# Advice on finding a companion pigeon and feather loss



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Some of you might remember my thread early this summer when I came upon a white pigeon alongside the road near my home in rural NH and after a few weeks of feeding him, caught him & brought him home. I named him Milou and recently had DNA sexing done - he's a he.

Through the summer he's been living in a doubled-up (so 3' high) rabbit cage on our back porch. Though he obviously was fed by people before being released (he doesn't know how to find food on his own), it's equally obvious he wasn't handled and my very awkward handling (when necessary) hasn't helped things. And I'll admit, I don't spend the time near him I should. So I'm never going to be his companion - though he never attacks me as I hear of other pigeons doing, when I look at him he moves to the back of his cage. He needs a pigeon friend. 

Also, the feather loss on the back of his neck and breast - which I mentioned briefly in my first thread, when it was just the back of his neck - got a lot worse, and though he was seen by a vet who pronounced him healthy, and treated for pests, and feathers in the center of the bald spots are growing back, the bald area seems to be expanding to the sides of his neck. I wonder if stress could be causing him to over-groom. 

My plan all along has been to build an aviary alongside our barn, and get him a companion. I'd hoped to have it done a month ago, but had to convince the rest of the family that that really was the best place for it and it would look good. Plus other projects always seemed to come first. But it seems to be finally getting underway.

I have discovered that the Animal Rescue League of Boston and the MSPCA have pigeons and "doves" (most of which are white pigeons like Milou). However, neither of those organization sexes their birds, and I understand males often fight.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or advice about finding a compatible companion? (I'll also write the Animal Rescue League and ask what they can do.) What are the odds of two males getting along?

And has anyone seen emotional stress cause feather loss? Or should I be looking harder for a physical cause?


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

The feather loss sounds as though it is in places where he can't reach to groom, except for the chest area, so doesn't sound as though he is doing it.
Two males will usually fight, especially in a small area like where he is being kept now. Really do need to get a female. Do you live close enough to those places to be able to try with one of their pigeons and explain to them that you need a female, so you could return the bird and try with another one if it doesn't work out? Where are you located?


----------



## bootface (Jun 29, 2017)

The feather loss could just be molting. Stress can make it worse. I thought someone had scalped my bird Curtsy a few weeks ago, but no, he was just molting.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

He had feather loss going in, and it has gotten more so. I agree he could very likely be molting now which can make it look worse, but if he had bald patches at the beginning of summer and still has them, then there must be something else going on.


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Thanks for the replies! They mostly echo what I've been thinking, but good to have confirmation from people with more knowledge than myself.



Jay3 said:


> The feather loss sounds as though it is in places where he can't reach to groom, except for the chest area. . .
> Two males will usually fight, especially in a small area like where he is being kept now. . .


That's what I thought about the back of the neck, but wasn't sure if there was some way he could be doing it. 

I do think he could be molting now - just in the last couple weeks there's been a noticeable increase in the number of loose feathers, and the "featherline" above his cere (Wikipedia says it's really an operculum?) is looking a bit raggedy. But that seems different than the distinct bald spots I've seen through the summer.

He's just so healthy-looking and alert otherwise, and with the feathers growing back in the areas that first went bald, I find it hard to believe something really serious (=life-threatening) is wrong. I'm still trying to convince myself that there's no spread of the bald area to the sides of the neck - but much as I tend to doubt myself, I usually find my first impression was right (though I continue to hope it's wrong). 

I'll try retreating for pests. I'm just horrible at seeing them - this goes for fleas on cats, etc., too, not just mites & lice on birds. I'd looked him over, I'd looked at feathers and seen no holes, then the vet showed me bugs and holes. (I'll always remember the time a friend and her husband visited - I knew my cats had fleas at the time but I couldn't see them, loose or on flea combs or in a water trap - and he just reached out and _caught_ one! Some people just "see" so much better than others.)

And I can see about getting an appointment with an actual avian specialist when I go down to Boston. That won't be for a few weeks as October is pretty scheduled, so I will keep watching him in the meantime.

Won't Milou love that drive! I noticed when I took him to the vet here (about 20 miles) that I heard some scrambling in the carrier (a larger cat carrier). Are there any tips for transporting pigeons comfortably?

I just heard back from the woman at the Animal Rescue League and it sounds like she understands my situation. They do have some females (eggs) but don't know which ones - they're kept in a group. Now I worry that the females are paired up (with males, not each other) and if I take one I'll break up that pair! There I am, always seeing problems. 

