it is one of those mysteries where basic birth instincts overpower common sense. People do this too it is just not quite so easy to decipher!

Isn't life amazing!

Cameron

[Trees Gray]

I have actually hosed down some of my pigeons when they are dunking in the bath and shaking their feathers and they love it. They come up and open their eyes and close them a few times, stunned as if to say.."wow, I really made a BIG splash and moved a lot of water...let my try that again"

Most of them don't mind a hosing in the heat, but prefer the less aggressive sprinkling coming down and /or a bath.

I will go inside my coop then and check out the remainder of my birds, who are not bathing. The only ones in my coop that should not be bathing, are the hens laying on their dummy eggs. I always look for any other bird not swimming, (especially with some of the hot days we have here) as this can be an indication that they are not feeling a 100 percent.

They are usually a very noise active bunch, after bathing, they are sunning andlaying all over the aviary like a carpet made of pigeons.

[Camrron]

Holy cow Treesa, you must have a lot of birds! I' ll bet that is really quite the sight to see..sigh, if only. But I live in a high rise. Not much chance there will ever be more than one or two in here. It sounds like you and your birds really know how to enjoy yourselves at bath-time. I think mine is a bit like the kid who won't eat his spinach or get near the tub. If I use my head I should be able to make it interesting for Buddy so he'll look forward to a nice bath once in a while. Third time might be the charm. I will know after lunch.

Cameron

[TerriB]

Originally Posted by Camrron

...The other thing I tried was splashing some of the water with my hand. This really got his attention even though he still would not venture in...Cameron

You are very intuitive, Cameron! Having your hand-pigeon spalsh like a pigeon taking a bath will frequently entice a reluctant bird. My theory is that it's safer to have your head under water and be saturated if other birds are around to notice danger. If you've never seen a pigeon taking a bath, they start with a few pecks at the water - not sure if they're checking temperature or cleanliness. They then duck their head under and thrash for a second (move your hand in the water back and forth several times quickly for a good approximation), soak for a few seconds and repeat. If you see Buddy strech his folded wings up or fluff out his feathers and groom, you know he's thinking about joining you. It still may not happen for a while, so give it time. While I was waiting for Walter to figure out bathing, I'd rinse him off in a sinkful of water every few weeks, whenever I noticed a body odor. If you rinse him too often, he won't be as motivated to bathe.

[Camrron]

Originally Posted by TerriB

If you rinse him too often, he won't be as motivated to bathe.

Hi Terri and thanks for the tips. Good point about the motivation for bathing. I was a little worried after my first bath attempt that I may have inadvertantly caused Buddy to be scared of bathing so now I am just encouraging him to jump in on his own instead of actually giving him the dip by hand. We'll try again tomorrow!

Cameron

[Larry_Cologne]

When my wife wanted to introduce Pidgiepoo to bathing last year, she would put two inches of warm water (relative warmth checked with inner wrist, similar to controlling temperature of warmed baby bottle) in a frying pan so the little bird could see the water, sit down a bit away from Pidgiepoo so that it was up to him and his curiosity to come see what was going on. She would make enticing and inviting sounds, and make splashing sounds with her fingers in the water, as though she were playing a keyboard, and pick up little handsful of water and let it dribble into the pan. He was interested right away, but took awhile to approach. We had to have patience. It always took five or ten minutes of splashing before he went to the water. He would take a tentative dip or sip with his beak (couldn’t tell which), and then drink some. We had a bit of ACV apple cider vinegar in the water. Then he would lean forward and put his head and shoulders under water and splash water everywhere with his wings. With a warm bath, he might or might not sit in it for a long time. He was always quiet. Then he would hop out, shake himself off, fly up to a safe perch, and sleep. It seems he would go into a trance-like state for an hour or so. It was a good time for us to leave the house to do errands, because he wouldn’t miss us or get himself into trouble.

By watching them I learn some things about me. We’re not so different from them in some ways. You hear an advertising jingle on the radio or see someone drinking a soft drink, and you decide „I think I’m thirsty,“ (or hungry, or whatever).

