The baby pigeons are growing and doing just fine. The gray baby has most of its feathers and is eating on its own when I'm not looking (it's not stupid, if you admit you can eat on your own, no one will feed you). Here it is a week ago.
And here it is now.
The gray baby is such a sweetie. It jumps into my hand and rides to the counter where I feed it, then jumps down onto the paper towel. It opens its mouth for either the tube or some pigeon peas. All it takes is a soft touch to handle it. I love this pigeon.
Here is the white baby a week ago.
I'm not trying to pop its head off, I'm trying to steady its head so I can feed it. This baby is not a sweetie, it thinks it's a dragon. It wants to be fed, but I have to pry its mouth open every time, while it beats me with its wings. I think its parents should thank me for bringing it into the house. Here is the "white" baby now.
It's not really white anymore, it has spots and a dark head. Those wings are already longer than the gray baby's wings, and it can really use them for a karate chop.
This is my pigeon-feeding assistant.
Gollie doesn't bother any of the birds when they're in their cages, but she always looks like she's ready just in case one of them happens to fall off the counter. (Pigeons don't fall off things, that's why their parents can raise them in precarious places.)
There haven't been anymore incidents of babycide out in the pigeon coop. That's because there haven't been any babies. I've been replacing real eggs with these:
Hopefully the adults will all get paired up and the single ones will start hanging out in nightclubs and leaving the families alone. In the meantime, there are 4 pairs sitting on these plastic eggs. I call it pigeon birth control. Oh my, would Rick Santorum disapprove of that? T...S...
7 comments:
I love the look on the cat's face. Handling Fancy and being beaten about the face made handling her difficult, too.
You tell a good story.
Rick Santorum? What is that? Some kind of chicken? By the way - fascinating pictures of pigeon raising. Bet you held Bob's head like that when he was a babe and required nourishment.
I wish I could follow in your shadow and learn all there is you know about birds!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
There is nothing worse than a bitch slap from a pigeon!
Jane x
Linda--
Indeed! When I went traveling with Jan, I came home with a new love and appreciation for vultures. AND, her chickenocity opened doors for us everywhere.
Merlene
YP - Rick Santorum is one of the Republican candidates for the presidency. He's against birth control. He's also against abortion. I guess lifelong abstinence is the only thing he supports. He's won a lot of votes so far. Do you suppose those votes are coming from women, or the guys who are voting for him just haven't thought through the consequences?
Linda, I learned a lot when Bob and I worked with Wildlife Care, feeding baby birds and rehabbing injured ones. That's how we got started with pigeons, they were considered low priority and would often be euthanized. So Bob and I would bring them home if they had even a spark of life left in them. A spark is all it takes, pigeons are able to bounce back from almost anything. It's great when you're a rehabber, it makes you feel so capable and skilled. In reality, it's mostly that the pigeon will live if you just provide it a safe place with food and water. We stopped working with Wildlife Care when Bob starting showing chickens seriously, didn't want to bring home a sick wild bird that might infect the show flock. Also, that last baby bird season we had 45 baby scrub jays at one time to feed and care for. It was totally overwhelming.
Jane, it cracks me up when pigeons "fight." They bump chests and do karate chops until one of them gives up. Usually the fight is over territory or defending a nest. Pigeons don't hang around and fight when there's a serious threat, they just scram.
Merlene, that was so much fun. I was just remembering the fellow with the box of chicks a couple of weeks ago when I went to the post office to pick up mine.
It's amazing how quickly they grow!!!
And, my bad!!! I thought about you the day before your birthday and on your birthday and the day after . . . but I just didn't allow myself computer time to let you know. I hope it was happy and that your new year is delightful.
P.S. No grandson/cousin news yet!
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