# "Pigeon Place", the soap opera



## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

It is a soap opera indeed! First off, one of the largest homer hens hooked up with one of the scrawniest roller cocks but after a brief courtship they broke up. She is now a single mom sitting two eggs! She is very diligent about it, I've never seen her off the nest. I guess she must leave to eat and drink since she is still alive but I've never seen her do it and I do check in about half a dozen times a day. Meanwhile, I have another mixed marriage between a homer and a roller which is doing quite well. They take turns sitting the single egg with the roller cock on the nest most of the time.
Then there is the feral pair. They arrived quite young. One was obviously a male as he was strutting and vocalizing constantly. I put him in with the Kings because he was bullying the little rollers and driving them away from the feeder. But another feral was very anxious to get to him so I assumed that was a hen and when I put her also in with him and the kings they immediatly began to nest. So when I found abandoned eggs I put them in the feral's nest and they sit them very diligently. But yesterday I saw the presumed hen also strutting and vocalizing. Gay foster parents!
I also have a King sitting a single egg but I can't tell if it's hen or cock nor even if it's the same bird always. I can recognize individuals when they are walking about but on the nest they all look alike. I think it could be another single mom but can't really tell, but again I have never seen the egg exposed, someone is always on the nest.
What next? Will one be wanting a sex change operation? Deadbeat dad leaves wife and kiddies. Single mom struggles to raise children alone. Gay couple adopts children of king. You can see it all right here on "PIGEON PLACE". Stay tuned for a brief commercial announcement.


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

LOL, awsome!! only in a america!!


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## malfunctional (Jan 27, 2009)

Very cool. Keep us posted.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

ROFL...we will be waiting for the next "episode!"

Hugs and Scritches

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## Telessa (Dec 22, 2008)

Your soap opera,"Pigeon Place" must air directly before my show "Total Pigeon Drama". On my show, I have a Hen who is mated with her very first son. But, before that, she was kicked out of her nest when her mate became lost (I fully expect him to turn up in ten years keeping with the soap opera theame). I also have two white homers who ran a way from thier own loft 1.5 miles away and refuse to go home (a loft I didn't know exsisted until the owner was looking for her birds).

I think that lady that wants to write a kids books on homing pigeons could probally use some of our material!


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Now in this episode of Pigeon Place, two eggs have hatched. One to the single mom and one to the homer/roller couple. I think single mom has one yet to hatch but I don't want to disturb her to see. I did lift the homer mom off the nest to see the baby. She fled but poppa pigeon, the roller soon took over the baby setting duties. If more eggs don't hatch in the coming few days I think I will assume they are infertile and remove them.


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

Candle the eggs---hold them over a flashlight--Light is no good--dark maybe good


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

"Tragedy Strikes at Pigeon Place." I noticed this morning that one of the Kings had abandoned the nest she had been setting and seemed to be starting a nest next door. When I touched the abandoned egg I found it cold and when I picked it up I discovered it was crushed flat on the bottom. Another King couple have started a nest on the floor and last night I saw an egg in it. Meanwhile, across the tracks, the two homer/roller cross chicks seem to be doing well.


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Single mom now has two babies, her own by that cad of a roller and the gay feral couple have one and are still setting another egg. I have no idea who the biological parents may be, they were both abandoned eggs. Now a little red hen, roller type, seems to want to nest in an Easter basket I placed on the top perch board. Kings build their homes on solid ground while the rollers get high.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I think you need to invest in some pretend eggs. ..there will will still have be drama but without adding to you flock. I understand how much fun it is to watch the babies hatch and grow but grow up they do and way too soon. You could end up with far more Pigeons than are manageable.
Keep the drama coming because this is far better than...The Days of Our Lives!


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

The current population of Pigeon Place is 28 adults and 4 babies, I think I'll limit it to 50.


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Pigeon Place will be under the care of a neighbor for the next few days as Gwen and I will be "off in the highlands a chasing the elk" with our muzzleloaders. In the meantime, we suggest you sit back and enjoy our encore presentations of "Dobby Gillis".


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

FERALS, HOMERS & ROLLERS CRASH KING'S POOL PARTY!! Photos attached!
After returning from the hunt I thought perhaps the birds needed a bath, I know I certainly did. I set up a pan on the King's side of the coop but they ignored it while all of the other birds mobbed it. There were a few squabbles of course but all seemed to have a good time while the Kings remained aloof.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Cute! A Bathing Party!


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

The four babies are now feathering out and the one raised by the ferals seems to be a white king. Meanwhile that little rake of a roller who left single mom with two babies seems to be hanging out with a king hen. I guess he likes the big girls and for some reason they seem to like him, the little cad. Now single mom with two babies is being constantly pursued by a large male homer and she is on the run to avoid his attentions while other hens who might welcome such attention are ignored. Ain't that the way it seems to go?


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Here's a photo of the "unlikely couple", the white king hen and the little rake of a speckled roller. I guess it just shows that a royal lineage is no guarantee of good taste in choosing a mate.
The camera angle distorts the size difference, she is actually twice his size and he is well known as a deadbeat dad.


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## Elizabethy (Sep 25, 2007)

Hi, Joe-

Glad to know that your not-so-long-ago-empty loft is now a beehive of drama and scandal. Those king hens are very popular with the boys!

Some of my kings nest on the ground but others go for big box-type nests.

And of course, there are more in need of rescue. Always will be I suppose. 

Thanks for the update. It's fun to see them happy and having fun.


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Yes, she is a beauty but what she sees in that little speckled squirt is beyond me. I often have the same question regarding human couples!


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Personally, I think that speckled squirt is QUITE HANDSOME!! Besides, some guys like a "take charge full figured" female... 

All the best to the "odd" couple...

