# Babies! Yay



## malfunctional

Exciting stuff! Yesterday Mom laid an egg.

After following Siam Sam’s exciting posts I thought I’d have to start my own.

About two weeks ago Mom and Dad started hanging out a lot more on my balcony. Dad would sit in the flower pot and coo away waiting for Mom to join him. Dad also started chasing his children away quite vigorously (the two from the first batch on my balcony in January).

On Sunday Dad started bringing twigs, lots of twigs and they would spend a couple of hours in the pot each morning here. It was actually quite funny, Dad would climb in the pot, almost bury his head in the sand and then coo away. Mom would eventually come and join him, but with there not being much space she usually ended up sitting on his head. He didn’t seem to mind at all, actually quite liking it. He would continue to coo away with his wing tips fluttering.

On Tuesday it was raining before they got here in the morning and their nest was getting a little wet. I was starting to get concerned, but pretty soon Mom and Dad arrived and seemed quite happy on the nest. It wasn’t too wet. Dad began fetching twigs like crazy. He seemed to be doing a little dance to go with it. He would bring a twig, jump into the pot and hand it to Mom, and then maneuver his way out and fly off to get the next twig. Mom in the mean time would work out where to put it before the next one arrived.

The same story happened on Wednesday. The nest seemed to be ready mid morning as they stopped building and just hung out in the nest. Then at about 4:30pm Bangers arrived for some food. He is one of the kids from the January batch and he’s currently on nest duty. He was obviously returning from the day shift and hungry. A few minutes later Mom and Dad arrived and Dad chased Bangers away. Mom and Dad had a quick snack before Mom climbed on the nest and Dad climbed up on the balcony to keep watch. I have a nice set up where I can see them in their nest through the reflection in a mirror and they can’t see me, so I don’t disturb them. Mom was fidgeting around in the nest, moving a couple of twigs that were bothering her around and generally just getting comfortable. Dad was keeping guard, which meant chasing Bangers away a few times as he created a nuisance of himself.

Then labour started. It didn’t seem to last too long. Mom sat quite still and just shook a little as she eased the egg out I guess. That was around 5:30. At 5:45 she stood up a little and I could see the egg. Dad waited around a for another 30 minutes or so until it started getting dark before he disappeared for the night. Exciting stuff. It was just as I’ve read on the site. They waited until late afternoon to lay the egg and with Dad looking over Mom as she lays they egg. So cute!

Mom stayed on the egg over night, although each time I looked she didn’t seem to be sitting on it, but more standing over it as in the picture. I’m not sure what that’s about. This morning she left her egg alone for about 5 minutes just after day break allowing me a nest photo. Maybe it doesn’t need to be sat on all the time until the next one arrives. Bangers arrived for a quick breakfast while Mom was on the nest. Dad was obviously checking up on her from nearby because he arrived out of nowhere in a split second to chase Bangers away, kept guard for a few minutes and was off again.

I wasn’t here to check up on them during the day, but all seems fine this evening. Mom is still on the nest. There is still only one egg. The next one should be here tomorrow. I’ll keep an eye out.

Here is a pic of proud Mom on her egg and the nest in those 5 minutes she was away. Now I have to come up with some names for the squabs.


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## Pigeon lower

Wait.. So they are ferals on your balcony or somthing like that..? The one in the nest has a band or somthing on his leg.


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## malfunctional

Yip, they are all ferals, but I've put a little piece of tape around one leg on each of them. It's much easier to spot if any strangers come past that way.


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## Pigeon lower

Thats no good.. What if it gets caught on somthing..?


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## malfunctional

It's really quite safe. People put bands on pigeons all the time.


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## Pigeon lower

Lol i know that ,just tape.. could stick on there legs for a long time... possibley even if it gets tight , Hurt there legs.. Anyways ill shut up now. Goodluck with ur babies n have fun


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## malfunctional

Yeah, not to worry, it's not very strong tape so it'll stretch before getting tight. It's folded over on the inside so there is no sticky part on their legs. I put a little tape on the one squab when she was about 3 months old. I didn't expect it to last more than a couple of weeks but it did. I checked up on her every now and again. The tape seemed to be fine and not bothering her at all so I decided to band the rest of the family. It's not likely to catch on something, but if it does it will come loose. I wouldn't want to endanger my feral friends. I love these guys.


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## Siam Sam

Congrats on the egg. A second one should be on the way soon.

We've put a fresh flower box out to see what will evelop. A beautiful white pigeon with black speckles, making it look like a Dalmatian, seems interested. Hangs out here on the rail a lot during the day. Poor Big Pidgee has pretty much obviously passed from the world, and Little Pidgee and her new mate are nesting elsewhere.

About that tape. I think you can look up ways of banding the pigeons. Not checked into it myself, but I may for fututre squabs, if there are any.


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## mr squeaks

Sounds exciting!!

Just a quick question: Is the nest protected from rain? Not good if the nest gets wet or rain comes down on the parents...

Look forward to seeing the babies!!

Wishing the family love, hugs and scritches

Shi and her gang: Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## jmaxpsi

You can buy some rings that comes in different colors and then you can see them from afar. That's neat tho, babies on your doorstep.


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## malfunctional

Siam Sam said:


> We've put a fresh flower box out to see what will evelop. A beautiful white pigeon with black speckles, making it look like a Dalmatian, seems interested. Hangs out here on the rail a lot during the day. Poor Big Pidgee has pretty much obviously passed from the world, and Little Pidgee and her new mate are nesting elsewhere..


I'll look forward to more stories from your balcony. Mine aren't quite as enthusiastic with the egg laying. The last batch was in January, although I know they were on nest duty shifts in August.


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## malfunctional

mr squeaks said:


> Sounds exciting!!
> 
> Just a quick question: Is the nest protected from rain? Not good if the nest gets wet or rain comes down on the parents...
> 
> Look forward to seeing the babies!!
> 
> Wishing the family love, hugs and scritches
> 
> Shi and her gang: Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


Thanks for the good wishes. The nest is mostly protected from the rain. The balcony above forms a roof so there is no direct rain. Unfortunately being Cape Town, rain usually comes with wind so it can blow in onto the nest. The pot they have chosen seems to be the most sheltered so I think they'll be okay. I'll watch over them and make a plan if the need arises.


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## malfunctional

jmaxpsi said:


> You can buy some rings that comes in different colors and then you can see them from afar. That's neat tho, babies on your doorstep.


Yeah, it's very cool. It is so awesome to watch nature up close. I feel very special being allowed into these guys lives. The inner workings of the nest mechanics are really quite fascinating.

As for the bands, yes a colour other than black would probably be a easier to see. The problem though is that their legs are not the easiest part of them to see. Check out the photo though. It is Mash, the girl squab from the first batch on a roof top nearby. She is the one third from the right and her tag is just visible. All of those ferals look very similar so at least now I know which is my visitor from afar.


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## malfunctional

A quick nest update. I awoke this morning to find just a lonely egg in the nest. No Mom. At least I had a quick chance to water my plants without disturbing her. I was a little concerned, but I know she left for a few minutes yesterday as well so I thought I would watch till she came back. After ten minutes, still no Mom, but then Dad arrived. He just had a little food, didn't take one look at the nest and flew off again. It may have been Bangers though as they look very similar, but he certainly acted like Dad, strutting about on the balcony railing before diving down for food. Mom eventually did return after about 15 minutes. She climbed into the nest, rearranged the sticks and sat back on the egg. She seems to be actually sitting on the egg now, as a posed to standing over it. It is still clearly visible though.

Bangers arrived shortly after she had sat on the nest. He walked along the railing directly over her nest and stared down at her. He obviously understood that she didn't want to be disturbed and he left without touching the food.

Dad just arrived too. He was proudly cooing at Mom from the railing. She got up from the nest, he flew off and she followed him. Bangers was obviously watching from somewhere and took the chance to get some grub. Not long though, as Dad was soon back to chase him away. Then Dad was off again and Bangers returned. Still no pigeon on the nest. It has been about an hour. I'm guessing the eggs don't need serious sitting on until the second one has been laid. I'm not sure what happened yesterday as I was not around.


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## malfunctional

Mom seems to be pretty lazy about this business at the moment. She returned just before 10am had some food and quickly got comfortable on the nest. She had left the egg alone for pretty much two hours. It almost seemed like she had only come back to show Dad that she was doing some work. He arrived back within 15 minutes and shift change happened at 10:10. Now I know what time to watch them at. It is a familiar trend however. When they were on nest duty in August on another nest Mom would arrive here early morning for some food even though she was supposed to be on duty. Just like with Big Pidgee and Little Pidgee, the dad seems the better parent. The poor guy has the day shift which means chasing away the rest of the family while still sitting on the nest. It’s a tough job, but he’s up for it.

Abby, Banger’s mate, arrived for lunch around 12:30. She saw Dad sitting on the nest and just waited on the balcony railing contemplating life. Eventually she braved landing on the balcony, but Dad chased her away immediately. I tried to get a picture of him on the nest, but ended up chasing him away, so you’ll have to wait to see Dad.

Mom came back for the change over at 14:15 so Dad had a relatively short shift. Again it seems that Mom is more interested in coming for lunch than actually sitting on the eggs. Abby picked up pretty quickly that Dad was no longer on the eggs and landed on the railing. After a few minutes she worked out that it was safe with Mom on the eggs and she swooped down for lunch. She happily ate away with Mom watching from the nest. Abby is more dominant than Mom, so I guess Mom was just lucky Abby didn’t chase her away. Abby wasn’t around long anyway as pretty soon some whistling started and she perked up and darted off to do circuits around the neighbourhood with the flock. Anyway it turns out that Mom was in labour again. They now have two eggs! Egg number two must have been laid at 15:00. That is roughly 45 hours between eggs. I think this is pretty normal. The eggs should be hatching around 20 September.

At 15:30 Dad was back on the nest. I tried very sneakily to get a photo of him but he scrambled away again. He is very skittish, but nothing seems to bother Mom on the eggs. 

I must say, that having read other peoples posts I’ve been pretty lucky in not attracting any extra pigeons to my balcony. The five that I have are all part of the same family and they don’t seem to bring any friends. Just as well. I guess.


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## Siam Sam

Our ferals would regularly go off and leave their eggs alone. Not sure if that was a sign of trust regarding us. Probably not, considering how wary they always were about us.

Big Pidgee was very territorial, too. He'd chase away any other pigeons who came by. Since he left, we've seen the Stranger and I think it was "Katie" (a male, apparently) start to duke it out for control of the balcony until we broke it up. And this Dalmatian who's been hanging around seemed to be making sure this one other pigeon knew to keep to the other side of the balcony and not encroach on his side, the side with the flower box and water.


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## Siam Sam

I just noticed you may be using a flash with your camera. You might want to try turning the flash off. I learned from the Chiang Mai Zoo up in the North that animals' eyes can't take flashes very well and that they can actually go blind from that. In that zoo, we have a pair of pandas on loan from China, and when you go in to see them, not only are you required to turn off the flash to protect their eyes, but they put a small piece of dark electrical tape over the flash of every camera taken in, for the people who forget to turn it off.


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## malfunctional

Some interesting news today. I heard some baby squeaks. Very strange, so I went to look out over the balcony and there was a baby pigeon. I would guess it was about 5-6 weeks old. It still had the little yellow tufts sticking out of it's feathers. Then Dad landed on the balcony and didn't chase it away. He is really territorial so this can only mean the squab is his. It's one of the squabs from the August nest from when they were on egg duty. I hadn't thought about it till now, but the timing seems perfect. Perhaps Dad is teaching it where to find food. It's quite funny to think that they started a new nest before the other babies had fledged. Not unusual, but Siam Sam's always kept their nest in the same place.

It's early morning here, and Mom is still on the eggs. She's not deserting them today now that there are two. Dad has popped in for a couple of visits. He does his little cooing parade on the balcony and then drops down for food. This seems to call Mom off the nest and they eat together briefly and then he's off again. He know's it's not his turn on the nest yet.

