# 'Sunflower' takes to the Sky..!



## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Oh Boy, this amazed me today...


Every day, little Chicken youngster and a few PPMV survivor Pigeons, get to have their half hour or so with the Feral Flock out in the courtyard.


'Sunflower' ( got her in February? March? Broken Bones along her lower underside 'tummy' area, thin as crumpled paper, very sick, was likely PPMV incubating, while recovering from whatever the sick was, once recovering well, she got into full blown PPMV woes and twistings, ) long haul...finally put on weight, and a month or so ago I started letting her have her late afternoon forays with the ferals.

Prior to that I would let her have forays among the floor-birds and so on, but she was too shy and nervous to enjoy it and I had to keep an Eye on her too, to make sure she was not getting into troubles.

Lately, she has been doing very nice 'Helicopterings' and even short "low" flights of a few feet with good landings.


For weeks, once we started the feral-forays, she was so cringing and ground hugging and 'Star Gazing', I figured, being hit-on by the Playboys of the feral milieu, that she would m-a-y-b-e learn to hold her Head "UP" instead of all that Star Gazing stuff and twisting. I would bail her out of course if anyone was really bothering her, and I kept saying constantly, "Keep your HEAD "up" so you can trot and see where you are going!" - and she was all ground hugging, star-gazing, and scooting around 'backwards' and so on, but, little by little, she was getting "better"...


Well, so, indeed she did improve, would start to Star Gaze then correct it and get her Head "up" and trot a little ways, then forget how or get nervous or whatever, then correct again...and a couple times she tried little flights, and crashed badly once three or four feet up...she learned from this and did not repeat the error...

Last couple weeks it has been harder and harder to tell which one she is out there, she has been standing, pecking, trotting and so on, so well...with very little cringing or Star Gazing stuff.


Well, untill today, where, after a few nice, very nice in fact, little Helicopterings, I was just standing there, and three Pigeons took off in a normal way and flew up to the roof, all at the same time.

No big deal, happens every few seconds probably, Pigeons in ones or twos or threes flying up to the roof, or down from it.


But, wait-a-minute, one of them was her!!!!!

What the HECK???


Sure enough, she flew perfectly, like a shot, up onto the 14 foot up there Roof, and was just standing there with the other two pals...looking out on the scene below.

I double chesk all the not-her ones, ones still grazing, getting them to fly off till no one was left...hoping she WAS still there with the forager-grazers, but nope...she was gone...


Ohhhhhhhhh, boy...just what I needed..!


Her two pals take off, into the horizon, then the one which I think is her takes off, but only gets about 60 feet, then lands, like a 'Butterfly' onto the last part of the contiguous next building's Roof, over to the East.

Okay, gotta be her..!



I grab-a-Ladder, lean it onto my Step Van, climb onto it's roof, heave myself another five feet or so onto the Building's roof, and walk over to where she is, it is her, and now she is 'nervous' and back to her 'Star Gazing' and ground hugging, but RIGHT on the 'edge' of the roof, her Tail over the edge, and shge's "twirling" so this makes me 'nervous'...

But, I get her scooped up, and she is all 'Wiggle Worm' about it, and there is a stairway on the next building back and to the North whose roof I can get to, so I cross over onto their roof and get down the stairs, and come back and put her into her Cage, and then she wants to preen my fingers and act like nothing whatever had happenned.


So, I guess I have a few more grey-hairs now...but I am VERY proud of her, of course..! Wow, very proud indeed.


So, unless I put some weights on her or something, I guess this is the kaibosch for those late afternoon 'Forays with the Ferals' for the time being.


Anyway, here's a picture of her from a couple weeks ago, standing for the occasion in my Welding Station Exhaust Fan cubicle.


She is a total sweetie and very gentle and vocal with all sorts of Pigeon Language things...and solid as a Rock now...all muscle, strong, slender...and has very Yellow Eyes when outdoors, but they change when indoors into ,ore of an Orange color.


So, just that, a little story on her accomplishment, and how I am closer now to being able to count how many 'Brown' hairs are left on this punkin head of mine...than I was earlier today...


Phil
l v


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

Do you think she will ever be releasable?


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Wow, Phil, what a grey-hair inducing moment!!! Congratulations on her excellent progress, but so glad you were able to recover her after the adventure!


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

philodice said:


> Do you think she will ever be releasable?




I don't know...

I sorta think that ones who had the PPMV in a heavy way...well, I don't know...if released, if they ever relapsed, ran short of B Vitamins or something, they'd be in trouble...

If she can go six months or a year without me being able to tell she ever had PPMV, "m-a-y-b-e"...but even then, I'd worry...


I somewhat think that part of what is helping her, and some others, is I have been having them on a fairly stout Vitamin-Mineral-Calcium solution in their Water.


I do not know if this IS helping, or if some of these are just getting better in spite of it, but, I am trying to experiment anyway, with things that might help the PPV-Survivor 'Twisters' and 'Wanglers' and 'Star Gazers' and so on, so they can at leastv live fairly normal Lives as House-Birds anyway, without so much impairment.


I have had some who were terrible 'twisters' for a long time, and now they show nothing to hint they ever had it, but some of these I have not let outside, and they are 'shy' ( and slightly relapse ) if set among the others here in free rove, so I do not know how well they would do in flying, but, they sure look good otherwise.



Phil
l v


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

TerriB said:


> Wow, Phil, what a grey-hair inducing moment!!! Congratulations on her excellent progress, but so glad you were able to recover her after the adventure!




Thanks TerryB..!


I sure had my Heart-in-my-Throat, thats for sure...


Talk about an old time, classic, 'Vaudville' Double Take..!


I just had not seen THAT perfect take off and splendid flight coming at all..!



Phil
l v


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Nothing like a little "surprise" to get the ole adrenalin goin', Phil!

For awhile, I thought Sunflower would be off with the flock and on her own!

From what I've read on the site, mamy recover quite well. However, Sunflower sounds like she still has some issues. She sure is a cutie!

VERY HAPPY to hear all's well that ended well! 

Hey, a few more gray hairs ain't nothin' compared to a heart stopping! Glad yours didn't!

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi


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