I Have A New GrandFid!

[TAWhatley]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments about the birds! And, Robert, thank you for the additional information about FanFan and Castor. It will be interesting to see how Baby Fan turns out. I will try to keep going with the pictures every couple of days .. don't want to bore everyone to tears with them!

Terry

[Peapicker]

Hi, Marjorie here,
Terry has been keeping me updated on Baby Fan and I'm so happy that the decision to give Castor a better home has worked out better than I dreamed. The info about Indian Fantails is very interesting. For a long time I had no idea what kind of fantails Pollux and Castor were. Then I went to a bird show and they were almost identical to the Indian fantails there (only much much scruffier). Baby Fan is just beautiful, and I too will be watching to see how that tail grows!
Hello to you all - I have no pigeons in my home now, but they are always in my heart. And Terry, all the birds in the pics are very handsome indeed. I love the frillbacks - just want to run my fingers throught those feathers!
Marjorie

[TAWhatley]

Hi Marjorie .. I was thinking that we two Grandma's should probably be coming up with a real name for Baby Fan .. what do you think?

Terry

[Peapicker]

Hi Terry,
Great idea on the name, but you're the Mom of this new family, and you've done all the work to bring it into being, so whatever name you choose will be absolutely fine with me. I'm very happy to be the paternal Grandma and to be able to say to my friends and family "have you seen the latest pictures of my grandfid?"

[Birdmom4ever]

Those are beautiful pigeons, Terry. We don't have Indian fantails, but American. Our first set of chicks from my young pair, Stormy and Cindy, are now about six weeks old and they are adorable. They are very cute in the nest because they get their fantails right away when the feathers come in. I love watching them toddle around the loft when they leave the nest.

Love the frillbacks, too. We have one, a pure white named Lily. Unlike your white, she lacks a crest, but otherwise looks just the same. She was a rescue--wound up at the Humane Society and we adopted her about 7 months ago. She is very, very shy and afraid.

[Birdmom4ever]

OK, now that I finally figured out how to compress pictures and post 'em, couldn't resist one more of the youngsters. (You know these proud grandmas with their pictures!) Here are Shelby and Shiloh, 5 week old American fantails.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Birdmom,

Adorable photos of your babies, Shiloh and Shelby I'd like to ask though, do you have their wings clipped, or how well do the fantails fly? I noticed that they are outdoors and in the "open" so I'm just curious.

[TAWhatley]

Love the pics, BirdMom .. keep 'em coming! Your babies are beautiful!

Terry

[Birdmom4ever]

Thank you for the compliments. No, we don't clip their wings. They were just five weeks old when the pictures were taken and still not flying well. Their big, cumbersome tails interfere with flight. But they do love to climb up on our shoulders. It wasn't until this week that they really began to fly around the loft and get to the landing board and higher perches. Even our adult fantails don't fly well.

We have sort of a family tradition of taking babies out on the front lawn on nice days and playing with them. With better flyers, such as our rollers, we do it a little earlier, around 4 weeks. They stick close to us because they see what a big, wide world it is and we are the only familiar fixtures. Of course it makes for a great photo op.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Birdmom,

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I knew fantails didn't fly well but I wasn't sure how well is well in their case. My runts don't fly well either but I would be afraid to take them outside, the youngsters particularly. They fly better than their parents do. I'm glad you got that photo op with your babies though

[alaska]

Seeing photos of little babies like this makes me want to hurry and get a mate for Cecil Fantails are a beautiful breed, is it possible to cross breed a roller with a fantail?
Keep the photos coming

[Birdmom4ever]

It's possible to cross any domestic pigeon with any other domestic pigeon (including ferals). If you cross a roller and a fantail you would get a smallish pigeon with a larger-than-normal tail, but not a fantail. Some people treat cross-breeding as if it is akin to blasphemy while others enjoy experimenting. The reason we have hundreds of pigeon breeds is that people experimented with cross-breeding. Keep in mind, though, that should you need to find new homes for your pigeons, it's easier to give away purebreds than crossbreeds. And if you're going to show, you want to keep your purebreds pure.

[kooper]

congras to you and your birds! they look awesome!

kooper