Love and Hugs

Shi/Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/and Woe, my West of England Tumbler mated to feral Gimie. It was love at first sight for him!


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Yes, he does look good in that photo but in real life he is very timid and submissive. I've never seen him strut and coo, he's just a meek little hang-dog sort of "new age guy". However the babies he made with "single mom" are looking like healthy homers so who knows what will come of his "fling with the king." Meanwhile, the feral cock who helped raise a King egg was caught getting it on with a little red hen of a roller while his mate watched from her new nest box and while a big homer cock was going berserk hanging on the divider wire, he seemed to feel that was his girl even though he has been chasing single mom all around the coop. Pigeons seem to have really learned a lot from humans. That's why it's called "Pigeon Place".


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

coyotejoe said:


> Here's a photo of the "unlikely couple", the white king hen and the little rake of a speckled roller. I guess it just shows that a royal lineage is no guarantee of good taste in choosing a mate.
> The camera angle distorts the size difference, she is actually twice his size and he is well known as a deadbeat dad.



Great picture...they are a handsome couple. I love your description of his behavior. ...very funny!


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## irretractable (Jun 4, 2008)

*Drama!!*

I just caught up on the drama!! Glad to hear the ferals are fitting right in. =) Still rooting for the red one.


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

SINGLE MOM HAS SECRET LOVER, ROLLER RAKE CAUGHT CROSSDRESSING!

Well this really all comes down to my foolishness. I've discovered that "single mom" never was single. There were actually a pair of homers which looked so much alike I couldn't tell without looking at leg bands. No wonder I never saw the nest unattended and their babies are beautiful little blue bar homers just like mom and pop.
And now I find that the speckled roller I was calling a cad and a rake is in fact a hen! Well at least I hope it is since the King it has hooked up with is by far the most boisterous strutter of the coop. They haven't established a nest but are never far apart. Again, no wonder I never saw that little roller strut his stuff, it seems he is a she!


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## Teresa (Jul 10, 2005)

coyotejoe said:


> SINGLE MOM HAS SECRET LOVER, ROLLER RAKE CAUGHT CROSSDRESSING!
> 
> Well this really all comes down to my foolishness. I've discovered that "single mom" never was single. There were actually a pair of homers which looked so much alike I couldn't tell without looking at leg bands. No wonder I never saw the nest unattended and their babies are beautiful little blue bar homers just like mom and pop.
> And now I find that the speckled roller I was calling a cad and a rake is in fact a hen! Well at least I hope it is since the King it has hooked up with is by far the most boisterous strutter of the coop. They haven't established a nest but are never far apart. Again, no wonder I never saw that little roller strut his stuff, it seems he is a she!


 ROTFL

Better than a soap opera, can't wait for the next instalment!
And what beautiful birds you have, including the speckled roller!


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2009)

wooden eggs solve many a problem when it comes to the dead beat parentage of pigeons..especially when you know they are dead beats


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

coyotejoe said:


> Now in this episode of Pigeon Place, two eggs have hatched. One to the single mom and one to the homer/roller couple. I think single mom has one yet to hatch but I don't want to disturb her to see. I did lift the homer mom off the nest to see the baby. She fled but poppa pigeon, the roller soon took over the baby setting duties. If more eggs don't hatch in the coming few days I think I will assume they are infertile and remove them.


I would keep a dish of feed, and a dish of water in the box of the single Mom, just to make it easier for her. Then also, she won't have to leave the babies alone while she is off getting food. Just a suggestion.


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## Whitedove06 (Jul 7, 2009)

Boy, I thought I had drama in my Pigeon Palace! I've got a big white Homer, who is devoted to his tumbler wife, (Sweetie Pie) and has a daughter, (Snowflake) who wants her daddy to be her mate! Snowflake is of breeding age, and I'm going to make her a show girl.
Ahhh the drama......but not too much


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Jay3 said:


> I would keep a dish of feed, and a dish of water in the box of the single Mom, just to make it easier for her. Then also, she won't have to leave the babies alone while she is off getting food. Just a suggestion.


Actually I did that for "single mom" but now realize she never was single. The pair of Homers looked so much alike that I just thought it was the same bird always on the nest.
And the "deadbeat dad" never was a dad but turns out to be a hen which just hung around the Homer's nest for a while and is how hanging out with a big White King cock bird. The whole "drama" was based in my own confusion.
Pigeon Place isn't such an amoral place after all.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Well, it makes a great soap opera. LOL. Please do keep us updated on the latest.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I agree with Jay3! Keep those stories comin', Coyotejoe!!

I love your sense of humor and am a firm believer in laughter as the best medicine! I've gotten a wonderful dose from your postings!!

Y'know, I'm not surprised that your cock bird turned out to be a hen! So many members have been fooled! 

Actually, I'm STILL not absolutely sure that my West of England Tumbler, WoeBeGone (mated with feral checker, Gimie), is a cock or a hen. ONE of them has laid eggs and I _think_ it's been Gimie. Woe is a very passive cock and Gimie is quite the aggressive hen. 

ONE of these days, I'm determined to catch the "layer!" 

Love, Hugs and Scritches

Shi


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## coyotejoe (Apr 10, 2009)

Catching the layer seems to be about the only sure way to tell.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

coyotejoe said:


> Catching the layer seems to be about the only sure way to tell.



Did you know pigeons are sneaky?! 

Seems the last time Gimie(??) laid the first egg, it was on a Friday. Since she had always laid the second egg 2 days later and in the afternoon, I decided to watch. I watched and I watched...no egg.

Figuring that she was only going to lay one egg this time around, I gave up. So what happened? She laid the second egg the NEXT day (the _third_ day)!! Of course, I wasn't watching!  *sigh*

One of these days......... 

Love and Hugs
Shi


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