I must have a look where he goes because he is obviously checking up on the nest from somewhere close. I saw Bangers coming in to land, you know when they splay their wings and slow down almost hovering before landing. Well Dad obviously saw this and was there to chase him off before he even made it to landing. At least Abby and Bangers do still try and come back. I haven't seen Mash all week.


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## malfunctional

Siam Sam said:


> I just noticed you may be using a flash with your camera. You might want to try turning the flash off. I learned from the Chiang Mai Zoo up in the North that animals' eyes can't take flashes very well and that they can actually go blind from that. In that zoo, we have a pair of pandas on loan from China, and when you go in to see them, not only are you required to turn off the flash to protect their eyes, but they put a small piece of dark electrical tape over the flash of every camera taken in, for the people who forget to turn it off.


Noted. I'll take extra special care.


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## Siam Sam

There's also a Night Safari up there, patterned after the original in Singapore, where they drive you through the grounds on a tram, and you see all sorts of animals in a night-time setting. Tourists are always cautioned to keep their flashes off, but you always see some going of anyway.

We kept wondering if they had another nest somewhere else. Little Pidgee would always stop staying with the squabs after a week or 10 days, and I wondered if maybe she was on eggs somewhere else during that time. But for some reason, we had the impression there was no other nest, but I couldn't tell you why.

Congrats on the second egg!  We're having a little activity ourselves. Yesterday morning (Saturday morning), Little Pidgee stopped by, and The Stranger was in the box; then later "Katie" and his mate were both in the box. Then we went out, and when we came home, there were signs a major battle had occurred. Dirt from the box all over the place, the water dish scooted over, the little spirit house we have balanced between the two tree pots knocked down. And the Dalmation standing in the middle of it all, preening. I guess he won. But no nest-building in the box yet, but there has been another white, very feminine-looking pigeon stopping by with him, but we're wondering if they may be siblings. Any further developments and I'll start another thread on it rather than hijack this one.


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## malfunctional

Hijack away. It's good to hear what your guys are up to. My guys definitely have another nest but as far as I can tell, they have only had one batch since the January batch on my balcony, as there have been no periods where Mom and Dad have been separated. I could be wrong.

I wonder why they decided to come back to my balcony. My initial thoughts were that the other nest didn't work out, but seeing the baby yesterday made me realise it did. I'm also starting to think the the January batch was this couples first batch of eggs. With this nest they scoped it out and stuck around for a good couple of weeks before the eggs, but from the January batch, judging from when the eggs hatched, they were laid the day after I went away. So not much planning there so maybe their first batch.

Oh and I wanted to ask you what you used for water. I have water in a little plastic dish, but they have never seemed to touch it, other than when they dropped some seeds in. I know your guys used to have cool bath times. I was just wondering how big a water dish should be.


Not much exciting stuff going on here, although the wife reports that there was a flurry of activity yesterday with some stranger birds here. Apparently skinny scruffy ones, so perhaps the Dad brought both squabs from the last batch over. I'll see what happens today.

Mom is on the nest preening away. Bangers came for food and got quite a bit before Dad arrived and chased him away. Dad then seemed to give Mom permission to leave the nest while he was here. She flew off to do her stuff, but Dad didn't get on the nest. Mom was back within a few minutes though.


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## malfunctional

They definitely have another nest. Mom arrived for the shift change at 5:30 this evening with a baby in tow. Very cool. I wonder if these babies will come visit more often. They are so tiny. I'd forgotten how small the squabs still are when they fledge.

Interesting schedule today. It's the first time I've been around most of the day to see the shifts. Dad took over from Mom at about 11:00. Then Dad was on the nest till about 1:30 when Mom took over for a short stint. Dad came back at 3:00 and then Mom finally arrived for the night shift at 5:30.

I wonder if it's normal for Mom to have a stint around lunch time? I'll see in the next few days. 

There was lots of activity with Dad today. He is really territorial and Bangers was really hungry. From my calculations Bangers and Abby's eggs would have hatched today so Bangers has a few extra mouths to feed. Anyway Bangers came past a couple of times to get food and Dad kept chasing him away. In the end I left a whole bunch of corn on the railing so Bangers could eat without swooping down into Dad's territory. Dad eventually chased Bangers off the balcony and continued chasing him. I'm not sure where they ended up. The next thing I saw was Dad chasing another pigeon away from the building. I think it was Mash. Either Mash or a stranger at it didn't have the markings of any of my other pigeons. Explains why I haven't seen Mash for awhile. I hope she's ok.


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## Siam Sam

For water, any old container seems to work, as long as it's low enough for them to stick their heads over the edge and drink. We used the bottom dish of a flowerpot at first. Little Pidgee liked to stand on its edge while she drank, and it was just big enough for a squab to hop in and splash around. Now we have a rectangular plastic container. If pigeons are thirsty, they'll drink. Maybe it's our hot climate, but they seem appreciative of it here. I've only ever seen squabs splashing around, though.


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## malfunctional

Nothing much to report here, except that it is cold and wet, but somehow the nest doesn't seem to be getting at all wet. I guess Dad chose well when he picked that pot.

Bangers and Abby have a few more mouths to feed and unfortunately it seems that I'm their main source of food. They hang around for ages on the railing plucking up the courage to eat when Dad's on the nest. It never works as Dad will chase them away as soon as they swoop down. I think I might put up some sort of elevated feeding tray for them so they can eat without bugging Dad. There is only so much food you can leave on the railing.


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## Siam Sam

So I did start another thread, here. with photos.


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## malfunctional

I think I've worked out what Mom's lunch time stint is all about. Dad needs a quick break to feed the squabs from the last batch. Perhaps? Mom had one of the squabs in tow again yesterday when she arrived for the night shift. It didn't stick around long, but just enough for me to notice it's markings are very similar to Dad's. Mostly dark.

Dad had quite a gruelling time on the nest yesterday fending off Abby and Bangers. I'm not really sure what to do. I know Bangers and Abby are super hungry as they are feeding babies, but I've also heard of pigeons attacking other pigeon's babies so maybe I shouldn't let them stay around.

In the end I tied a little container of food onto the balcony rail so they could eat without swooping down into Dad's territory. Abby figured it out right away, but Bangers was not quite as smart, even when I lured him there with corn dotted along the rail.

I think all this results in Dad having a really long shift. He has on duty from 10am to 5pm with a half hour gap around 2:30pm with Mom on. The dynamics are far more interesting than when they had their first batch. Then one flew in and the other left without giving each other a second glance. Now with food on the scene they get to see a lot more of each other. If one is on the nest and the other arrives to come eat, the one on the nest will join. 

I haven't seen little Mash for ages now. I know Dad would be scaring her away so I might not have had a chance to see her, but I'm worried something has happened to her. Then again, perhaps she has finally found a mate. She is almost 8 months old now.


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## jmaxpsi

You could try blocking off the nest and make an entrance to it so when Abby and Bangers come in to dine, Dad won't see them and chase them off. Dad is just protecting the nest and won't let anyone near it. Give that a shot if you like and see if it works.


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## malfunctional

Two days and I've finally trained Bangers to eat from the dish I've tied up on the balcony railing. These birds are pretty smart with some things, but not everything. Every time I change their food container slightly it totally stumps them. Anyway the good news now is that Bangers and Abby can eat away happily with out disturbing their parents and their new brother and sister.

What's the bet when the babies hatch they'll beg them for food as well as Mom and Dad. I still need some names. 11 and 13 days to go.


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## malfunctional

A quick balcony update. I was away for the weekend so I left plenty of food out to keep the little family going for the time. Unfortunately it rained for most of the weekend so the raised food tray on the balcony turned itself into a polluted water dish. Not much food left there so it is obviously working. The tray on the ground however still had quite a bit of food in so at least I know the little ones aren't hungry.

Mom was on the nest when I came home yesterday. It was a little after lunch time so I thought that was a little strange, but Dad was back when I checked a few hours later. I think they are still swapping shifts a little so Dad can feed the other youngsters.

On Friday I was causing a little chaos on the balcony as I was outside cleaning up a little and filling the food trays. Dad is a lot more skittish than Mom and he was on duty. He flew off and watched from a distance. He tried coming back a few times but didn't really have the courage while I was out there. Then just as I was finishing up he came back one last time but got scared again and then disappeared for about 10 minutes only for Mom to return. He had obviously lost his patience and had gone to find her to tell her to take over. She being less skittish put in a quick shift.

This morning I woke up to loads of activity. Mom was on the nest. Bangers was eating on the balcony floor and a baby was pecking away in the food tray on the floor. I was quite surprised that Bangers was not chasing his brother away seeing as he usually chases everyone away. They ate away quite happily, Bangers eventually leaving. The baby stuck around for ages. I think it's still learning to eat as it was pecking away for more than an hour and not much food was missing. 

Then Dad arrived on the railing and it flew up to join him. It made a few feed me squeaks but nothing too aggressive. No chasing Dad along the balcony or anything like that. Dad flew off and it followed for the next adventure.

I guess Dad is the primary food giver as usual. Mom was sitting on the nest quietly the whole time and it never begged her once.

Bangers and Abby's squabs are about 9 days old today. They should start leaving them along more often, so I may see the two of them together again soon.

Still no sign of Mash. I guess you lose one pigeon and you gain 6 more. It's still a little sad though.


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## tomyascaddy

sounds like your balcony is better than the TV, it's a shame some of the birds will leave into the big birdy world, although some of my tumblers are parents and offspring and they seem to be fine together


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## Siam Sam

Squab photos, please.


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## malfunctional

*Squab*

Squab photos as requested. Unfortunately my camera is not at all good for close up shots.

When I got up this morning there were no pigeons, not even Mom on the nest. She returned a little later with this little guy. As I was watching he wasn't brave enough to venture down to the balcony, but he figured out the raised food dish in no time. The photo also nicely shows how I've set up the dish on the balcony rail so that Bangers and Abby can eat without Dad chasing them away. It is a yoghurt container that I've put a false bottom on (so I don't have to fill the whole thing with seeds). 

He's much smarter than his 7 month older brother who took a few days to figure out this container. Bangers arrived shortly after and tried to chase him away as you can see. Poor picture quality, but it does allow you to see the relative differences in size.


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## malfunctional

Dad is struggling to maintain his turf. A big pigeon arrived today. One that I've seen a few times and chased off. Today he was on the floor right in front of Dad and Dad was doing nothing, but clearly annoyed. Maybe Dad doesn't think he can win with this guy. In the end I decided to chase him away and give Dad some peace, but Dad followed him and didn't come back. Sure enough, he had gone to find Mom just like on Friday. It's a little sad when you have to call your wife in to fight your battles.


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## malfunctional

Family reunion this morning. Everyone present except Mash. Dad was here with the little one from the last batch. I'm going to call him Ben. Then Abby was eating from the raised food tray and Bangers arrived shortly after. Their babies are obviously old enough to be left on their own now. (11 days is my guess.) 

It made for a wonderful picture, Dad, Ben, Bangers and Abby all perched next to each other on the balcony and Mom hidden away on the nest below. Unfortunately I spooked them and they were all off before I got a chance.

So interestingly it always seems to be the same squab that Mom and Dad bring home. I wonder if only one of them survived from the last batch. I think that that might be the reason they decided to change nests back to my place. We'll see. Hopefully there are two fertile eggs under Mom.


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## Siam Sam

That container you rigged up is great!


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## malfunctional

Thanks

Loads of activity on the pigeon front. Bangers and Abby are well and truly back together now that baby looking after is not a full time job. Ben is visiting all the time for food too. He always arrives with Dad and they eat together. It's nice to see the after leaving the nest side of growing up. Dad has shown him how to eat and they eat together quite happily. Dad still chases Bangers and Abby away. I wonder at what age he'll start chasing Ben away.

