# loft flying



## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

i have about 15 homers, all have been settled to my loft. all i am interested in doing is loft flying my birds, can i just "let them out" or is there some other method i should use for introducing them to freedom? they are already used to going in and out of the coop as i will let them out via the attached aviary, so they are away of how to get back in. a couple times some accidentally got out, and they couldn't wait to get back in ASAP, i took this as a good sign. thanks guys
ajg


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

That is good here is what I would do. Not feed the birds all day. Let them all out an hour before dark. That way they will not feel the need to go far. If they display any behavior you don't like just call them back in. They should re-enter eagerly for feed.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

aarongreen123 said:


> .... all have been settled to my loft.....
> ajg


 In the homing pigeon world...this means they are flying around "outside" the loft...but this apparently is not what you mean....big difference.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*screwed*

i didn't feed the birds today, let them out about 90 minutes before sunset, and all hell broke loose. 4 are still out and unaccounted for, i've been out with the flashlight and coming up empty. i just checked the loft and there are two 5 day old chicks without a parent on the nest, another bird was sitting next to them but i know its not one of the pair that was tending the nest. do other birds ever "adopt" chicks if they get abandoned? i realize i screwed something up here and am extremely frustrated.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Well your still ok. They should show up in the morning some may fly and land and get nervous and sit. By morning they should be home assuming they don't get eaten during the night.

Get up early and check for them. Good luck if they don't come back hand feed the chicks.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

aarongreen123 said:


> i didn't feed the birds today, let them out about 90 minutes before sunset, and all hell broke loose. 4 are still out and unaccounted for, i've been out with the flashlight and coming up empty. i just checked the loft and there are two 5 day old chicks without a parent on the nest, another bird was sitting next to them but i know its not one of the pair that was tending the nest. do other birds ever "adopt" chicks if they get abandoned? i realize i screwed something up here and am extremely frustrated.


Oh boy............... Some may not agree with me and it actually too late now. NEVER put birds that are on babies out to fly. Don't have to tell you what can happen. Even if they are seasoned flyers......what about a hawk, or any million other things that can happen. Need to bring those babies in right away. Even if it's warm where you are, they are not old enough to maintain their body heat. They need to kept warm tonight and hope the parents come back. If it's dark, unless you can see a bird and get to it to catch it, you'll have to wait until morning. You probably are going to have to feed those babies too. Know how?


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*handfeeding*

i have handfed hookbills before, never pigeons, how often do they need to be fed? will the hookbill formula from kaytee work? how bout some mashed up pigeon pellets in warm water? is there any chance of being able to put these chicks in another nest with babies of the same age? sorry for the stupid questions.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Hand feeding is cake. Just get a syringe and feed them twice a day. Feed them until they stop begging. I hand fed two babies without even reading up on it. I fed kaytee exact. I waited until they started begging and got excited when I touched them, I would hold their lower beaks gently and put the syringe end gently to the back of their throats and push it slowly and they would slurp it up.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*handfeeding*

even at the age of 5 days they only need it twice a day? when will i have to make sure they get fed by as i don't have anything to feed them on hand.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

aarongreen123 said:


> i have handfed hookbills before, never pigeons, how often do they need to be fed? will the hookbill formula from kaytee work? how bout some mashed up pigeon pellets in warm water? is there any chance of being able to put these chicks in another nest with babies of the same age? sorry for the stupid questions.


Is that Kaytee Exact? If so, yes that will work. They need to be fed every time their crop empties. I always just feed when they need to be fed, whether it was every two hours or 3, or whatever. If I think they're hungry, I feed them, as long as the crop is empty. Squirting the food in the back of the throat can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Squirt it in their lungs and you've got sick, possibly dead babies. I always just place a little in their mouth on the tongue and let them swallow. Messy and takes time, but it doesn't kill the babies.  At 5 days old, the formula needs to be pretty watery and there's no need to give the babies any water to drink. They'll get that from the Exact.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I've got to get off line. You might want to start another thread in the sick and injured forum so others will see it, in case you need more help.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Well what also works real well is take just an egg yolk from a chicken egg mix a little water and stir it up real good. Feed them that. Just hold their beak open and place the syringe end in the back of the throat and slowly empty it. You will see them sucking it down. I have never had one take it in the wrong way considering they just put their beaks in the parents mouth, the mom and dad aren't checking for it going down the wrong hole. The baby knows how to do it.

