New behavior questions...

[Izzy]

Mel and Misty are 3 weeks old today. Misty is weighing in at 5 ounces and Mel is 4.5 ounces, I hope this is a pretty normal weight for squabs their age. They seem lively and energetic and doing new things that I'm not used too, so I'm wanting feedback from those of you that have been around pigeons at this age so I get some idea if I'm reading things correctly.

They are both eating soaked seeds totally by pecking now. I'm not having to handfeed them at all and they are filling up their crops nicely. Misty was having a little difficulty letting go of the balloon syringe, but I think she's doing really well now.

Anyhow, I do feed them together, at the same time. In the past, with my hand feeding them, I would feed them one at a time. When I get them both out, they are chirping loudly, pretty normal when I hand fed them also. But now, they are both really flapping their wings and are now making more like a "squawking" sound while they peck and eat. I'm not used to all this sound, because when I used the syringe, they were very quiet.

So, my questions are:

1) Is it normal that they eat so loudly?
2) Sometimes Mel and Misty seem to get mad at each other, mostly it's Misty flapping her wings at Mel and pushing him off the seed. Mel usually seems puzzled or sad and walks away to the corner of their house and hides under the towel I have hanging there. I bring him back out and put him on the seed, he starts eating again and it happens again. Anyone know why this is happening?
3) After eating for a few minutes, Misty will "thump" her feet loudly and RUN across the floor, flapping her wings and then run back to the seed. What the heck is this? I mean she literally sounds like a horse galloping.
4) When I pick up Mel and talk to him, I usually pet him on his crop, he gets quiet and seems to like this. The past two days that I've done this, Misty runs over to me and starts flapping and seems like she wants me to put Mel down. Is she mad because I'm giving him too much special attention? I give her the same amount also and Mel never does this.
5) Do I have just WAY too much time on my hands and am I watching them so closely that I'm thinking something is wrong when really there isn't a problem at all?

Thanks all,
Izzy

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hey Izzy,

Thanks for the update, I was waiting for one. LOL. Their weights aren't too bad, but they are only a third the weight right now of an adult pigeon. Remember, hand reared birds will grow slower than ones fed by their real parents, even Misty. Their voices are also in the process of changing right now. During this time they will make a variety of different chirps, squawks, grunts and peeps, this is normal. It's also pretty normal that they are eating "loudly" as you say. They are just excited to be fed and it's a happy time for them. The wing flapping at feeding time is also normal pigeon chick begging behaviour. They would do this in the wild or in captivity, it's hot wired into their brains to get the attention of their 'parent" to feed them more quickly. The begging behaviour might last for awhile still too because they were hand raised and in the wild, pigeon parents practise tough love to discourage this behaviour at weaning time. Babies never seem to forget though that it's easier to beg for food than look for their own. Siblings will sometimes have squabbles over food or attention. This is also normal but it should ease up in time. My chicks used to fight as well, and at one point had to be separated for a bit. Keep watch for any fights that may develop or escalate into something more serious. I can't remember your other questions.....LOL. Well I hope this helps. Feel free to post some new pictures of the chickies when you have a moment



Brad

[ZigZagMarquis]

Izzy... sounds about like teenagers to me...

[cyro51]

I love your descriptions of their behaviour, Izzy!

Thank you for giving us all so much pleasure.

Cynthia

[Izzy]

Hi all and thank you for your replies. Thanks Brad for letting me know I have a couple of kids here and it's not something I'm used to at all, lol! I've never had children of my own, well, human ones, just puppies and it's a totally different animal, no pun intended, heh.

I'm know I just ultra sensitive to them, noticing every tiny detail of things. I've been doing pretty good, cause I haven't been posting every 8 hours, when I usually notice something new, so maybe I'm becoming a little more relaxed, lol! I had just starting to accumulate these little "actions" of theirs and really had to know what the heck was going on.

I never felt like they were in trouble or doing badly, but I'm so wanting to be able to 'converse' with them, you know? I know dog talk and communicate wonderfully with Sheba and Lily, but I'm having to learn a brand new language with Mel and Misty and sometimes I just don't 'get them', which frustrates me, because I want to answer to their needs and wants.

The 'fighting' stuff isn't serious, mostly they seem like they are being bossy and bratty, especially Misty who lives to throw her weight around, lol! But I will watch this closely.

Begging behavior is definitely something I've been feeling from Misty. I'm trying to be like a parent pigeon and practice tough love also, it wasn't easy to not give in and just pull out the balloon syringe for Misty, she sure loves that thing! I know she's too old now to be eating straight formula and it's time she pecked like a normal pigeon. I'm still giving in a bit, giving them soaked seeds with a coating of formula, I'm kinda scared to go to just 'plain old seeds' yet, lol! Both of their crops are behaving nicely and I'm a little afraid that I will cause something to stop up with hard seeds. Even when I give them warmed up freezer peas, the kind you get in a bag at the grocery store, I like to take the 'skin' of the pea off, so they get the soft, squishy part inside.