Some bad news from my side. I'm away on business for 3 weeks from Sunday, the day the first egg is due to hatch, so I'm going to miss pretty much the eggs whole childhood. They'll already be running around causing havoc on the balcony before I get back.


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## malfunctional

Sunday morning before I left, there were cracks in both of the eggs. Little star shaped cracks like the babies were pecking their way out. The wife is giving is giving me reports so I'll try to keep relaying info from the other side of the world.

Both babies hatched while I was flying. I only missed them by a few hours. The Missus reports that they hatched in the night between 10pm and 7pm, so that is 18 days and a about 5 hours for the one egg and only 16 days and about 8 hours for the other. I think 16 days is pretty quick! Both babies are looking healthy.


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## malfunctional

*Baby pics*

Proud Mom on the nest and the babies still making it out of their eggs


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## Siam Sam

Woo Hoo! Great! We've never seen the eggs crack. Would love to.


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## TAWhatley

Best of luck to the new babies and their parents! Terrific pictures ..

Terry


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## malfunctional

*Pics*

The babies are now 3 days old. Here is Mom feeding them, and the two of them posing. I wish I was there to watch them grow up myself.


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## malfunctional

*More pics*

4 and 5 days old. Look at them playing tug of war with a stick.


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## malfunctional

seems I've run out of picture space, so that will be all for the moment


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## rattyfied

in spite of your "not very good" camera you've got some lovely pics
...and to catch the moment of birth as it were - wow


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## Siam Sam

Yes, good pics.


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## malfunctional

Glad you like them. The wife's under strict instructions has been taking the photos while I'm away. One per day to watch the babies grow. Apparently she now has to physically touch the parents to push them off the nest. I guess they are far less scared of her than of me. So the pics are from close up, hence the quality. I'm still away for another 10 days or so, but I'll be sure to give a good update once I've figured them out. They still need names...


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## Siam Sam

Ah, I see. I thought maybe your business trip had been cancelled.

That is impressive your wife can touch the parents. Big and Little Pidgee would try to stay to guard their squabs, but if we really went too close, they abandoned ship and fled.


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## Mindy

I just found this thread, and enjoyed reading it. Actually made me smile several times. I think the pictures are great. I love the step by step, play by play of "All my Pigeons". Its like a little soap opera. Or Pigeon Opera I should say. Mindy


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## malfunctional

I'm back. So regular updates will happen again now. The little guys are 3 weeks old today but are still a long way off being grown up. They are quite feisty. The smaller one, which I assume is the girl loves to wing slap. I've named here Lucy. She's my first wing slapper! Usually the most any of them have done if I go near them is to try peck me.

The bigger one which I assume is the boy, I've named Joey. Joey has a white patch between his wings just like his Mom. They are really quite cute. Pretty black in all like dad at the moment, which is interesting as the squab, Ben that the parents were brining by before I left was quite a brown colour. I haven't seen Ben, but the wife showed me a video she had taken of Dad angrily chasing another pigeon away. It looked like Ben, but it was difficult to tell.

As for the wife touching the parents, there is more of an explanation. Mom is on the nest at night (or was as they are now old enough to be on their own). So Mom is usually there in the morning when the wife gets up to go to work, feed the pigeons and take the daily photo. Mom of course had completely worked out the drill and would scoot over in the morning for a few seconds for the photo. Then it came to the weekend and the wife slept in a bit. Dad was now on the nest and knew nothing of the routine. He was protecting his kids and didn't understand about the photos, so he stayed put. That's why he actually had to be touched.

Dad still hates to be watched especially when it comes to feeding. He has however worked out my mirror trick. I put a small mirror inside my lounge at the appropriate angle so that I could see the nest without them seeing me. Unfortunately this now doesn't work. Dad gawks whenever I look into the mirror as he can see me just as well from inside. Clever pigeons. I'll have to leave them alone more.

Mom and Dad are still both feeding them, which is good. I thought Mom would have stopped by now. She did with the last batch. She doesn't feed them as much, but she does still feed them. Dad seems to feed them every 30 minutes or so. This seems to be too much but I think it has a lot to do with Dad's food container being within nest sight of the squabs. They see him and cry and he gives in and feeds them a little. Not too much though.

Mom, Dad, Bangers and Abby were all around for food this morning. I haven't seen any stranger pigeons so I guess I can safely say for the moment that the raised food dish has not attracted strays. But just as I wrote this Silverfoot came past. I noticed this as the squabs were screeching for food so I thought one of the parents was back, but it was Silverfoot. Silverfoot is a feral I noticed here several weeks ago, enjoying the free food. I didn't want a pigeon invasion so I chased him away every time he came past. This didn't really help and if he's back now he's been around the entire time I've been away. He is called Silverfoot as I tagged him with silver tape around his leg. The name stuck. It is interesting that the squabs cry when he comes past as they are dead quiet when Bangers and Abby come for food.

From my calculations Bangers and Abby's squabs are around 5 weeks old now. Pretty soon they'll be bringing them around here for some food when they first leave the nest. I'm looking forward to that.

Mom just stopped by to feed them again. That's about 5 feedings in the last 2 hours. They certainly are hungry balls of feathers.


----------



## malfunctional

Funny thing happened this morning. Mom and Dad seem to have been feeding the youngsters very regularly for the last couple of days. I would say almost every 20 min or so. Today I hadn't heard a squeak out of the little ones before 10am so I went out to check on them. Sure enough they hadn't been fed and neither had Mom and Dad's food been touched. 

I saw a pigeon making a bee line for me from a distance, so I headed inside again. Sure enough it was Dad who had seen me and was coming in to protect and feed the youngsters. Then a scrawly, skinny, strange looking pigeon arrive right after him. Another squab I wondered, but then I realised it was Mom. She had obviously found a good place for a bath and had been enjoying herself. She looked far too wet to be able to fly, but it certainly didn't stop her.

The squabs are doing well. Joey is noticeably bigger than Lucy so I think I have the sexes right. They are still only hanging out in the safety zone-the nest. They have been doing wing flaps and stretches and walking around a little in their confined space. I moved one of the plastic struts away on the basket they are in as it keeps catching their wings during exercise.

So when do they leave the nest to run around? I was away for this week with the last squabs and when I came back they were running around enjoying themselves on the balcony and messing everywhere. I think it will be soon though as Joey has been making forlorn looks over the edge of the pot. Then again he usually turns around, scoots his bum out and makes a deposit over the edge. Perhaps that is all that is on his mind. Who knows with pigeons?

Some things seem a little different with these two compared to the last. Perhaps Mom and Dad are a little more experienced, but they seem to spend a lot more time here. In fact with the last bunch, when I eventually saw Mom after she stopped staying over, I didn't even recognise her. Then again they could perhaps have been on another nest as well last time.

I've seen Joey bullying Lucy. Pecking at her. Not too much. Perhaps he bullies past her for more food, hence his size. Mom and Dad stop feeding if I try watch. Yesterday I took her out of the nest for a little while. Messing with nature I know, but I felt a little sorry for her. She was absolutely terrified of me as can be expected but clung to me as much as she could. Obviously they are really scared of heights at this age, which is a good thing and should keep them out of mischief. I put her down on the ground and could see that she was a little shaky on her feet. I now understand how easily splayed leg comes about. She leant against a door to keep her footing and it worked. I put a towel down and she quickly realised she could walk easily on it and darted straight off back to her nest. Unfortunately the pot is a little high for her to climb into directly. She just stood panicked at the edge of the pot. I made a little step to help her climb in, moved her a few feet away and she figured it out first time, headed straight back for the pot and climbed in. Wow, they learn so fast.


----------



## malfunctional

They learn so fast!

Mom and Dad have been feeding the little ones far less today. I'm not sure why, but I heard them pecking around in their nest. I figure seeing as Dad eats within eye shot of them, they have figured out how to peck for food a lot earlier than usual. Anyway I put a few tiny seeds in their nest with them, and they were gone in no times. They are weaned before even leaving the nest!


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## malfunctional

Lucy has actually obtained an advantage from being bullied. She now knows how to climb back into the nest so she is now now afraid to leave it. This means that when it comes to feeding time and Joey pushes her out of the way to get more food, she just waits and then follows Mom or Dad when they leave the nest. She gets fed outside the nest and can get as much food as Mom or Dad will allow without being bullied out of the way.

On another note, I'm starting to think that Silverfoot is in fact Mash. They look very similar, but are both pretty nondescript. Just plain average pigeon looking. Mash is pretty easy to catch so someone might have caught her and removed her tags, which is why I didn't recognise her. Well that and the fact she had put on a lot of weight. Maybe who ever found her fed her kept her for awhile and fed her well. It seems like a logical explanation. I've been going through photos to try and confirm this, but as I say there are no distinguishing marks, like all my other birds. It certainly explains why one stranger has been hanging around, when I've never had any strangers before.


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## goga82

awwwwwwww
i want more picturessss
ok
pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
i love baby pic
and i see u love those babies


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## malfunctional

More pictures to come soon. Babies are doing well. Lucy, the little one that I taught how to get in and out of the nest has been running around chasing the parents for food. Joey still hasn't moved from the nest. He does stand on the edge and flap his wings wildly. the parents feed them really regularly. None of this waiting for the crop to empty stuff. I don't think Joey's crop has every been empty. Lucy's is always a more manageable size though. Dad has taken to watching his babies quietly from the balcony above. They are right at the edge of the balcony so he can see them well from up there. 

Mom is still around and feeding the babies too. Not as often as Dad, but with the last litter she was not around at all. Dad is still guarding the balcony with vigor. Today he was nowhere to be seen and I put out some peanuts and he was there scoffing them away within seconds. Also Bangers and Abby arrived and he was chasing them away before they even landed. Bangers and Abby have become quite braze and desperate for food. They'll eat away for as long as they can bear it with Dad pecking away at them, just to get a few bites.

Pics to come soon. I need a better way of posting them though, as this site only allows 1meg so I have to delete a few of the others first.


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## malfunctional

Bangers and Abby are on egg duty again. That was quick. Their last batch must have just left the nest. They would be 6 weeks old now, so I guess being spring and all it's time for them to make newbies.

As for the little ones on my balcony... Joey still hasn't left the nest yet and Lucy is happily eating on her own with Dad. I think Joey is just lazy.


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## malfunctional

*Photos*

Here is a photo of the little ones. Joey is the puffier one on the left. He also has way more baby fluff than Lucy. Say "Hi"


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## malfunctional

Joey finally got the courage up to leave the nest this morning. He chased Dad around the balcony doing helicopters like a crazy thing. He was flapping his wings for a good couple of minutes. Unfortunately he couldn't climb back in again so I gave him a little help.


----------



## malfunctional

More eggs may well be on the way on my balcony. Mom and Dad today spent a good deal of time cooing away to each other in the bucket next to the chicks. It's quite a scene. I wish I could photo it, but I don't want to disturb them. Mom and Dad are deep in the bucket with their heads down and their tails out. The chicks are right next to them in the original nest. Joey is crying away for food but Mom and Dad are just enjoying each other's company. Mom makes the strangest cooing noises, quite distinct from Dad's. They are a higher pitched more moaning like sounds.


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## malfunctional

*Dead Pigeon*

Here is a really cute pic of Lucy. She discovered that the floor in the sun was warm, so she just collapsed and lay there. Isn't she adorable


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## malfunctional

A morning of screaming. Joey has now discovered that he is able to leave the nest. He hasn't quite figured out how to climb back in though so yesterday evening he was sleeping next to it when I got home. Very cute but I put in with his sister none the less. So now that he gets out he runs around chasing Dad for food all the time and screaming like a mad thing. I just wish Dad would feed him to keep him quiet. Lucy on the other hand just eats out of the food bowl with Mom and Dad. She is clearly a step up on the pigeon ladder.


