Strange Behavior - Frosty

[Maggie-NC]

This will actually be two threads because I can't figure out what is going on with these two pigeons. I'll need to give the background on each because that may have a bearing on the situation. The first is our #1 pigeon Frosty. A fellow rehabber rescued many, I presume Homers, from a wedding release site. They never left the site and cats had started attacking some of them. From what I remember none were banded. Two of the ones she rescued had a baby, Frosty. We were caring for our friend's birds for a few days and found this baby, only a couple of hours old, abandoned and cold. We actually thought she was dead but she came back to life, we brought her home and she has done very well.

Frosty mated with Feisty, the little guy that died last Oct from hepatic necrosis. We carried over only 3 pigeons the winter of 2001 (Frosty, Feisty and Me 3 who was too ill to release) so decided to keep them in our garage for the winter. We let them set one egg which turned out to be Whitey. When spring came we moved the 4 to the aviary where Me 3 took Frosty away from Feisty and became her mate and still is.

Frosty laid a few eggs over the next maybe 2 years then totally stopped. About twice a year Me 3 will chase her and make her set a nest of absolutely nothing. Sometimes we have put dummy eggs under her but it really makes no difference. She will dutifully sit from about 6 pm until morning then gets back on the perch. Me 3 sits only if we have dummy eggs down.

I just don't understand what is going on and wondered if anyone has had a similar situation. I'm attaching a little blurry picture of Frosty & Whitey.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Maggie,

I've seen the same behaviour in Henny from time to time. She sits on a nest of nothing, just like there are eggs there to be kept warm! LOL. I posted a thread about it last year, here it is:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=10049

Nice picture of Whitey & Frosty btw though

[Maggie-NC]

Brad, thank you for that link. It was most informative. It may be that the trauma in Frosty's birth had some bearing on whatever is going on with her.

[Pidgey]

Sounds like a messed-up endocrinological system. Try searching the forum for "iodine". I vaguely remember a post where someone told about using a little iodine in the water for some reason like irrEGGularity.

Pidgey

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Pidgey

Sounds like a messed-up endocrinological system. Try searching the forum for "iodine". I vaguely remember a post where someone told about using a little iodine in the water for some reason like irrEGGularity.
Pidgey

Spinach and garlic are great natural sources of iodine.

[Feefo]

Hi Maggie,

If dogs can have a phanthom pregnancy then perhaps hens can have a phanthom egg-laying episode.

I have three barren hens and they have all at some time sat conscientioulsy on nothing, although I prefer to provide them with an egg when I see it happening. But the really strange thing is that two of the barren hens now share a mate and a nesting box with a non-barren hen...and in one case both hens sit on the eggs.

Cynthia

[Pidgey]

Well, I went searching and this is the post where one of our members brought up the iodine thing:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpo...51&postcount=4

Don't know if that'll help you at all.

Better to go read the entire thread--it seems that it's not about non-egglaying, more like a non-fertility issue:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=10826

Pidgey

[Maggie-NC]

Thanks Pidgey, Treesa and Cynthia

Since this has been going on so long I hope it is just normal - for her. I had planned to ask this question awhile back, then forgot, but when Whitey had her moment yesterday, I decided to bring it up. Today, Frosty is sitting on her nest but usually only at night. The grit we use does not have iodine in it so that is something we probably should change. It is a grit by Kaytee, "high calcium pigeon grit (grey)" and contains calcium carbonate, granite grit, oyster shell, salt, charcoal, anise oil, zinc oxide, manganese oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper ocide, calcium iodate and cobalt carbonate. They all get Kale once a week. I'm going to google iodine and see what I come up with.

Thank you all.

[TerriB]

Maggie,
If you are interested in a pigeon-product which supplies iodine, I have been using Lugols (http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/ca...ity/index.html) for several years. I add it to their water once a week and the birds accept it readily. Good luck!

[george simon]

HI MAGGIE, I would say that you have an old hen that can no longer lay.I have an older pair that I put together last year. They gave me one set of eggs and raised a healthy pair of young. I had hoped to get some more young from this pair.After about two months nothing. Then one day I saw her sitting the nest and I thought she was about to lay again.After about a week of this ,I could see that she was not going to lay.I then gave her dummie eggs to sit , her mate took to the eggs also. After about three days I desided to give them two real eggs to sit. The young are now two weeks old fat and sassy. It is a joy to see this pair at work,a happy pair of foster parents at work. GEORGE SIMON

[Maggie-NC]

Terri and George, thank you.

I'm going to check out the Lugols today. It may benefit all of the boys and girls.

George, I would have thought the "old hen" factor came into this too but she hasn't laid an egg in about 3 years which would have made her about four when she stopped. She's a grand little girl. She fostered one egg about the time she stopped laying. She sat on that egg the full time almost by herself since her mate would have nothing to do with it and it hatched into a precious little fellow we named Onslow. However, the next day after he hatched, one of the pigeons, and I suspect it was Frosty's mate, pecked its head really bad so we brought him in our house and raised him. He turned out to be a loving, cheerful, sweet little guy that we (particularly me) cherish. That is one egg I'm so grateful we didn't replace with a dummy.

Thanks,

[george simon]

MAGGIE, I miss understood I thought FROSTY was one of the unbanded birds that was resced but after rereading I see she is young from the rescued birds.I think the iodine may well be the answer in this case. Be careful in using iodine as it can kill if overdosed, get one of the pigeon products, GLOBAL'S LUGOLS is a good one and GLOBAL is in your neck of the woods ,SOUTH CAROLINA GEORGE