Teenage pigeon issues

[sasha008]

Misty and Muffin, the 2 orphaned feral pigeons I raised from hatchlings, are now about 4 1/2 months old. I still have no clue as to gender. Muffin has grown from a little bratty kid to a big bratty kid lol. He's quite peckish and acts like a BPOC (big pigeon on campus). Unless of course I have food and then he's my best friend. Misty is more easy going and loves to sit on me, but has his (or her?) peckish moments too. I did catch Muffin one night at the bottom of the cage. He was standing with his tail up in the air and his crop all blown up and was making very interesting noises, sort of a deep turkey gobble with a duck quack thrown in. Does this sound like something a male would do? Both will puff up and make similar noises when they don't like something, like going back in the cage after being out, but Muffin does this on his own in the cage at times.

I have learned that pigeons can be picky eaters! In fact I think they might not be eating enough? I give them a wide assortment of seeds and grains but the only things they seem to want to eat are milo seeds and hemp. Maybe a little barley. They also like fresh greens like kale and red leaf lettuce. But they seem kind of thin to me feeling their keels. I thought it might be because they are young growing birds. They always have food available as well as grit. I just got some hi cal pigeon grit for them but I haven't seen them eat it yet. The poop tends to be very watery as well. Acually the poop and urates look ok I think but they pass a lot of clear liquid too that looks just like water. It has no odor. I try to encourage them to eat other things like corn, oats, peas, lentils, etc. but no go. They drink about a half cup of water between the two of them a day. I've done at least 4 fecals in the last couple months and haven't seen anything in them. I'm afraid they might not be getting a balanced diet if all they'll eat are the milo and hemp. They both seem to have good appetites for the few things they'll eat but turn their beaks up at almost everything else I give them

Also, they have been molting for almost a month now. Is that normal to go on for so long? They have no bare spots but every day theres lots of feathers on the floor. Could their poop be off from the stress of molting?

[Charis]

I could be wrong but...it sounds like Muffin is a male and Misty is a female.





Recently, two of my birds experienced symptoms similar to those of Misty

and Muffin. It turned out my two had Giarridia.[sp] If so, the treatment is the

same as for canker.

Their very first molt can be especially hard on a bird and cause a lot of

stress. If they are already harboring an illness, it can really bring it on.


Have you wormed them yet?

Rather than playing the guessing game, it would be a good idea to have a vet

run a fecal.

[TheSnipes]

I have a pair, clutch mates, that are having their first molt. One is taking it much harder than the other. I wonder if it varies a lot between individuals.

[sasha008]

Muffin is much more bothered by the molting than Misty. He grunts and scratches as his feathers come in. How long does it usually take for a first molt to finish?

I work at a vet and they have had several fecals run with nothing seen. The amount of water they pass seems to be related to how much they eat. Last night when I came home from work I brought home some hemp seeds. They hadn't had any in a few days and gobbled up a couple spoonfuls. Today there's less water and more solids in the cage. Even though they have 2 seed cups full of food it doesn't look like they eat much of it unless I put more milo or hemp in there. They will eat all the fresh greens I give them. They act hungry and pick various seeds up then drop them. They won't even touch corn. But a big 8" milo spray they'll pick clean in a day. I'll try to get an appointment with the avian vet and see what she says.

[sasha008]

OK I'm now positive Muffin is a male and almost positive Misty is a female. I had the birds out in my living room as usual tonight. When I put them back in their cage I put on some Bing Crosby Christmas music thinking they'd like to listen to it. I don't know if it was the music or what lol but Muffin started displaying and doing the little male pigeon dance and chasing Misty around the cage. He was grabbing her by the back and making a lot of noise. Poor Misty was trying to get away, pecking and wing slapping him and ran into the little house that's in the cage but Muffin wouldn't stop. When Misty saw me she ran to the cage door and tried to squeeze through the bars. I let them both sit on my arm for a bit to try to calm them but then Muffin started in again. I finally had to turn the lights out to get them to settle down.

So now what should I do? Will they sort out things on their own? Do I have to worry about Misty getting hurt? At one point Misty was eating and Muffin started chasing again. Do I have to watch that Misty gets enough food? Misty seems to want to get out of the cage really badly at times. Should I separate them?

Oh, and I have fake pigeon eggs ready.

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by sasha008

Oh, and I have fake pigeon eggs ready.

That's good! I think you're going to be needing them! Sounds like you do have a male and female there!

Terry

[sasha008]

Yes, but I don't think Misty is ready to settle down just yet

[mr squeaks]

Perhaps separate cages close together, so there's some "peace"...for the time being?

Sounds like Muffin is ready and Misty isn't...yet...

Hugs and Scritches

Shi & Squeaks

[sasha008]

I put them in separate cages today. They can see each other. Muffin was very unhappy with that but poor Misty went into her box and slept for 4 hours lol. I let them out tonight and there was some chasing but at least Misty can get away and Muffin gave up after a while. I may change his name to Mr. Hot Stuff

Any idea how long I will need to separate them? When do females start to lay eggs? Would a couple fake eggs now maybe make Muffin happy for a while?