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## malfunctional

*Family Photo*

Mom and Dad are cooing away to each other in the bucket next to the nest. The babies are out of the nest on the floor missing their parents. Makes a cool photo. You can also see the mirror I have to use to watch the pigeons without scaring them. They have still figured it out and I only managed this photo as a second earlier their heads were buried in the bucket.


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## Ivor

Those are lovely pictures, I couldn't stop reading the whole story and the pics, you have beautiful babies, keep posting, we love baby pictures!!!! Thank you so much for doing that.

Ivette


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## ThePigeonKid

That is a great picture.  They look really happy.


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## malfunctional

Thanks. Glad you like the pics. I've got to figure out a good way to take better ones, and more action shots without disturbing them.

Mom and dad certainly look happy, Joey just looks miffed that he's not getting food.


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## malfunctional

*Another Pigeon Place*

Huge drama today on the pigeon front. It looks like my balcony may become like the soap opera pigeon place. I left the curtains closed today and was able to get a much better look at the goings on through the curtain cracks. Mom and Dad spent a good deal of time in the bucket again trying to drown out the noise of their screaming kids with cooing. Eventually they could take no more and the disappeared elsewhere for a romantic flight around the neighbourhood. Silverfoot (who is not actually Mash in disguise) decided to take his chance and come get as much food as possible. As the raised feeder was pretty empty by this stage he decided to rather take his chances in the babies’ nest. Clearly pigeon poop is more tasty than I would ever have imagined, although I have put a few seeds in there so that’s more likely the case. Bangers and Abby are on nest duty, so having the night shift she soon arrived too. Her and Silverfoot seem pretty well acquainted. I’ve seen him hounding her a few times. She obviously realised that this was a good time to take advantage of the gentleman and sauntered down into the no go zone, namely the balcony. 

Meanwhile Lucy and Joey just figured they had a new set of parents. They were kicked out the nest so Silverfoot could eat from there, but they figured it was a good time to ask him for some food. Silverfoot refused, so they just hung out around their nest, not really knowing where they should be. Silverfoot continued cooing away trying to coax Abby. Bangers would have been furious, but he’ll never know.

Pretty soon Mom and Dad arrived and Dad was none too impressed. Abby made a clean getaway, but Silverfoot was caught silver footed in the nest. He high tailed out of there, but Dad gave chase and was soon back to proudly reclaim his balcony.

Mom and Dad decided to stay put and put up with the screaming and are back to the bucket. They have quite an elaborate nest in there. It seems they are making a proper effort this time around.


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## mr squeaks

Such a Pigeon Opera!

Fun to follow the stories and the latest happenings with the gang! At this rate, you will have your own private _flock!_ Actually, you already do! 

It's great to have members who religiously follow the antics and lives of their "balcony" pigeons! Not everyone is so tolerant or articulate!

You and Siam Sam are fine members and we really enjoy your updates!!

Will be watching for more updates in the lives and loves of the "Balcony Birds!" 

Sending Love, Hugs and Scritches to ALL

Shi and her gang: Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/Woe


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## malfunctional

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad people enjoy reading about the pigeons. I find them pretty exciting, but not too many other people are that interested, so this is a great place to tell all. As for having a whole flock, I've been trying to prevent this as I foresaw what happened later today.

Silverfoot was back, and there was no Abby to impress. The kids started whining so i went to the curtains to have a look. Next thing I see is Silverfoot pecking away at them. Perhaps he was actually feeding them, but I wasn't sticking around to see. I jumped out and chased him off and he hasn't been seen back. I picked up the babies and gave them a quick exam. They seem fine.

Joey still has a full crop. I'm not sure what that's all about. Perhaps he has some sort of digestive problem, I don't know. It almost feels firm. Later on today I saw Dad preening him while he just lay on his belly on the floor. It almost looked like Dad was trying to wake him up. Joey still has a lot of yellow fluff on him. Perhaps Dad is pecking it off. Dad is still pecking at him. All around his head. It doesn't look like he's hurting him, but Joey doesn't look too happy about it either. Should I do something?


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## numwilfir

I accept: The same story happened on Wednesday. The nest seemed to be ready mid morning as they stopped building and just hung out in the nest. Then at about 4:30pm Bangers arrived for some food. He is one of the kids from the January batch and he’s currently on nest duty.


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## malfunctional

Pigeon talk has been invaded? Why are you copying a paragraph from my first post?


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## malfunctional

The next batch has started! Mom laid an egg this evening sometime after 6pm. I could see something was going to happen, but the sunset on the beach was calling. I'm away for the weekend, so I'll probably miss the next egg. This is at least Mom and Dad's forth batch that I know of. They will hatch on 10 November roughly if the last batch is anything to go by. Other than that nothing too exciting happening on the pigeon front (mainly as i wasn't around). Yesterday the drama continued though. The wife came home to find Silverfoot in the babies nest and the poor little guys on the floor near it hiding away. She chased Silverfoot away and put them back in. The babies are 31 days old now and sleeping outside in their nest with Mom right next to them in the bucket with the other egg. She is standing over the egg again and not actually sitting on it. This one is going to be a lot more difficult to keep an eye on as the bucket is quite deep and there is not much in it. Things seem pretty similar to Siam Sam's first batch as far as timing goes. I did see Lucy in the bucket earlier today, but other than that I think Mom should be ok in the bucket by herself without the little ones trying to join her. Their nest is their home and they still feel safest there.


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## malfunctional

I was away for the weekend, but have returned to find the entire family on the balcony. It is really windy so I guess they decided that it is the best place to wait it out. i.e. Mom and dad are both here. Dad has been on the nest all day with Mom hanging out in the nearby flowers. Mom is now on the nest though and Dad is protecting the territory. It was quite an effort to move dad when he was on the nest, but i eventually persuaded him to get up. Sure enough there are now 2 eggs in the bucket.

Joey and Lucy are now 34 days old. Lucy seems to be able to fly short bursts, but not in this weather. Joey is still a little behind in the learning curve. He's still desperately begging Dad for food even though he has figured out how to eat on his own, and Dad has other duties. 

Best thing I saw today was Lucy drinking from the water dish. It's a first. I've read all about them drinking but I haven't seem any of my pigeons drink until her now.

Joey and Lucy should be leaving the nest soon, but with Dad and Mom sticking around on the balcony I think it will be awhile yet. Probably until Dad gets fed up and starts chasing them away. 

Silverfoot and Bangers were also here at various times. Dad made no effort to get rid of them. Well not until Mom was on nest duty. I think the bucket is quite a bit more difficult to get in and out of, so they are more reluctant to move. That's all for the moment. Pictures of the new family soon.


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## malfunctional

Batch 3-35 days.
Batch 4-eggs 4 days.

Massive storm in Cape Town last night and this morning. It was really windy. I felt so sorry for the little ones. I eventually brought them in, in their nest. Mom was sitting on the nest which is in a bucket and more sheltered. She also has a lot more feathers so I thought she would be ok. I also thought that she might leave then nest if I brought it in. Turned out I was right.

Early this morning I awoke to a huge thunder storm. Rain was bucketing down and the wind blowing like crazy. Mom was getting drenched. I decided against better judgement to move her inside as well. The nest is in a bucket and easily movable. As expected she was scared out of her wits, but even after leaving her alone with her nest for several minutes she had not climbed back on. She was just perched on the edge not knowing what to do.

The worst of the storm passed quite quickly so i decided to put the nest back outside. I was afraid that i had completely spooked her and she would be off, never to return to the nest. To my grateful surprise I was wrong. I put the nest back and then let her out. She simply slowly walked back to the nest and climbed right in and onto the eggs. I guess it is true what I've read: If you move the nest a few cm they don't even realise that it is theirs. It certainly seemed true for her. Or perhaps she was just too scared to sit back on it.

Dad arrived a few minutes later in the calm of the storm. He cooed away to check that everything was ok. He didn't offer to help Mom though even though she was still pretty wet. The babies were happy to see Dad as usual. 

Pretty soon the storm started up again. Worse than ever. Water was flooding into the balcony from every direction. The babies abandoned their nest and hid in another flower pot that was well shielded from the rain. They were fine. Mom on the other hand had water pouring onto her. I knew that the only solution was to shelter her so I ended up crouching next her with an umbrella to protect her. She was pretty scared of me being so closed, but I think far more scared of the storm. Pretty soon the pot that the babies have their nest in was flooding over (even with it's drainage holes underneath). The bucket has no holes and will never drain. We stuck it out for a good 15 minutes. I was shivering, so you can only imagine poor Mom, wet and having endured the whole night like that.

The drama wasn't over though. The worst was yet to come. Dad arrived back to check up on things and Lucy with her new found ability to fly a little hovered up and joined him on the balcony rail. Pretty soon a gust came, she lost her balance (as did dad almost) and she was blown back onto the balcony. 

she was a little shaken, but not to be outdone flew back up a few minutes later. Another gust and this time she was not so lucky. I could see her frantic face as she realised she had no control over where she was going. Ever caring Dad followed her down and the two of them were on the grass below. Dad tried to get her to follow him back up and she did. She only made it to the first floor before the gusts took too much out of her, and there she stayed for a couple of hours. I eventually managed to prod and coax her down. Her flying is not good at all at the moment. On the ground I tried to catch her but she was too fast and took off again. Suddenly away from the confines of the building she was in her element. She flew off and enjoyed the openness of the skies. I figured that that might be the last I see of her. she was joined in the skies by another bird (quite possibly Dad). They eventually landed on the roof top of my building and I lost sight of them. Lucy seems to have figured out how to fly and has got a friend, so I guess she is ok. It's always a little sad to see them go. Hopefully she'll be back.

Joey most likely has Canker  so I'm going to get him some Spartrix tablets.


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## malfunctional

Still no sign of Lucy. I wonder if she'll come back to sleep here tonight, or if she left the nest too early to ever find her way home. I've put up a nice little wind and rain shelter for the parents though. For next time


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## malfunctional

*Shelter*

The parents shelter


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## malfunctional

Lucy made it back. Full house again. I'm so happy. Joey almost fell of the balcony too earlier and he really would have no chance so just as well. Canker medicine has been ordered.


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## malfunctional

Joey is a crazy pigeon. This afternoon he has decided that the best place to hang out is in the new nest with Mom. (His nest got drenched in the storm but is drying out.) Mom is so chilled and does not seem to mind one bit. I hope two of them in a bucket does not crush the eggs. I'm sure they know what they are doing.


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## malfunctional

News for the day is that Joey took his first flight. He jumped/flew from the floor onto the balcony rail. He was so chuffed with himself that he stood up there for ages admiring the view with his sister. He has been trying hard, flapping his wings like mad, especially when Dad is around. Dad has been encouraging him, mostly by sitting on the rail and cooing for him to fly up and join. Joey's main problem is that all his feathers have not quite come in yet. It is a lot of effort to keep up with that handicap.

Mom and Dad seem pretty happy with their new nest. It is a little difficult to get into but they have managed. After Monday's storm though Mom and Dad seem to trust me a heck of a lot more. I'm able to go out onto the balcony without scaring them away. In fact I can pick up Joey from right in front of Dad and he doesn't flinch. Dad also doesn't gawk at me now whenever he sees me. 

Right now Joey is pecking at Lucy's head. Is he getting mites off her? She doesn't really seem to be enjoying it.

Oh and Silverfoot is making a nuisance of himself. I think he is eying out the balcony for his own nest. I've chased him away most times I've seen him and Dad doesn't seem to anymore. In fact Silverfoot was standing on the balcony calling for a mate and Dad didn't get up from the nest. Then later after Joey had made his maiden voyage Silverfoot arrived and started pecking at him on the balcony with Dad pecking at him. Silverfoot is a problem. Any suggestions?

Lucy stayed home mostly yesterday after the adventures of Monday. Today however she went on an excursion with Mom. Actually I think it was a girls day as they were hanging out with Abby too. It seems that mother and daughter in law are now getting on well. In fact even Dad hasn't been chasing Abby away lately. I guess she is in the good books.