Just go slow so it doesn't come back up. I fed mine in the morning until they stopped begging. There crops weren't empty till the late afternoon. The ones I hand fed are actually my older birds now. I let their parents fly and they didn't come back.

The kaytee exact is a lot less messy but the egg yolk works great as a pigeon milk substitute. Let us know!


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*how much*

how much (quantity) should i expect them to suck down? will they just stop feeding when they are full? think i should try to feed them tonight real quick? i'm not sure when they ate last.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

You will see their crops bulge. What I did and I hope this makes sense is just set my hand on them and they would wake up heads up squeaking and jumping to be fed. After so many syringes down the hatch their crop will bulge and they will beg less and less. You can try see if they are hungry, if they aren't interested leave them they will be begging in the morning. I actually was going to leave mine hoping the parents would return but I could hear their chirping from the yard so I just gave it a try and they are here today.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Hi Aaron...Lovebirds sent me a private message and thought you might need instruction. If you have hand fed hook-bills, then this will be easy for you.
Babies 4 days hold will need to be fed more than 2 times a day. As Renee said, they need to be fed every time their crop empties.
If you have exact formula that will work best. Please don't give the babies chicken eggs as there is a risk of salmonella with uncooked eggs.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2008)

if you have tube fed parrots its pretty much the same thing long as you go past their wind pipe they wont asperate ,just dont over fill their crops .. Just a side note ,its the babies that put their beak into the parents beak not the other way around so there is no way a parent can push food into the babys windpipe


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You will also need to bring them in and keep them warm.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

i just brought them in, i have them under a light bulb with a heat shield, i will watch to make sure they don't get too warm, any guidlines for temp? they are already pretty cold but they are alive. anything else that might be around the house that i can feed them until the AM when i can get more of the kaytee stuff?


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2008)

Im just curious but were these birds all born at your loft or no?


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*fool around the house*

just an idea, and i won't try anything until i get the nod from someone here, but i want to get something in their crops tonight. you said no to the egg thing, i have some infant cereal here for my daughter, its some multigrain formula, would that be good just to get something in them? how bout just some lukewarm water to hydrate? maybe nothing is better than something at this point if i don't have the right thing.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

no they weren't, all the birds i have were given to me late in the fall as young birds, had never flown, i think that is where i screwed up. should have just kept them captive and flown the ones i raised here.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Never feed a cold bird. You must warm them first. Do you have any baby cereal?...Like rice or oatmeal?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

aarongreen123 said:


> just an idea, and i won't try anything until i get the nod from someone here, but i want to get something in their crops tonight. you said no to the egg thing, i have some infant cereal here for my daughter, its some multigrain formula, would that be good just to get something in them? how bout just some lukewarm water to hydrate? maybe nothing is better than something at this point if i don't have the right thing.


I see we are cross posting. Yes, the baby cereal will work but only after the babies have been thoroughly warmed. If you have a heating pad to put underneath them, that would be best. It should be set on low...no higher.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2008)

well was just wondering if you could call the loft you got them from and see if maybe some went back there that you could retrieve possibly.. never know but maybe if they did fly back there you could see if the parents of these babys went back there ,couldnt hurt to find out


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=11265

The above link will be helpful.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

LokotaLoft said:


> well was just wondering if you could call the loft you got them from and see if maybe some went back there that you could retrieve possibly.. never know but maybe if they did fly back there you could see if the parents of these babys went back there ,couldnt hurt to find out


