Window fly space or weaning cage ???

918 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by wolfwood, Mar 8, 2009

wolfwood

Discussion Starter · Mar 8, 2009

I think we have it figured out but thought I'd get your opinions, too.

We need to figure out which is the priority ... building the fly space onto the loft windows so the birds can be "outside" or building a weaning pen.

Luna is about ready to be weaned. She's eating & drinking on her own, working on the "wing thing" (that wing beating is gonna lift her off the ground soon!), and she's begun the move to independently get out of her nest box. I'm thinking that Luna doesn't really need a "weaning pen" as (1) the only other "loose" birds in the loft are mom & dad (Magellan & Skye are closed in a dog kennel with their babies); (2) I think mom & dad can handle telling Luna when she doesn't get fed anymore; (3) Luna is getting supervised floor-time now and seems to have plenty of "hiding" places and neither mom or dad seem to pester her.

If I am correct in this thinking then (1) we don't need a weaning pen at all (by the time Magellan's kids are to be weaned, we will have a big dog kennel available for that purpose) and (2) the priority is to get the window fly-space built (actually, it's no longer a "priority" ... it becomes the "only")

Does this make sense or am I missing something? Is Luna likely to be okay on the floor with 2 adults, who happen to be her parents? Do the parents continue to recognize their own young as their's and, therefore, NOT bother them like others might?

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Lovebirds

· #2 · Mar 8, 2009

Luna should be ok as long as there's plenty of room. With her parents being the only adult birds, they won't bother her. Now, at some point, when Luna still wants to be with Dad and Mom and THEY think she should be on her own, they may kick her out of the nest box and if she gives them a hard time about leaving it, they COULD and WILL give her a good whipping and that could potentially be dangerous for Luna.
I went through the same thing with my baby, Poppy. Scooter (dad), Dory (mom) and Poppy were all in one little 4' X 4' building (used to be a chicken coop) and Poppy was ok with them for about 4 months, but it did get to the point that Scooter didn't want him there anymore and I finally had to take him out because Scooter was relentless in chasing him.
Your situation will probably be different though, because your loft houses more than one pair of birds. The old chicken coop DOES belong to Scooter and he ain't puttin' up with NOBODY else moving in. His baby or not......and to answer your other question, at some point the parents DO NOT recognize thier child as being "thier child"........it becomes just another pigeon and one that they have to compete with.........
So........it sounds like the weaning pen may not even be needed. Not now anyway.
If you've got plenty of perches, then in time, Luna will learn that a perch is a safe place.
In theory, that's how it should work anyway........

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Fbirdie82

· #3 · Mar 8, 2009 (Edited)

..........

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wolfwood

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 8, 2009 (Edited)

Thanks! The fly space is in full production as we speak and should be on the loft within a few hours! (yes, of course I'll post some pics

)

btw, mom & dad seem to have pretty much given the nest box over to Luna. Mom goes in occasionally to get food when dad won't otherwise let her eat (Calypso just wants babies!!!) but, most of the time, Luna has the box to herself.

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