My... FULL... Loft

[ZigZagMarquis]

Okay... I'm back at work now. My 6 new buddies are at home in the loft. Okay, let me ask you'all this.

1) When I let them out of the box... some of them, I picked up and let fly, the last couple, I gently tiped the box on its side and let them walk out. I think I messed up picking the first few out. What do you'all think?

2) When they first got out of the box, they pretty much tried to "climb the walls". Up past the perches and shelves I had up. They've settled a bit and are on perches now... was that normal? Or is it a sign I need more perches? The highest ones are at about the 6' level, but the ceiling is at almost 8'.

3) This has me concerned the most... after they calmed a bit, they pretty much sat up on their perches preening... and pooping... and flew a bit between the perches and top of the stack of next boxes I have... BUT they didn't come down and investigate their food or water! I'm really concerned about them all getting at least a good drink after having been in shipping for 2 days. I put out their food and water and grit and scattered a bit of seed on the ground next to the feeder and waterer. They were all "looking" down there, but wouldn't come off their perches. Well, I had to come back to work, so I figured I'd leave them and maybe after I was gone, they'll come down. I was sitting quietly outside watching them, but then "knew" I was still there. I really wanted to see them at least get a drink, but they didn't while I was watching. Its about 1100 now. I should be able to get out of work between 1600 and 1700. I hope when I get home, it looks like they've eaten. I figure if they did that, then they also drank.

[John_D]

Great that they all got there in good form

I would think they are kind of feeling their way. That they found perches, and did some preening is a good sign of starting to settle. Aren't they so amazing - cooped up in a box, then 'OK, now lets get on with being pigeons'.

They won't have trouble finding the food and water when they are ready, I'm sure. Matter of fact, when new pigeons go into the aviary, for many of them one of the first things they do is take a bath!

John

[ernie]

That sounds like normal "oohh, gotta get used to the place first" behavior.
Whenever I add a new pigeon to the loft, it takes them a few days, before they will come down. They feel safer, the higher up they are, so the first few days, that is pretty much where they will hang out. Just watch for them sitting around with their feathers fluffed, looking sleepy. If you see one doing that a lot, grab it and gently dip its peak in the water (not past the nostrils) you will see it sucking up the water.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Thanks guys.

That makes me feel better. I was thinking of putting their bath pan out tomorrow or Friday and see if they come down and take a bath.

I couldn't resist the urge to stop by home on the way back from lunch... one of the cool things about living in a small town... and I snuck in real quiet like and looked out on the back porch / loft and they were up on their perches napping and it looked like some of the food on the ground had at least been touched.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Well... I got home a bit ago and snuck into the house. The were down on the floor of the loft / porch and found the food and water, I'm sure.

Once they realized I was home... back up on the perches, especially when I went in to sweep and change their water.

Question... one of them... I think its just one, has a sneeze... I'll keep an eye on that, but what should I look out for??

Oh! And I even heard them cooo a bit...

[ZigZagMarquis]

I replaced the Pedialyte I had out for them with reqular water because I noticed their first poops were white w/ a little black, but the last few have been basically green and runny. hmmmm.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Well, 5 of the 6 came down off of their peches and were eating and drinking just a few minutes ago.

Was going great until one of them tried to get ontop of the waterer and knocked the cone top I had balanced ontop of it off. That spooked them back up.

I just got done ordering a different kind of waterer from Jedds that the whole thing has a molded cone shaped top so they can't get on top of it and poop in the water. Wish I would have thought that through before I bought the one I got. I hope they come down again before dark. I'm going to take their food up before dark whether they've finished it or not.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Well, its dark now.
I went out at dusk and offered them some food from my hand. I could get my hand... and hands length... away from them, outstretched, with food, but no joy, they just turned away or flew over to a perch farther away. A couple of them dropped some real watery poops while I was out this time. I hope its just because they haven't eaten much the last couple of days and I'm probably spooking them. I took what was left of there food up for the night. I'll feed them in the a.m., but am debating whether or not to leave their food out or not when I go to work. I torn between leaving food for them all the time so I know (think) they'll come down and eat when I'm not there and training them to come eat when its feeding time and if they don't, no food until next feeding time. Thougths?... more important the next couple of days for them to have food OR get on the feeding program?

[TerriB]

Congratulations on populating your new loft!!! I know you are eager to interact with your new flock. How do you think they feel right now? Everything is new to them - the water and food smell and taste different, the air smells different, even the light from outside looks different from what they knew. I would give them at least three days to settle in and get used to their new home, and what you look, sound, and smell like. Pigeons are creatures of habit so they will be more comfortable once they know the routine, what happens when.

I would probably give them the food and let them eat in peace for the first few days. Let them recover from the stress of the move. The down side is that you don't know for sure if all the birds are eating.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Been up for a little while.
I gave them their morning food, 3 oz. They've been up and down off of their perches a few times to eat. It looks like out of the 6, there are 3 that will come down first and then the others will follow. I also gave them their vitamins in the water today. I'll leave the food / feeder out like TerriB suggested. I may come by at lunch and take it up. Anyway, gotta run to work. They're flying from one end of the loft to the other right now.

[Reti]

That's great news Zig. Seems like they are getting adjusted just fine in their new environment
Glad to hear they are doing so good.
Keep up the good work.

Reti

[ZigZagMarquis]

Thanks all!

One of them still seems to have a "sneeze", but he was eating and drinking and picking at the pic-pot and grit this morning, so I'm not overly worried about it other then noting it as a "watch item".

I figure I'll go by my place at lunch and take up their feeder / food. I'll bet its about empty by now, but if not, then they'll get their 2nd feed tonight when I get home. I figure on feeding twice a day, morning and evening and see how that goes. I figure 6 birds = 6 oz of food a day, thus, about 3oz in the morning and 3oz in the evenings. Fresh water too each time.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Checked in on my buddies while out on a fastfood lunch run.
Some were eating and scracting and exploring the loft. Some were sunning themselves. It was "up on the perches" when they realized I was there. They've eaten most all of the food out of their feeder that I put out this morning. I was going to take it up, but didn't since they were still eating when I got there. Okay, I'm a softie... gotta get tough. Loft needs a good scrapin' and sweepin' tonight!

[birdy]

It's quite common for them to sneeze just after taking a drink. Because they insert the beak and nose wattle into the water to get a good suction some water enters the nasal cavities. They sneeze to discharge any water in the 'air pipes'. However, if you notice one of the birds sneezing frequently then you may have a respitory problem. If this happens, I like to watch them for a few days and hope that their immune system kicks in to lick it. Use antibiotics very sparingly and as a last resort - just my opinion. Good luck to you and your new birds. Your posts remind me of the same thrill I experienced when I first got homing pigeons some 40 years ago. The thrills will keep coming.

birdy

[TerriB]

Are they different colors/patterns so you can easily tell them apart? Once they are settled in, the more time you can spend around them the tamer they will become.

Sunning is good - it means they are relaxing! They would probably love a bath when you get a chance. During shipping they tend to get poop on their feet and want to clean that off. If no bath is offered, they will try to use their water bowl! A large kitty litter pan works or I use a large snow saucer (if you can find one in SoCal!). Fill with about 4" of lukewarm water. It's better to not leave it out all day since one of them may poop in it and they might try to drink out of the bath and could get sick. I prefer to offer the bath in the morning, so they are dry by evening. However, several times birds have taken extensive showers in the late afternoon on a cool day and they seem fine. (Once Walter got saturated and was shivering, so I brought him inside and used a blow dryer on low to remove most of the water.)

Sounds like you are doing a great job with your new flock!