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## malfunctional

batch 3-40days
eggs 7 days

I woke up this morning with no screaming baby for the first time. Joey still begs Dad for food so I figured something was up. Sure enough, no pigeons on the balcony. Well, just Mom on the nest and Dad eating. Seeing as Joey can only just make it up to the balcony I was a little concerned. I figured that he had fallen off the balcony and was somewhere lost in the bushes down below. I went to have a look and heard his cries, but they were from up above. He had somehow made it onto the balcony above. Dad was up there cooing for him to come down. Soon Lucy joined him and brother and sister surveyed my balcony from above.

This is good news. At one stage I was concerned that Joey would still be around when the next batch hatched. I think a couple of days after they've hatched Dad will definitely start chasing them away.


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## malfunctional

Maybe it's not such good news. Joey has been up there the whole day. I don't think he know's how to fly down.


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## malfunctional

They're back.


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## malfunctional

I think it is all part of Dad's cunning plan. He coaxes Joey up to the balcony above and Joey is too scared to come down. Dad can then eat in peace on my balcony without his screaming kid whacking him with his wings. Dad is a smart bird. He's also given Mom a long weekend shift. She is still on the nest and it's past mid day.

I think Joey will be onto him soon. He's getting better and better at flying which is impressive seeing as his feathers are all ruffled and don't look anything like smooth enough for flying.


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## malfunctional

Batch 3- 41 days
Eggs- 9 days

Both babies still slept here last night, but for the first time not in their nest, but in the flowers next to it. I haven't seen Joey fly further than the upstairs balcony, but he'll get there.

Last night I didn't fill up their food before going out so they were rather hungry this morning. Joey has learnt how to eat seeds on his own but will still beg Dad as he is lazy. I think the instinct will still be in him awhile. In fact he still screams a little while eating himself. Perhaps he has associated screaming with eating.

Dad seems to enjoy teaching the little guys a few things about the world. He is always coaxing them into action. Lucy definitely seems like the lady bird and hangs out with Mom a lot.


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## TAWhatley

This is a great documentary, malfunctional. Please do keep it up. I was tempted to comment about a thing or two, but it would have been just a trivial comment and would have taken away from the great documentation you have going here.

Terry


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## malfunctional

Thanks Terry. I haven't had comments for awhile. It's good to know that people are still reading.


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## malfunctional

The babies slept on top of Mom last night. The beer box that I've put over the new nest to protect it from the rain seemed like a good option for them. Their original nest is not too appealing for them now that they've been exploring more. As for the box, it was never meant to be anything more than a temporary shelter so the fact that it supports two pigeons overnight means it's quite a bit stronger than I thought. Only problem is that it's now covered in poop. I tried to clean it off this morning, but that startled Mom and she took off, so I gave up.

They really looked so cute cuddling up to each other on top of Mom. I think they've worked out that there is a lot less wind there than in their nest and it is much warmer. The eggs are half way. I wonder if Dad will chase them away before the hatching.

Joey still doesn't seem to have made it further than the upstairs balcony. He sits up there all day now watching the world below. Either on the railing or on the floor with his head poked over the edge.

I have a feeling it is all about confidence as when Lucy got blown away last week she really struggled to get back to the nest. She kept trying to slowly hover up a floor and hovering is hard. In the end she got blown far from the building in a gust and realised that there was nothing around to fly into and she could actually fly. That's when she took to it and didn't return. Joey is still waiting for that point. He'll get there.

As for the rest of the family. Bangers and Abbies eggs are expected to hatch in 2 days. It's their 2nd batch in total. Bangers hatched January 13th, so 4 kids before he is 10 months. things happen fast in the pigeon world. When Mom got scared off the nest today she perched on a little edge where Bangers has also scuttled too. Bangers then cooed loudly and did a kind of mating dance bopping his head back and forth while pursuing his Mom. What's up with that? Was he trying to woo her or scare her away? Either way it was the same result. She flew away. 

Silverfoot has still been around bullying his way to food. I'm still chasing him at every chance. I haven't seen him peck the kids again. Dad holds his ground when protecting territory from Silverfoot, but I think he's still a little scared.

Mom and Dad don't seem to mind me at all lately. I can go outside water the plants change their food, clean the balcony. I can even grab one of the babies in front of them and they aren't spooked (other than the box cleaning). Dad has even stopped gawking at me whenever he sees me. I think after last weeks storm they have learnt to trust me.


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## malfunctional

Oh and one last thing. I've started setting up an online account for my photos after I reached the pigeon talk limit. I'm still ironing out a few details but baby pics in full detail will be available soon.


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## StanelyPidge09

I am reading! I check everyday for updates on sweet Joey and Lucy! 

Thank you!!


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## mr squeaks

Yep, Malfunctional...a LOT of people are checking out your updates! If you look on the Threads page and check yours, you will see over 900 VIEWS!!

You and your lovely pijies _are_ being watched! 

Not everyone can keep a "journal" of feral pigeon doings on their balcony!! You are doing QUITE WELL and we are all looking forward to further adventures!

Love and Hugs

Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone


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## hugcubmad

malfunctional said:


> Maybe it's not such good news. Joey has been up there the whole day. I don't think he know's how to fly down.


I do agree with you. Those are the most effective way


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## bluebirdsnfur

Yep . . .nice story to follow. I'm checkin in too!


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## malfunctional

Finally some pictures. Enjoy

http://picasaweb.google.com/sonicdave/Pigeons?feat=directlink


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## malfunctional

Batch 3 44 days
Eggs 13 days

Drama on the pigeon front yesterday. I ran out of food and didn't get a chance to buy any till the evening. They all stood around very confused. All I had was rice. They loved it. Is rice good for pigeons? I gave them some bread too but that dried out quickly.

Joey spent the whole day on the balcony above as usual. He really struggles to fly. When ever Joey lands of takes off there is such a scuffle of feathers. He has to flap like mad. When he lands it is also very ungainly and he struggles to balance as he first comes down. He's doing very well though. His tail feathers are interesting. They are broad at the tips but much narrower nearer his body.

Silverfoot has been causing trouble at usual. Yesterday he hung out on the balcony rail above and cooed away (trying to woo Joey). He's definitely still looking for a mate as he's tried to nap both Abby and Mom, but they're taken. He likes this area too. I think his plans (if pigeons make plans) are to move in on the balcony above and have free food when ever he needs. He can also check when the coast is clear from up there.

The babies slept on the box above Mom yesterday again. Lucy arrived really late. It was already getting dark and Joey was feeling lonely. He was making his bed in his old nest. Then Lucy arrived and they both went up onto the box. When they sleep Lucy sleeps standing up, with Joey snuggled under her. I was just wondering, there is no traction on the box, so I hope this doesn't splay her legs. I think she's past that stage though.

I bought food yesterday and there was a huge feeding frenzy when I put it out this morning. Mom even got off the nest to join in the feast.

Joey has made it two balconies up. Today him and Lucy are chilling out from the 5th floor.


----------



## malfunctional

Have you noticed how when a pigeon is about to do something, their body language tells it all. I think it is all in the eyes. They don't seem to move much in a pigeon's head so it has to tilt its head in the direction it is looking. To get a better look the pigeon always looks with one eye. I can tell what they are up to, especially when they are about to fly. It is almost like they have to psyche themselves up first. 

From their behaviour I believe Abby and Banger's 2nd batch hatched today. Bangers is super hungry and has been eying out the food dish from the balcony above. From there he can't see Dad and Dad can't see him. After much careful planning Bangers finally decided he was Brave enough to jump down and grab some food. Dad got up and immediately gave chase. Bangers ran along the raling and noticed the other food dish was full. With Dad in full pursuit Bangers stopped along the rail to eat. Dad started pecking at his wing, but Bangers was hungry. He grabbed what he could with his dad chewing his arm and then finally made a fly for it. Dad followed, but soon returned to his eggs. Bangers too, came back and a little wiser this time. He ate from the raised food dish in peace without disturbing Dad. He's a slow learner. This happens often.


----------



## malfunctional

The babies are still sleeping here. Yesterday Joey arrived really late. It was starting to get dark and I thought it would be the first night without them. Without Lucy to direct him he was back in the nest as usual. Lucy arrived even later and immediately climbed up onto the box. I don't think she like it too much up there on her own so she joined Joey in the nest. That too wasn't good enough for her and she ended up spending the night perched on a bag of potting soil.

Oh, and yesterday when Mom arrived for nest duty she climbed in the bucket with Dad. They snuggled for a bit before Dad got out. Very cute. So much love. This morning Dad arrived for food and they cooed back and forth to each other for awhile.

Joey has spent the day on the balcony. It seems her is better than one floor up today. He doesn't do much, just lies around waiting for some thing to happen. As he was here when Dad arrived he tried his chances and begged for food. It didn't work, but there was no love lost. Joey still often cries and flaps his wings while eating, but never when he doesn't have a spectator. I saw Dad chase Lucy away at one point yesterday. I think he's realised that she's all grown up, even if her brother is struggling a little.

First rain since the big storm today. Just a few spots but Mom was nice and dry in her new box. The new babies that hatch in there are going to have to grow quite a bit more than these guys before they can get out, plus they won't be able to scoot their little bums over the edge so it's going to get pretty messy in there. Better in there than on the balcony though.


----------



## malfunctional

Batch 3 46 days
Eggs 15 days

Joey seems to be doing really well. He still looks super scruffy, so I thought I would give him a little check up. Obviously like all pigeons he doesn't like being handled, and I didn't really want to scare him away but I wanted to check he was ok. I cornered him in a corner of the balcony and he managed to dive past me and run back to his nest. This is his "safe zone" but with him growing as he is I thought I wouldn't have another chance. He cornered himself and I grabbed him. With all this happening right in front of Dad in the nest. Dad didn't even flinch. 

Anyway it turns out that Joey seems totally healthy. His feathers have an interesting phenomenon though on his tail. They are broad near the tip, and then they thin out quite a bit and then thicken again. It's almost as if whatever was wrong with him impacted his feathers, but now they are starting to grow out properly. I'll try post a picture. 

Anyway what was interesting about this whole encounter is that Joey was obviously really tense while I was examining. I tried to calm him down a little by gently stroking him and when we was calm I stopped holding him to let him go. He was on my lap at the time and he didn't get up or anything, his eyes started closing and he dozed off. It was so cute, sitting there with this little guy sleeping on my lap. After about 20 minutes he woke up, realised where he was a flew straight outside, not traumatised at all.

Last night the babies climbed up on the box and slept above Mom's head again. Mom is such a docile bird, she really doesn't seem to mind. On the other hand I saw Dad chasing and pecking poor Lucy away from the balcony this morning. Joey wasn't around so I figure Dad might have already got rid of him.

I'm sure Dad doesn't want these guys around when the next batch hatch. It'll be sad to see them go. Poor little Joey, I don't think he'll be too good in the big world on his own but I'll see what happens. When Dad is on the nest it is all ok. Today as soon as they swapped (10:45), Joey saw Mom hanging out on the balcony and arrived in no time. He knows when it is safe. He is now hanging out next to Dad, watching the world go by below, dreaming on joining it for real soon.

Silverfoot is definitely trying to move in upstairs. He reminds me of Henry the Dalmation. He sits up there cooing away for a mate. It is especially interesting when he is cooing away from the plants on the balcony to Joey who is sitting nervously on the railing. I'm not too keen on this set up. I think one family of pigeons is quite enough so I'm still trying to discourage him. I think perhaps Dad might do a better job keep the balcony population down though. Once nesting season has ended, it may all be different.


----------



## malfunctional

Sadly the above photo is pretty much the last time I've seen Joey. Something must have happened to him because he was never more than a couple of balconies away from here. He was also eating here. I don't think he knew anywhere else to get food. He also hasn't slept here since Thursday night.

Poor guy. He seemed to be doing so well. Yes he had a totally ruffled look, but he was full of energy (other than his frequent sleeping) and he seemed to be getting by ok. I probably should have done something more for him. The weather has been pretty bad here for the last couple of days, so he might have had some problem in the storm.