Ok, I'm now realizing I might be spoiling them a bit, I know my two dogs are rotten to the core and usually get their way, lol. I'm sure Mel and Misty don't have all the emotions that I'm putting on them to have, but it's just my interpretation of how they act at times.

Thanks again for the reassurance though, I still need it. I'll get new picts soon.

Izzy

[Izzy]

Ok, figured one thing out today.

It's much easier to take a picture of them AFTER they eat, peck, throw the seeds around, flap their wings, peck at my feet and hands, run up and down the room like crazy pigeons, take a sip of water, peck between each others toes, peck a seed too hard and fling it across the room, flap wings at my dogs, run up and down the room with wings spread, make a few clucking sounds, stare at me and cock their heads when I whistle, get some seeds stuck to their feet and belly, preen themselves on the wings and sides, flap their wings too close to the water and get each other wet, run behind me, quickly poop and squawk when I asked who did that, look at me again when I try to coo and fluff their feathers.

Now...don't they just look sooooo innocent?

[TAWhatley]

That's definitely a "Who me, Mom????" photo .. very, very cute!

Terry

[maryco]

Hello Izzy,

Wow, those babies (well, squeakers ) are looking really GOOD!

You should be real proud of yourself, great job!

[Izzy]

Hi there Mary and thank you! I'm absolutely thrilled they are doing well! Mel had one of those growth spurt thingies today!!! Just like the one Misty had a week and a half ago.

I just went and fed them a bit ago and I thought he was Misty! I had to double check because she has more feathers, but his wings are definitely bigger and I knew something looked different to me, it's tough to describe, but it's like he "matured" a bit or something. I stood there staring at him for a few minutes and was like, WOW, what happened to you in the past 7 hours??

He managed to somehow push his sponge thingy up higher on his legs, so I noticed he was sitting with his left leg splayed out again. I decided to make him a new one, cause he's been wearing that one for over 4 days now and I think the leg holes are a little stretched out. I sure hope another week will fix his legs for good.

I'll get new picts again tomorrow, so you can see his transformation. I think the seeds are really helping Mel get the jump start that he missed a week and a half ago when Misty had hers. After all that poor little guy has been though, he's really a little miracle chickie.

[Barstamp]

No, you don't have too much time on your hands. My husband and I loved watching our Satinette Frill female sitting on our Sheltie's back, making a nest after she laid eggs, and just being herself. She gave us so much pleasure. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago she was injured by the wind blowing her into a drain. We thought she was better, but a cat got her as soon as she left our house and yard. Her name was Paula. We missed her so that I ordered a new pigeon, a female, Old German Owl, about 3-5 months. Hope I did the right thing and ordered from the right people. I envy all the joy you have watching your birds. I never before realized how wonderful pigeons are until Paula adopted us.

[Izzy]

Hi Barstamp and I'm so very sorry about Paula. It's amazing to me how quickly I got attached to Mel & Misty, having pigeons in my life wasn't something I ever thought about before and probably wouldn't of even considered had I not got these two hatchlings brought to me.

Like you, I never realized what a joy they are to watch! It's still amazing to me that I've had Mel & Misty 3 weeks now and the changes I have witnessed. The day the arrived, they were two very tiny helpless creatures, I thought for sure they wouldn't survive the first 24 hours. I still decided to try though, even though I had no expectations whatsoever. To now see them, again, JUST 3 weeks later, flapping around, being so very vocal and running to me when I come into their room just warms me up all over.

I'm glad you ordered a pigeon, I'm sure it will have a wonderful home with you, because you appreciate the beauty of just observing them, that to me, is so precious. I wish others would take the time to notice them, but I have to admit, I never did until these two came into my life.

Something I've really enjoyed is sharing Mel & Misty with the neighborhood children. They saw both of them when they arrived here, of course, they wanted to pick them up and hold them, but I let them know they were just too young and weak and to wait. Actually, I was afraid they would get attached and Mel & Misty wouldn't make it.

You should see the kids run over here after school now, lol! They giggle and laugh when Mel & Misty poke at their fingers and flap their wings. They stare in awe when they bathe and burst out laughing when they peck at a pea and it shoots across the room, lol. One of the little girls, Nina, wants me to bring Mel & Misty to her "show and tell" and I can't wait, lol!

Anyhow, thank you for sharing with us and let us know how your new addition does.

Izzy