I did hope to get beyond the feather loss before he got close to any of the ARL birds (since we may have to try and return several, and we don't know the cause) and so it's very frustrating seeing it seem to get worse when I thought it was getting better.

I have some pictures but they're from two weeks ago and mostly show a bald spot nicely growing in. I'll try to get new ones tomorrow - it takes 2 of us to get these pictures because while he faces me, my husband sneaks his phone around behind Milou for the shots - and post both.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If they are all in one cage, then by watching for a while you can usually pick out the females. The males are more boistrous and would be probably persuing the females. Yes it would be sad to break up a pair, but that will more than likely happen anyway when they are adopted by others. Just place a folded dish towel in the carrier before putting the bird in. That makes for a soft cozy transport. You can't just put him in the carrier, as he would slide all over the place.


----------



## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Aww he's a lucky little chap to have you taking care of him and I really hope you manage to get him his female eventually. If they're sitting on eggs you'd usually find the males egg sit during the day and the females at night, so the Rescue should know who's female by that - although it's likely not set in stone but that's how my three pair behave when nesting. As you say though it's a shame to break up a pair but if they don't have any single pigeons how else can you get one? They could put a temporary ring on the egg sitting females and wait until they abandon the eggs before removing one. 
I agree with Jay in watching them, some females do dance and coo but not like a male does - males are much more determined and louder, lol. 
Good luck with your match making.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I doubt that they are taking turns on the eggs like in an aviary. These places usually just keep them in large cages, so there more than likely isn't a nest. They probably just lay them on the floor, in a situation like that, and they get lost in the shuffle. Places like this aren't usually trying to make it easier for breeding pairs. They usually just want to adopt the birds out. Unless they actually do have an area set up for pigeons with boxes and things like that. But I doubt it.


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

When we transported Phoebe to the vet we had to make sure not to feed her beforehand as she would vomit. Also we always made sure she could see out...that seemed to help her. Glad you are adopting the bird...hope he gets a great mate soon.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

cwebster is right in that you don't feed them ahead of time or they are more likely to vomit.


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

I thought I'd update:
. . . and then I typed a long reply, lost my internet connection (the joys of living in the boonies), and lost my reply in trying to reload - grrr . . .

I decided just to wait & see on Milou's feather loss for now. As I look carefully it seems there are feathers coming in everywhere they're missing (including the areas that seemed newly bald) and I am seeing signs that look like a more general molt. And he continues to behave like a perfectly healthy bird (as far as I can see, anyway).

And on Tuesday I went to the Animal Rescue League in Dedham, Mass. and got him a companion bird! I flew into Logan on Monday and stayed with my sister in central NH that night, so I was 1 1/2 hours closer to Dedham than when I'm at home and took advantage of that. They had 6 pigeons, 5 available for adoption, in a horse stall (with the grated parts of the walls & door covered with bird netting). 4 of them were paired (= 2 pairs). If I lived closer I would have taken the adoptable unpaired bird on the 50%(?) chance it was a female, and exchanged it if that didn't work - but an exchange would mean 7 hours of driving (round trip) so I took one of the paired birds - almost certainly the female - to improve my odds of a keeper. I feel like such a homewrecker!!!!

"Miraboo" is now in a large dog crate side-by-side with Milou's cage. I think Milou is thrilled to have a companion. He watches her much of the time, and when I let him out for the day (the cages are on our screen porch) he perches on top of her cage for most of the time, instead of hanging out on his former perches (beam above the door, top of upright freezer, etc) around the porch. Miraboo is less interested - but then, she's been yanked away from her sweetie instead of all alone for 3+ months. And she's clearly not yet comfortable here - it's not "home" - and not eating well. But it's only been 2 1/2 days and I'm hoping time will improve things.

(Also, I commented on Milou just moving away when I reach in the cage, but the week after I wrote that, and after living here for over 2 months, he decided he wasn't scared of me and started whacking me with his wing or biting my finger - totally painlessly - when I reached near him, such as to move a bowl he was standing next to. I have no idea what that means, just thought I'd mention it as I'd said in my first post that he didn't do that. Also, so far he hasn't done it since Miraboo has been next to him, though that might just be because I haven't reached next to him in those 2 days.)

Pictures - Milou and Miraboo in their respective cages, and Milou's new perch for his "out time" on top of Miraboo's cage (he's just moved to watch me because I've stepped closer; usually he's on the cloth right above her):


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

. . . and Milou just went back in his cage and I gave him some more seeds, upon which Miraboo crossed her cage from the perch she's on in the 2nd photo to the perch next to Milou's cage and started eating her breakfast leftovers (I've been putting the food bowls on the adjacent perches). So obviously she's not really ignoring him!