The other thing is that Dad has been vigorously chasing away Lucy. I feel really bad for the poor girl. This is the only home she knows and now Dad won't even let her pop in for some food. The eggs are a couple of days from hatching, so this all makes sense. The main problem is that the raised food dish on the balcony is water ladened, so the food down below is much nicer for them. Dad even gets off the eggs to chase her away and it takes a lot to get him off his eggs.

Lucy still slept here yesterday but it doesn't look like she'll be here tonight. I'm not sure about Friday, but last night might have been her first alone, with no Joey to help keep her warm.


----------



## malfunctional

Still no Joey. 
Lucy didn't sleep here last night, but she has still been visiting to get food. No social calls though as Dad is getting especially protective.

The first egg had already started cracking this morning (I put a small dot on the first egg to discriminate). Dad has been chasing Bangers away for most of the day, so I've had a few chances to take a look. No squab yet. I actually got to touch Dad today. Before Bangers had been bothering him I wanted to see if there was a squab. I tried to get Dad to scoot over but he would not budge. I moved a little closer but still he didn't budge. In the end I was stroking his wing with my finger and he was staying put. He's gotten very brave recently, which is great.

This batch will be called Russell an Tanith. I expect Russ to be out before tomorrow morning.

Bangers and Abby have not been keeping regular shifts for the last couple of day so I'm guessing batch two for them is old enough to be left alone. Abby's little tag I put on her is coming off. I was wondering how long those things would last. 6 months seems pretty good.

And another thing. When I did look in the nest I noticed that there are a few poops. Not many, but a few. Usually Mom and Dad are really good at keeping the place clean. I guess they know that in a couple of days it will be totally covered.


----------



## spirit wings

malfunctional said:


> Still no Joey.
> Lucy didn't sleep here last night, but she has still been visiting to get food. No social calls though as Dad is getting especially protective.
> 
> The first egg had already started cracking this morning (I put a small dot on the first egg to discriminate). Dad has been chasing Bangers away for most of the day, so I've had a few chances to take a look. No squab yet. I actually got to touch Dad today. Before Bangers had been bothering him I wanted to see if there was a squab. I tried to get Dad to scoot over but he would not budge. I moved a little closer but still he didn't budge. In the end I was stroking his wing with my finger and he was staying put. He's gotten very brave recently, which is great.
> 
> This batch will be called Russell an Tanith. I expect Russ to be out before tomorrow morning.
> 
> Bangers and Abby have not been keeping regular shifts for the last couple of day so I'm guessing batch two for them is old enough to be left alone. Abby's little tag I put on her is coming off. I was wondering how long those things would last. 6 months seems pretty good.
> 
> And another thing. When I did look in the nest I noticed that there are a few poops. Not many, but a few. Usually Mom and Dad are really good at keeping the place clean. I guess they know that in a couple of days it will be totally covered.


with the other planter it was small enough to poop over the side, this one is too deep to do that. I was going to say,you must clean up after them, the place looks so clean.


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## StanelyPidge09

I hope Joey is alright  that is very sad. Lucy seemed like she would/is doing well on her own though so thats great to hear. I know its the natural cycle of life but it must be sad to see them go especially after watching them grow up over the past weeks.


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## malfunctional

Yip, I'm a regular cleaner. It has actually got to the point where I can clean the balcony without Mom or Dad, whoever is on the nest leaving. I think they have realised that I'm not going to eat them, even though they aren't too keen on me.

I'm very sad about Joey. I don't think he's ok. He was such a scruffy guy and really did not seem ready for the big world out there. Still he braved his way into it. When I caught him to check up on him on Thursday I felt like I should clip his wings or something just to make sure he wouldn't fly away and get into mischief. That felt too cruel, but now I'm thinking it would probably have been a good thing. If another pigeon turns out like that I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

I was very upset when Dad started chasing Lucy away. She was still sleeping here at the time (Saturday night) and knew no other home. I tried to stop Dad from being so mean, but really what could I do. I'll still see Lucy occasional when she is hungry.

The big news is that Russ has hatched. He hatched over night as expected. So he spent 18.5 days in his egg. With the last batch Lucy came out at the same time even after being laid much later. Tanith on the other hand does not seem to be making her way out of the egg just yet. It is difficult to tell though as Mom is fiercely guarding the little ones and Dad is protecting from the balcony above. I only saw Russ as Mom was feeding him.


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## malfunctional

Bangers 303 days
Lucy 52 days
Russell 2 days
Tanith 1 day

Tanith's little egg started showing signs of cracking on Tuesday afternoon. Dad was on the nest the whole day and refused to budge to let me see if Tanith had started making her way out. It even got to the point that I could go right up to him and stroke him and he wasn't going to move. He wasn't happy about it at all though. He fluffed out his feathers and made himself look twice the size. Very scary. In the end I actually picked him up to see the cracking. He is so brave now, and so soft and smooth. No wonder the babies like it under him so much. 

Wednesday morning and Mom was still fiercely guarding the egg. After a few wing slaps she had finally moved over enough for me to see Tanith, just as she was popping out the egg. I have a great photo which I'll put up soon. Being a day younger than Russ, it is easy to tell the difference between them. They are growing fast and Russ is much bigger. Hopefully I can continue to keep track of them. I'm so glad Tanith didn't take any longer. I've read that they don't have much chance of survival if they are more than two days apart.

Dad has been guarding the nest area when ever he's not on duty. On Tuesday he disappeared for a few minutes and Lucy, Sliverfoot and Bangers arrived together almost straight away to get some food. Being tiny Lucy had to submitted, and Bangers also fended off Silverfoot. Lucy however was brave enough to jump down onto the balcony and grab some food there. The other two know better. Dad returned quickly to chase them away and Lucy from below. He followed her just to make sure she kept her ground.

Dad stuck around for quite awhile before roosting for the night. The weather was getting quite bad and soon Lucy arrived. She had obviously decided that her other roosting spot was not quite as sheltered and her old nest was best. She stumbled around the balcony for quite a while trying to decided where was the least windy least wet part of it to sleep. She looked so miserable and cold out there that I felt obliged to do something. In the end I waited until it was reasonably dark before going out there and putting their old nest inside another box to shelter it. Lucy was terrified as usual and scrambled around trying to escape while I was out there. She was squeaking like the little kid she is. I grabbed hold of her, calmed her down and bit, but the flower pot inside the box and gently placed inside. That's where she stayed the whole night. She obviously decided that that was a good idea. It didn't encourage her to come back the next night though. That might however have been because Mom complained to Dad and the next night he kept guard even later.

Lucy arrived to eat yesterday morning. The raised feeder was empty so I put some food on the balcony. This I can do without scaring them off. Lucy jumped down for it and Mom suddenly jumped out of the nest, not to chase her away. Pretty soon she arrived back with Dad. He obviously has a local hangout and she'd been over there to tell him about the food. Dad ate vigorously and then just sat on the balcony watching the day do by. After about 30 minutes he started feeling guilty about Mom being on the nest. He gave a few coos and Mom made place for him. 

Dad had a busy stint on the eggs with a lot of protecting to do. Every now and again I would hear a huge flutter of feathers and see Dad parading along the balcony rail, after just chasing someone away. It gave me a good chance to see the little babies. They are so cute. Little balls of fluff squirming around looking for heat or food. I've noticed that when the parents jump into the nest (and they have to jump because of the depth of the bucket), they don't really mind where they land. With the eggs it was difficult to tell, but with the chicks I am quite certain that the land directly on them. A pigeon doesn't way much so I guess it is all ok, but yesterday Dad landed with his foot over Russell's neck. Poor little Russell couldn't do much. He just wriggled a little, but invariably was stuck. I checked on Dad a few minutes later and he hadn't changed positions so I went out and moved him off Russell, who was wiggling away happy as ever afterwards. No harm done. 

Dad was on duty till about 4:30 when Mom took over again. It's so cute when she takes over as Dad doesn't leave. Rather they sit in the nest together for a little bit and chat about their days. About 20 minutes later Mom just upped and left while Dad was still eating. He hung around for a bit and then realised she wasn't coming back so he jumped back on the nest. Good old Dad. Always filling in when needed. Mom arrived back and decided a good dinner was in order, but Abby chased her away so that she could get some. Meek Mom eventually made it back to the nest after Abby had gone.

Dad stuck around from a distance guarding after that. Anyone that came past only had a couple of seconds before he chase them away. In this situation they all go for the corn. It's bigger so you get much more for your peck. A definite plus when you are about to get attacked by an angry father pigeon. 

Not much activity yet today. The parents did both scramble off for a few minutes, leaving the babies alone for the first time. The lay contentedly in the sun which was reflecting in from somewhere. Happy pigeons.


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## malfunctional

Tanith 3 days
Russ 4 days

Russell is much bigger than Tanith. All my previous squabs have hatched on the same day so they have always been pretty much the same size. I know they are growing fast at this stage, but it she ok? Is this normal? Will she catch up with Russ? Will she be big enough to beg food from Mom and Dad?


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## Siam Sam

Been busy these past few weeks and am catching up on your story now. Posted some new photos over in my Henry thread, too. 

Congrats on the new squabs! I hope Joey made his way into the world okay. I don't think any of our squabs stayed as long as yours have. The parents certainly never let us touch them.


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## malfunctional

A lot changes on the pigeon front in a couple of days. We were away for the weekend and came back to find one big plump squab and one tiny little one. I posted a few comments on the emergency hotline which recommended I supplement little Tanith's food as her big brother was probably taking it all.

Once we had everything ready it was almost sleep time for everybody. Mom was on the nest with the little ones underneath and it was starting to get dark. I gently grabbed Mom off the nest and soothed her. She was a little panicky, but not too bad. We picked up little Tanith and brought her inside and placed Mom back on the nest. She never even looked underneath herself, and just made herself comfy again. Little Tanith seemed very active and had no idea what was going on. Her head was bobbing away and she seemed fine, just a little small. Her crop seemed full so she had had dinner. We decided to let her be and returned her to the nest. The same operation was repeated in reverse with Mom lifted off the nest, Tanith returned and Mom placed back on top without being any the wiser. Tanith crawled under Mom to get cosy for the night and all seemed well.

This morning however, no Mom. I was up early and she had already left. She never returned (it's been 5 hours). I hope last night didn't spook her too much. We were very gentle but I can't read pigeon brains. Dad however has been around the whole time. He took his shift a good 3 hours earlier than usual. I haven't even seen Mom around the building or getting food from our feeder. I'm sure she'll be back though.

I saw Dad feeding big Russell this morning so I figured I'd try method number two suggested on the emergencies thread. Dad flew away and I moved Russell to the previous nest in the hope that Dad would feed Tanith a little more. Dad came back, jumped on the nest and sat on Tanith for awhile. I didn't see any feeding though. I started feeling sorry for poor Russell on his own in the other nest, so I returned him to his original nest a little later, when Dad was off chasing away Bangers.

Dad is back sitting on them both. I think I'm going to leave nature alone for the moment. I think all my interfering is not helping these guys. I'll see what happens. We're away again for quite a few days in the next couple of weeks so I don't think feeding her every now and again rather than regularly would be a good idea either.

I must say that these guys are a little strange in terms of behaviour. It seems that most of their behaviour is instinctive rather than cognitive. Some examples I've noticed:
1) If the nest is moved, they can't find the new nest even if it is right there
2) If a baby is missing they don't notice it missing.
3) If the food bowl is a different colour they don't notice it at all

Then there is the nesting location. I think it does not really have to do with the feasibility of my balcony. I think they just lay eggs here because they did before and there is a place to lay them so they do. They don't think, hmm there is this guy that scares us, maybe we should go somewhere else. They just just keep at it. Any other balcony would probably be better seeing as I'm one of the few in my building that works from home. It's the only balcony where they'll get disturbed. Then again it's also the only one with food!


