happy new member

[mother pigeon]

Just wanted to let you all know that I am so relieved to know that there are many people who love pigeons as much as I do. Lucky for me is the fact that my husband and daughter also share my love. We just moved to Henderson, Nevada in July 2006 and reside in an apartment complex behind a grocery store. We have been feeding a group of pigeons daily. The group started off around 30 and has grown to 100. I am not an expert when it comes to pigeons, but have gotten a lot of info from reading the posts on this site. We feed our pigeons black oil sunflower seeds, and wild bird seed. Is this ok? I noticed on a post that pigeons need "grit" for digestion. Is this something given daily, and should I include it when I feed them? I rescued a pigeon a month or so ago, but she passed away 3 days after I rescued her. She was on the ground, under a car, at night. She was easy to catch because she could not muster energy to fly. No injuries to the human eye. After she passed, I saw this sharp breastbone sticking out. I read today from a post what that means. I felt so guilty that she died. I wish I could have done more to help her, but am glad I did not hesitate to bring her into my house. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I wish I knew about your site earlier when I found her because all of your expertise might have saved her. Thank you all for being here for the pigeons, and for me too so I can help them.

[Pidgey]

Well, you're close to Phil (member name: pdpbison) so you'll probably eventually get to know him. Anyhow, welcome to the site. That food okay and I'd think that your local birds shouldn't have any difficulties with grit, given the locale. If you're going to start taking in the sick & injured, you might want to acquire a few basic medications for them that are suited to the normal things seen in your area.

Pidgey

[mother pigeon]

I will purchase a few basic meds for my pidgey locals, but can you advise me what to buy? Thank you for all the necessary info in order to take care of my extended family.

[Maggie-NC]

Hi Mother Pigeon

We're so happy to have you join this great forum. It is certainly a diverse group in that many members race pigeons, others show theirs and still others mainly do rehabilitation of pigeons but the common denominator is that we all love pigeons dearly.

Thank you so much for feeding the ferals. Those of us who rehab can tell you that sometimes nothing we do will save a feral if they are sick or injured but we always try. I would imagine the feral you found was too sick but at least he didn't stay in the cold and be eaten by a predator.

[Pidgey]

If you've got a feed store nearby, you might try getting some "Sulmet" for basic bacterial and coccidial infections, and getting something for canker (probably one of the more common things you're going to run into) is going to be more difficult. That might require getting some online as they're normally prescription drugs for people. Metronidazole (Flagyl; FishZole) is a good one for that.

Pidgey

[Flying_Pidgy]

For Canker i strongly suggest you buy spartrix, it has done wonders for me.

[mother pigeon]

I take it that some of these items you can actually buy locally, and others are online? I do want to be prepared for the future. I continue to go over the rescue I did a month ago, and keep thinking we should have taken her to a vet and maybe she would be with us now. I want to do all I can for the feral pigeons because I feel they need us. They don't ask for much, and am committed to be there for them. Also, I know that when people take in feral pigeys to rescue, they keep them because they cannot be returned to city life due to a permanent injury or something else, but do people ever take a feral pigeon in to their home to raise that did not need rescuing or rehabbing. I was wondering if this would be a hard adjustment for the pigeon.Would he/she miss his friends, and/or old lifestyle? Thank you all for being here. Maria

[Victor]

Welcome Maria!

Some people I'm sure take in a feral pigeon to raise that did not need to be rescued or raised.That is considered to be taboo. If one would take (kidnap) a feral pigeon, you would be taking it from its mate and possibly babies or young birds that would be Dependant upon both parents. It is tempting though, believe ME!

I have adopted 4 wonderful pigeons from this site from other members here
have two rescues and now two young birds that I now have.

Many of us on this site are willing to adopt out to good loving homes.

[mother pigeon]

Victor,
I was just curious. I was not going to do this. I would much rather adopt a bird in need when I have the proper living quarters to handle one. I love looking at all your pictures. I also read your posts regarding Tooter and his trip abroad (wherever he flew to). I forgot how long ago this happened to you, but I was glad you had a happy ending. I was frantic until the part when you said he was home again. I get very emotional reading these posts. Tooter looks like a sweet,loving bird and I do look forward to having a new addition to my family someday. I have lots of pictures I took of the birds that I feed daily here. I just got this camera and unsure how to transfer pics to the computer from the camera, or if I need any cables to do it. I did see the posts that tell you how to upload pics for you all to see once I get them in my computer. I'll figure it out.I would like to share with you all my pidgeys here. Maria

[Victor]

Hi Maria, thanks for your interest in the Tooter story. He left us on December 31, 2005, New Years Eve and flew back home to us 7 and one half months later.

Before we got our digital camera, I would scan the pictures we had developed at the drug store and post them, The nice feature about Web Shots (or similar program) is one can post a heck of a lot more pictures. I am always maxing my limit here darn it!

We are looking forward to pictures and having you as a member Maria.