This year we very seldom get Wieteke to take a bath, and we almost never bother now, since he goes out all day every day with the other street pigeons here in Cologne, and gets in the rain occasionally. For the last two months of his five month life span he has come in from a rain not looking bedraggled. Neither Pidgiepoo or Wieteke favored showers, perhaps because I showered their heads and necks after a particularly messy feeding as babies as an occasional alternative to the wet washcloth. We used cut-off fingers of latex dishwashing gloves, and they would get their heads into the mushy mix. The babies liked the glove fingers much better than the eye droppers and pipettes, and they could control how much they ate. Some feedings were messier than others, and both pigeons tried to run away across the table from the washcloth.

If you ever see a dry pigeon shake himself when he is backlit by the window or the sun, you will see so much feather dust that you will think the bird had just taken a dust bath like an elephant.

[Camrron]

I have seen that dust you are talking about on my bird too. Like dandruff or something. I wasn't sure if it was the result of a molt or dry skin or what but I think the bathing is pretty important. My bird by the way just refuses to bathe on his own. I have tried the same thing as you were mentioning and agree it does get his interest but that's where it ends for him. Now he just gets misted or splashed with a little water when he flies into the bathroom. It seems to be working.

Cameron

[mr squeaks]

Originally Posted by Camrron

I have seen that dust you are talking about on my bird too. Like dandruff or something. I wasn't sure if it was the result of a molt or dry skin or what but I think the bathing is pretty important. My bird by the way just refuses to bathe on his own. I have tried the same thing as you were mentioning and agree it does get his interest but that's where it ends for him. Now he just gets misted or splashed with a little water when he flies into the bathroom. It seems to be working.

Cameron

When I mentioned Squeak's "dry" skin to his Vet, he said, "give him more baths." OOOOOKKAYYY...'course in my case, Squeaks DOES like his showers! IF, once in awhile, he'll run around and not seem to be interested, I just take him out of the tub and wait for another day. This is VERY rare though...

[Camrron]

Thanks Mr Squeaks, I will keep that in mind and go with more bathing. Buddy does have dry skin but we all do in this climate I live in. I run my humidifier all night but I may have to go with all day too. I, myself end up with bloody noses if I don't keep the air moist. It's maddening really. When I first noticed Buddy with the dandruff I thought he was dehydrated and went with a rehydration formula I found on this site but in retrospect the dryness is all external. On the plus side his feathers now look terrific since I have been wetting him down.

Cameron

[mr squeaks]

noticed the same thing too, Cameron, after giving Mr. Squeaks a shower or bath. His feathers were so nice and shiny.

That's another criteria I use for possible shower time - his feathers. He has the usual Blue Bar purple and green neck feathers. When they look dull, it's water time!

[Camrron]

Hi Mr Squeaks,

I read in one of your posts your a girl pigeon, not a boy pigeon. I had a good laugh about that. Who would have thought! By the way, guess who had a bath tonight on his own. Yup. My little buddy. we are both quite pleased.
Talk to you again.

Cameron

[mr squeaks]

Originally Posted by Camrron

Hi Mr Squeaks,

I read in one of your posts your a girl pigeon, not a boy pigeon. I had a good laugh about that. Who would have thought! By the way, guess who had a bath tonight on his own. Yup. My little buddy. we are both quite pleased.
Talk to you again.

Cameron

I read about Buddy doing his first bath! Knew it was just a matter of time...and patience...kiss his little head for me!

LOL - yes, with a "handle" like Mr Squeaks, who would have thunk that the one writing was his mate - female! THAT'S why I made a comment one time about how I assumed some members were male and were not and vice versa. Maggie, bless her, then started a tread in the General Discussion area about "Your "handle" and How You Got Started." Recently it was 'bumped' to let new members add their comments...REALLY helped bring us closer and meet each other "up close and personal" through the miracle of technology!