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I think that was mean to break up the pair, as they generally mate for life. I would think she would be very upset for a while. There are other ways to get pigeons from other places. Just may take a bit of time and looking. But would have been kinder than taking from one pigeon to put her with your bird.


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Best not to break up a mated pair. But now that its been done would still quarantine the new bird away from your other bird just to be safe. Then put them next to each other to see if they like one another. Glad to hear your bird has improved!


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

Jay3 said:


> I think that was mean to break up the pair, as they generally mate for life. . . would have been kinder than taking from one pigeon to put her with your bird.


And here I thought I had your blessing! 



Jay3 said:


> . . . Yes it would be sad to break up a pair, but that will more than likely happen anyway when they are adopted by others. . . . [Oct. 3]


Of course I do feel mean. But I was also feeling really mean watching Milou lonely & bored on our porch, and _I_ didn't know of another place to find a bird.


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Please keep us posted on how they are doing.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

When I said that, you made it sound as though there were many birds in the cage, but that they knew there were some females because there were eggs in the cage. And that they didn't know who was with who. So that being the situation, and people are going to adopt the birds, then of course, sadly, pairs will be separated. 
But when there are just 5 birds, 2 known pairs, and a single, I would not have separated them. Maybe someone would have taken the pair together. There are other places to get birds. Now you have caused the mate of this bird to be alone as Milou was, only he has also had his mate taken away. Not the same thing at all.

Don't know where you are located, but there are pigeons shows all over the place, and other shelters with birds. People on here come on looking for a home for their birds. Just takes time and a little looking.


This is the post you were referring to:


_"I just heard back from the woman at the Animal Rescue League and it sounds like she understands my situation. They do have some females (eggs) but don't know which ones - they're kept in a group. Now I worry that the females are paired up (with males, not each other) and if I take one I'll break up that pair! There I am, always seeing problems."_


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

I'm 160 miles north of Boston. If there are any shelters with pigeons in the whole state of NH, they're not advertising on Petfinder etc. In the Boston area, over this summer, the Animal Rescue League has had about 1/2 dozen in Dedham & a couple in Boston; MSPCA about 2. The description I gave you of the ARL response is the information I had until I went there last Tuesday and saw them for myself (and got Miraboo).

I checked NH Craigslist. There is one listing for pigeons in the southern part of the state or Mass. (He's listed on both Craigslists, giving a different location in each.) I thought there was a promising 2nd but just reread & saw they're doves (really doves, not just relabeled pigeons). The first looks like the kind of place Milou probably came from - no questions asked - though it's possible I'm being too judgey based on the vibe I get.

Meanwhile, I wrote the woman at the ARL asking whether, if I sent her a stamped addressed envelope with check & form, she could pluck a few feathers from the unattached bird and send it to the lab for sexing. If it's female, I have a solution; if not, at least they know for future adoptions. I expect to hear back from her tomorrow, as she seems to work the first part of weeks.

Update: While online I hit petfinder again, and I see MSPCA just added a pigeon over the weekend (listed name: "A Stray Pigeon" ). I could make the same sexing offer to them.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

There are places in N.H. and Ma that either breed or sell pigeons. I don't know where you are in N.H., but here is a place that has rollers.

Rollin' Roller Pigeons
Anastasia Shephard
144 Pleasant St.
Littleton, NH 03561

Email: [email protected]


----------



## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Be careful or you will have two pairs soon.  we have three paired birds now.


----------



## avjudge (Jul 4, 2017)

cwebster said:


> Be careful or you will have two pairs soon.  we have three paired birds now.


We seem to be heading that way - I was reading a thread on the the Backyard Chicken site (pigeons & doves forum) where someone commented that pigeon math works the same way as chicken math!

(How commonly known is this expression? If you're not familiar with it, here's a video example: WHAT IS CHICKEN MATH?!!)


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That was a funny video. Yep, works pretty much the same. Just make sure to switch eggs out for fake solid plastic eggs if you don't want the math adding up. If you just remove the eggs, she will just lay right away again to replace them. Eventually she will deplete herself of her calcium stores and have all kinds of problems.You switch them out for fake instead, and they should then sit on them for the 18 days or so that they normally would to hatch eggs. It gives her a break from laying.


----------