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## malfunctional

Dad sat cooing away on the balcony calling Mom yesterday evening. He eventually persuaded her to sit on the babies for the night. She was gone again this morning as soon as the sun came up.

Dad was around patrolling the balcony. Two big fights happened, one with Bangers and one with Abby. I think the fact that those two are fighting him back now may be a sign that he is losing his dominance. He still chased them away though. Then again I don't think pigeons can really hurt each other.

Dad is nesting again. He jumped into the old nest and called Mom for awhile. I will see how that develops.

Baby Tanith is full of life and squeaking away. She just isn't growing at all. I think she has the same problem that Joey had after 3 weeks. He stopped growing at that stage. She does still have a full crop so she is getting fed. We'll see what happens.


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## Siam Sam

Good luck with poor little Tanith. Hope she makes it.


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## malfunctional

It looks like Tanith has started to grow a little. I've been away for a couple of days and she certainly looks bigger. Mom is still on the nest at night. Dad is trying to convince Mom that they should have some new babies in another pot plant. Tanith is constantly craving food (just like Joey did). She looks to be creating a real nuisance of herself in the nest. Because Russell is now so much bigger than her, she tries to beg him for food too, so the poor guy gets his head pecked a lot. I wasn't around but it's certainly the same behaviour Joey was trying when I saw him at 3 weeks.


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## malfunctional

The nest is full of poop now and attracting flies. I've removed the box as a lid as the weather has improved and hopefully more air will dissipate the smell. The problem is that the walls are too high to poop over the edge so it is just going to build up. 

Tanith is full of life. She actually had a fly on her mouth. I don't know if she had tried to eat it or what, but I figured flies can't be too good. I had to pick her up, but it was nearly impossible to get rid of the fly as her head was moving so much. Eventually we did. She cries for food a lot. She also made a little poop while I was holding her. It was almost entirely watery.


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## malfunctional

Russell 12 days
Tanith 11 days

It seems that a lot of what pigeons do is purely instinctive. Mom did not stay over last night. She came around just before dark, sat in the nest awhile and decided one more night for her was too much. 10 days after hatching just as before, even though poor Tanith is tiny and probably still needs Mom's warmth.

The nest felt a bit like a broken home this morning, with big brother Russell looking after his little sister. Tanith was curled up under Russell's breast for warmth and protection. Just like Joey from the last batch, Tanith cries and cries for food. Russell has grown so much he now seems like a parent to her. She begs Russell for food and tries to prod her mouth in his. He really is a good big brother. He never gets upset and always snuggles to keep her warm, be it under his breast or his tiny unfeathered wings.

His crop is empty and he is hungry. Dad is up stairs guarding but hasn't fed them yet. He's probably wondering about Mom who has obviously done a runner. Tanith's crop is not entirely empty and is seed textured. I think the parents have moved her onto solid foods a little too early for her little body to handle. She is doing well though. She is full of life and squeaking constantly. I've been wondering about the squeaks. Her beak doesn't move when she makes them, the sounds just come out although there definitely seems to be a bowel movement with each squeak.

The rest of the gang are all still around. Dad has been fending them off as best he can, but with the kids growing up he's not around as much as he used to be. Bangers and Abby are together again with their little ones a couple of weeks old now. Silverfoot still makes his appearances and when all it clear little Lucy arrives for a nibble.

It has been crazy hot in Cape Town of late and I think the removal of the nest protection has been welcomed. The nest poops have mostly dried out and the flies are dissipating. 

Dad is ready for the next batch. He's been trying to woo Mom into the idea for a couple of days now. Mom usually just ignores him and carries on foraging for food from all that they've messed over the balcony. Their two favourite spots are those most out of reach from eye shot. I get the hint.


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## malfunctional

Here is a pic of the babies after breakfast this morning.










For more pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/sonicdave/Pigeons?feat=directlink


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## malfunctional

I've been away for 10 days and returned this evening to find only big Russ sitting in the nest. I didn't think Tanith would make it as she was just so small. I was a little confused as to where Tanith could have gone seeing as she would not have made it out of the nest. I picked up Russ and could vaguely make out her flat little body beneath him. Poor Tanith. She must have passed on quite a while back. I'll have to check out the pigeon dynamics when I see everyone again tomorrow. Very sad but inevitable.


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## StanelyPidge09

Aww that is horrible news  Poor little Tanith


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## Siam Sam

RIP, little Tanith.


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## malfunctional

I've been a bit busy for pigeon watching lately. Russell has made it out of his bucket and much prefers the old nest that Joey and Lucy hatched in. Dad and Mom are getting ready to lay more eggs. One flower pot is full of sticks so I assume that is where they are planning to lay them. Dad however kicks Russ out of the pot and coos away in it with Mom sitting on another pot right next to it.

I feel sorry for poor Russ. He's had quite a traumatised life. At a couple of weeks old he had to look after his sister, keeping her warm at night and being bullied by her to feed him. Then he had the sadness of her passing on, and worse still that her poor lifeless body was left in his nest. When he finally got big enough to get out of the bucket and move on his Dad kicked him out of his new bed only so that Dad could woo his Mom there. Tough life for a 4 week old.


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## doveone52

That's heart breaking! But so much of nature is about survival of the fittest. I've really enjoyed your story... and Russ and Tanith-RIP.


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## malfunctional

More sad news on the pigeon front. I've been away for the last week, but the wife reports that Russell was starting his helicopters last week (practising flying). On Saturday he finally made it up onto the balcony rail, but as with Lucy he picked the most windy day imaginable. Apparently he was blown off and landed on the balcony below. Dad came past a couple of times to give him some moral support, but he didn't really budge from there.

When I came home yesterday there was no Russ. I looked around for him in any place he might be, but no luck. Poor guy had not yet learnt to fly, but he seemed in good health (not scruffy like Joey was) and was growing a normal, if not accelerated pace compared to the other youngsters. I had not yet seen him eat for himself, but apparently he was learning while I was away, so who knows. 

Mom and Dad seem a little sad but I might just be putting my human emotions on them. Looking around on the balcony there are now three new nests, so they are definitely thinking of having more kids, but probably aren't too sure after the luck they had with the last batch. There is a nest in each of their previous 3 spots. They have also been hanging out on the balcony the whole time. Not sitting together cooing together in a pot, but just quietly standing around on the balcony doing not a lot. It has been pretty windy, so they might just be here for shelter.


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## Siam Sam

Oh no! Poor Russ!


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## malfunctional

I was only home for 10 minutes today and I noticed Dad sitting in the flower pot on the balcony. I suspected an egg and when I checked, sure enough there was one. No idea when it was laid though. I suspect Monday evening just before dark. The second one should be here tomorrow.

Not much else to report seeing as I haven't been around much. Hopefully this next batch is a little more lucky than the last. Only one from the 6 eggs that have hatch here is certainly still around. Perhaps Mom and Dad are passing on some disease.


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## Siam Sam

malfunctional said:


> Only one from the 6 eggs that have hatch here is certainly still around. Perhaps Mom and Dad are passing on some disease.


In both of the last two batches for Big and Little Pidgee, only one egg hatched. We wondered if there was something like that going on, or maybe even if it was a sign of age.


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## malfunctional

Still only one egg. Dad was on the egg when I got up this morning but he deserted it after a few minutes. Mom eventually came back and was on the egg till about 11:30. Dad has been on it since. I suspect Mom will arrive sometime this afternoon to lay the second.

No sign of Russ.
The only baby left is 11 month old Bangers and Abby that have popped around for food. It seems that they have only had 2 sets of kids. They might be laying their next batch of eggs soon.


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## malfunctional

Mom has just arrived around lunch time. She must be here to lay the second egg. It's 2 days since I saw the first egg so it must have just have been laid when I saw it. 3 days between eggs is a little long.

All the eggs so far have hatched, but not too many of the pigeons have been returning. I at least 3 of them would not have survived as they were certainly not ready for life. The other two just stopped coming past eventually, so either they got the message or something happened to them. They were regulars before then.


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## malfunctional

Just as I thought. We now have two eggs


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## malfunctional

Russell is back!

For the first time in ages I've been home to watch the pidgies a little. Russell is back. Dad is on the eggs and two pigeons arrived on the balcony rail, Silverfoot and Russell. Very strange. I haven't seen Russell since he still had most of his yellow tufts and he now looks just like an adult. He has a full body of warm feathers and is actually quite big for a teenager. The only reason I recognised him is that he has the two white tags on that I put on his legs.

Silverfoot danced on the balcony a little and seemed to be wooing Russell. Perhaps Russell is a girl, even though he was the first to hatch. They then jumped down and started eating the food from the balcony. Dad jumped out of the nest immediately to chase them away. Dad has always been a little scared of Silverfoot so he started pecking at Russell. Russell ignored him and carried on eating. Dad eventually climbed back in the nest and left them alone. It was almost as if Dad only then realised it was his youngster then and decided to leave him alone.

Silverfoot disappeared somewhere along the line, but Russell remained. He pecked around at the seeds and at the seeds lying on the balcony. He had a few drinks of water which is interesting as I've only ever seen one of the other youngsters, Lucy, drink before. Russell then hopped all around the plants and pecked around in all of them looking for stuff. He looked so mature. I'm guessing that he grew faster than usual as he didn't get much competition from Tanith.

It was great to see him and nice to know he's still around. I really didn't think he had a chance. I wonder what he's been up to, where he's been sleeping, how he found Silverfoot and why he hasn't come back since he left at the beginning of the week.

It was interesting too that Dad didn't try chase him away other than initially. I got a couple of snaps of the two of them together as Russell hung out in the flower box next to Dad.

Otherwise everything is well. Mom and Dad are looking after the eggs well. Dad is very comfortable with me now. I can go up to the nest and stroke him without him flying away. He is a little nervous as expected, but that is something. Mom is a little more skittish. A complete reversal of when they first arrived here.


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## Siam Sam

Was Russell the one who was blown away while doing helicopters? Glad he/she is safe!

Some of our first hatches have turned out to be girls and second hatches boys. Doesn't seem to be a strict rule.


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## malfunctional

Yip, that's the one. Russell disappeared about 10 days ago. I hadn't been around for a week or so, but the last time I'd seen him we was nowhere near ready. He was probably a week younger than most when they leave. I guess it was the extra food.


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## StanelyPidge09

Yay! I am so glad to hear Russell is okay!


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## Siam Sam

I wonder if the parents could have found and fed him wherever he ended up.


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## malfunctional

Even better news. Lucy is around too. She popped by for some food. Abby was at the upper food bowl and chased her away so she jumped down and Dad chased her away. But she is still around too. It seems these pigeons are far more resilient than I thought.

Yesterday Mom arrived with two other pigeons. Russell and another youngster with no tags on it. I'm not sure who it could be, but Mom and Dad have secretly been looking after everyone. Maybe I'll even see Mash again some time.


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## malfunctional

The parents definitely found Russell and fed him. Dad disappeared from nest duty today when Mom arrived for a brief stint. Dad then went and found Russell where ever he may have been and they ate together with Russ crying a little as a hungry baby pigeon does when Dad is around.

So one pigeon from each batch has been here today.


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## malfunctional

It seems Russell is more than just back. He sleeps here with Mom. Dad has obviously been chasing him away so he waits until is starts getting dark before he arrives. He then climbs into the flower bed just next to Mom and that's where he sleeps for the night. I'm not sure where he spent the week when he was lost, but I imagine Dad is going to chase him back there. The babies are due to hatch this weekend.


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## malfunctional

It seems I was wrong about Dad chasing Russell away. Russell arrived for lunch and Dad didn't budge from the nest. Dad is obviously being a little more lenient on poor Russ, who has had quite a hard life. Russ is still here now. He's been hanging out on the balcony rail for an hour or so. Whenever he sees me move around inside my flat he cries. I'm not sure who he is crying too. Perhaps Dad might come to his aid.