Good idea. It seems odd that both parents would take off and leave babies.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2008)

i do agree with you there but some homers just want to home I guess orrrr maybe they just got confused when they hit the wide open world ,one can never tell


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

a couple of the birds did head west and seemed to keep on truckin, i just emailed the gentleman i got them from, he will let me know if any strangers showed up. at what point shall i consider them fully warmed? i don't have a heating pad, just a light bulb with a heat shield. i just checked on them and they still feel cold but are MUCH more alert, peeping too. it doesn't feel overly warm where they are, i have the light some distance from them and i will check them often. is the cereal a adequate sub for the kaytee stuff or just something to get me through? the males are the ones who seemed to high tail it outa here, the hens we around just before dark but i can't seem to locate them now. i'm sure they aren't far, i have a pigeon trap that i will set near the loft so if they get hungry in the AM i'll have them for sure. will it be ok to put the babies back if ONE of the adults return?
thanks all for helpin the rookie.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2008)

single parents can raise their babies fine but hens sometimes abandon them as where the cock birds tend to take over without a problem and usually finish out the weaning of their youngins.. if your hen does come back and your sure its her you can put them back out there and see if she returns to the nest and covers them if she does just keep an eye on them still and make sure their crops are full because if she doesnt then you will have to take over from that point on..


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

The cereal is just until you can get the exact formula. I always keep mine in the freezer because it keeps longer that way. If you are going to have pigeons...you need to have it on hand. Did you read the link I provided in post #25?
You can put some rice in a sock and heat it in the microwave for added heat. Please make sure it's not so hot to burn them.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

i red the docuement you posted and it was very helpful. do you think the sock/rice would be better than teh light? they are warming up well, one is warmer to the touch than the other. i just picked them up one at a time as as soon as i touched them they started moving their heads quickly, i'm assuming that this is their way of asking to be fed? how much longer should i wait to try to get some food in them?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Use both sources of warmth. If one is warmer than the other...they aren't warm enough.
Do you have anything down you can put around them?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You are going to need to monitor their heat all through the night. You can't let them get cold. Nona just recommended that you fill a glass bottle with warm water, wrap a towel around it and use that for warmth.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

ok did the sock/rice thing, they are both pretty lively now, and both feel warm. what should i look for to signal that its time to feed them?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

All is well for the night and Aaron is going to feed the babies. I'm sure he will up-date us tomorrow.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

just fed the chix, both seemed hungry, the larger of the two seemed to have it figured out a little better. its funny, i didn't think their eyes had opened but as i was feeding them i noticed that they've started to open. thinking back on last weekend i think they hatched then, so it looks like they are more like 7 days old instead of 4-5. thanks to all who gave great advice and to Charis for the chat.


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## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

*morning update*

just fed the chix for the third time, they are getting some as i feel it in their crop, can't seem to figure out how it goes thought, probably me the hen is on the roof of the house, with two other birds. they can't seem to figure out how to get back in the loft. i have an 18inch square window with a landing board in front of it but they keep going to the roof and then back to the house over and over again. i have a pigeon trap set in front of the loft with some food in it, i'm hoping they get hungry soon, right now it seems like they are having fun screwing around from rooftop to rooftop


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

aarongreen123 said:


> just fed the chix for the third time, they are getting some as i feel it in their crop, can't seem to figure out how it goes thought, probably me the hen is on the roof of the house, with two other birds. they can't seem to figure out how to get back in the loft. i have an 18inch square window with a landing board in front of it but they keep going to the roof and then back to the house over and over again. i have a pigeon trap set in front of the loft with some food in it, i'm hoping they get hungry soon, right now it seems like they are having fun screwing around from rooftop to rooftop


As long as they don't leave and nothing gets them, you'll just have to wait it out. If they continue to stay, they WILL get hungry enough to come down and into the trap or loft. If you can put their feed in something they recognize, it might help. Like a bowl or ??? If you can put a container of water in there too, they might take the bait. I expect they'll get thirsty before they get hungry unless they're finding puddles or something to drink.


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