Dad seems to be far more subdued than ever before. Nothing will budge him from his nest. I can water the plants right next to him, I can even feed him peanuts and he won't move. He does start pecking at me and wing slapping though. Perhaps he's getting old or perhaps he's finally realised that I'm not going to hurt him. He does make himself incredibly big though if I come near him. Almost twice the size.

Mom on the other hand abandons the nest if I even step out on the balcony. Dad certainly seems to be doing the brunt of the work. He was on the nest when I got up, and stays there till just about dusk.


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## Siam Sam

I've read that a wing slap was a sign they think of you on equal terms. It's an admonishment between equals. Otherwise, they'd flee from a sense of danger.

Maybe Russell wants you to feed him.


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## malfunctional

That's cool to know. I think he has definitely gotten used to me. Every time I go outside I drop a few peanuts in his nest just to show him I'm friends. Obviously I'm invading his territory so he's a little annoyed but after I leave he eats them all up in no time.

We have a squab. The first baby hatched in the last couple of days. I noticed some cracks before going away on Friday and now there is a little squab. He's not quite the same as the previous squabs though. He is far more brown in colour rather than the yellow that the babies usually are. Any ideas why? The second egg was a little smaller than the first and I was worried that it wouldn't hatch, but today there are definite signs that the little one is trying to get out. It has some cracks to that is good news.

Now for the names for the new ones....


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## malfunctional

The second baby just hatched. They aren't much more than a day apart so that is good. Dad is still holding the fort. He never leaves, not for an instant. I was able to gently lift him to take a quick look at the newbie.

Bangers and Abby have been past for food. Bangers was here around lunch time so he must take a brief break from the eggs.

Lucy was also here. She sat on the balcony watching the world go by for ages. 

A little later Russell was here with Bangers. Bangers was doing the flirting, I'm bigger than you dance and Russell flew up onto the balcony door. He hid up there while Bangers ate.


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## malfunctional

Here's some more information for the avid viewer. Dad has been on the nest all day. Mom arrived for the night shift. She climbed in the nest with Dad for a little while. Dad pruned her beak area almost like he was trying to kiss her. He then moved over a bit so that Mom could see her new little one. Dad eventually skipped off the nest and Mom grabbed the biggest half of the egg shell that was now in the nest and she flew off. She was gone quite awhile disposing of the shell where ever she does that and Dad climber back on the nest for a bit. Mom eventually returned and the ritual repeated except this time she made herself comfortably and settled in for the night. Dad kept watch for a little from above and then disappeared for the night.

So now I know why there are never any egg shells remaining in the nest.


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## malfunctional

Russell is still sleeping here, so there are four pigeons sleeping on the balcony. I wonder how long until he is no longer welcome. Mom doesn't seem to chase anyone away and Russell usually arrived long after Dad has left. He might stay on awhile. Then again screaming brothers and sisters might put him off.


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## Siam Sam

malfunctional said:


> So now I know why there are never any egg shells remaining in the nest.


We saw Little Pidgee toss out the last unfertilized egg in that manner last year. First we thought it got stuck to her foot and put it back in the box! Just in case there was still a chance something would happen, although I could tell from the weight it was empty. Shortly later, the wife saw her fly out holding the egg and drop it again. There was a tiny crack in it allowed Little P to get a hold.

Usually, though, the eggshells became flattened out and mulched into the nest.


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## LUCKYT

I have been kind of following this post, (not all the wat thru) it looks like the Pic from Sept.28 shows a band on the bird in the nest? Stray? Dave


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## malfunctional

LUCKYT said:


> I have been kind of following this post, (not all the wat thru) it looks like the Pic from Sept.28 shows a band on the bird in the nest? Stray? Dave



They're not strays. They're my babies. I put tags on them so that I can identify them as well as which are mine. It has been very successful so far. The tags last quite awhile and are harmless. Anyone without a tag gets immediately chased off the balcony.


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## malfunctional

Siam Sam said:


> We saw Little Pidgee toss out the last unfertilized egg in that manner last year. First we thought it got stuck to her foot and put it back in the box! Just in case there was still a chance something would happen, although I could tell from the weight it was empty. Shortly later, the wife saw her fly out holding the egg and drop it again. There was a tiny crack in it allowed Little P to get a hold.
> 
> Usually, though, the eggshells became flattened out and mulched into the nest.


I wonder if it's just the females that discard eggs then? She is the nest maker while Dad brings the raw materials so I guess it makes sense


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## malfunctional

Mom may be finally tiring of Russ. For the first time ever I heard (although not saw) her get out of the nest to chase another pigeon away and it was Russell. She climbed right back in looking a little sheepish at me on her way back though.

Squabs are doing well. The older is probably a day and a half older and already much bigger. He will be called Mike. The little one is very small. She also looks upside down most of the time. Lying on her back. I haven't really seen a day old squab before as they are usually well tucked under Mom and Dad. It however is so hot I don't think the parents are too fussed at the moment. The little one will be called Susan.

The squabs again hatched in order of egg layings. The bigger egg was encrusted with poop right after being laid. It stayed on the egg throughout incubation so it was easy to tell. That and the other egg being noticeably smaller.

Lets hope that Susan has more luck than poor little Tanith had.


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## malfunctional

Siam Sam said:


> I've read that a wing slap was a sign they think of you on equal terms. It's an admonishment between equals. Otherwise, they'd flee from a sense of danger.
> 
> Maybe Russell wants you to feed him.


Well this is good news. I thought Dad was starting to get far too annoyed with me meddling with his whole business of life. Today we didn't react at all when I went outside. He just stared at me. He didn't even get defensive and tense his wings up. Dad is chilled and happy with his home.

They have now been tenants for a year! We returned from holidays on 1 Jan last year to find a startled pigeon sitting on two eggs.


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## malfunctional

Dad is back to his usual self. He has been chasing away every pigeon that dares comes near the balcony except Mom of course. Even Russ got a little stick, but Silverfoot still seems to intimidate Dad a little.

Dad now has no fear when it comes to me. As soon as I hear a flutter of wings I know Dad has been chasing someone else away. It's a good chance to see the babies so I often go and have a look. Even if I am right next to the nest Dad will still gawk past me and climb in. He really has no fear of me now. 

Mom remains petrified as usual but today I noticed her chase Russell away. Perhaps she is finally fed up with him.


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## malfunctional

Today I watched as Mom chased Lucy away. Lucy was enjoying a good breakfast while Mom was just getting angry on the nest. She flared herself up bigger and bigger but that was no deterrent. Eventually Lucy made the braze step to jump around in the plants and that was the last straw for Mom. She jumped off the nest and chased Lucy away.

She did however allow Russell to sleep here again last night. Pretty soon he's going to still be here sleeping when she's given up on the nest. What's he going to do when his siblings cry for food?


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## LUCKYT

COOL! Dave


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## malfunctional

It seems that we might have the same problem here as we had with Russell and Tanith. Little Susan isn't growing nearly as much as big Mikey. Hopefully things change.

She always seems quite helpless in the nest. Often she is even on her back and she is very still and lifeless a lot of the time. Sleeping I'm sure, but she's just not growing.


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## malfunctional

Poor little Susan. It seems that the parents might be rejecting her already. She never seems to be under the parent in the nest although little Mikey is. Perhaps they have realised after the last batch that she isn't going to last.


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## malfunctional

Quite a bit of news on the pigeon side. Russell didn't sleep here last night. I wasn't here near dusk so I'm not sure if he tried to come in and was chased by Mom. Perhaps he just got lost as he usually tries to come in when it's really dark. 

This morning I got a good chance to watch feeding. They never feed with me looking, but this morning I peaked through a crack in the lounge curtain. Mom was feeding in the nest for a good 20 minutes or so. She was feeding big Mikey most of the time. Poor little Susan tried quite hard to get her beak in Mom's mouth, but was just having no luck with Mikey there. Eventually she managed to wriggle her little body all the way around and under Mom to come into the beak from the other side. The good news is that she did eventually get her beak in and Mom did feed her. In fact she seemed to get quite a good feeding. It doesn't seem to be helping her grow unfortunately. I'm not sure if there is anything that I can do.

While feeding dad arrived a couple of times and looked down curiously. I love the way they turn their heads to get a better look at something. Anyway Mom and Dad cooed at each other the usual your turn coo, and Dad took over for his shift. Then came something interesting, Dad tried to feed Mikey. Mikey was not too keen. I think he was rather full from Mom's feeding, but Dad kept prodding him. This is most unusual as it's usually the squabs begging for food. Mikey eventually had a little food, but largely escaped another huge breakfast. Dad didn't try get Susan to eat at all, but at least I know she's getting fed.

Mom and Dad are becoming less protective again. Mom will leave if I step out on the balcony and Dad now won't charge past me onto the nest if he is not already on it.


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## malfunctional

Two mysteries solved this evening. I discovered why Russell didn't sleep here last night or tonight-Mom. Russell arrived really late as usual and Mom took off at once to chase him away. Russ tried once more and actually made it into his roosting spot this time before Mom got out the nest and chased him away.

This gave me the answer to another mystery, what happened to poor little Tanith. When Mom was about to pounce on Russell I noticed her standing on poor little Susan. Mom doesn't really seem to care about standing on her babies. I suppose pigeons don't really weigh much but they have sharp claws, so I'm sure it's a little painful if you're only a week only. Tanith was stomped into the nest when we came back from Zanzibar. Perhaps it was Mom. Poor little Susan still isn't growing... 4 days old now.


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## Biveon100

My two birds Biveon(pigeon) and Bove(white dove) laid two eggs and they hatched. they dont seem to care if they step on the chicks. but im so happy yay now im a grandma( even though im 15)! my doves have chicks now!


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## malfunctional

so a pigeon and a dove can mate. That is cool. Congratulations. I'm glad the parents don't cause too much damage standing on their chicks.


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## malfunctional

Pigeons are doing well. Mikey's feather spines are sprouting. Susan still looks like a day old pigeon sadly 

I get a chance to take a look at them only when Dad jumps off the nest to chase one of his older children away. Other wise they are on the nest full time still protecting the youngsters

All sorts of excitement today at lunch time. Mom just arrived, with Russell in tow although I don't think they've been together, rather coincidence. Mom started eating off the balcony while Russell stayed in the safe zone of the railing feeder. This was still bugging Dad and especially with Mom around he had to chase Russell away. Mom therefore was left on the balcony with the squeakers and felt obliged. She jumped onto the nest and is still there. Dad came back, gave a few approving coos and left.

Meanwhile Abby arrived with a pigeon in tow. She didn't seem to mind this pigeon, so I think it is one of her off spring. From their behaviour, Abby and Bangers will have eggs hatching today of tomorrow, so this is from her previous brood which would have hatched about a week before Russell. The little pigeon certainly looked that young, but certainly not as skittish as poor Russell. Shame he's had a hard life. 

Anyway I think I've seen this youngster before a couple of days ago and I thought it was Lucy. They all look so similar, so these tags I put on are certainly useful. Especially as the relatives are growing in numbers fast. I still only have one stranger pigeon regular so this is good.

Anyway Dad is really enjoying some lunch time freedom. He has been back and forth several times cooing away on the railing and flying loops as well as taking lunch for a change! Dad pidge is cool!


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## malfunctional

Big news. Lucy has found a mate. She just arrived now for a snack with a beautiful almost totally black pigeon. Unfortunately Dad was not too impressed with someone new encroaching on his territory and he took off after them like a flash. He even carried on flying and chased them around the building. Hopefully I'll see them again. Lucy would be about 4 months old now, which is the same age that bangers found his mate. I still think Lucy is the female as the other pigeon was bigger, but perhaps I'll get a chance to observe them again.

Lucy just returned on her own. Maybe it was just coincidence.


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## Siam Sam

The Thais have only one word for both pigeons and doves. For some reason, they don't differentiate between the two. Same for lemons and limes; only one word for them, too.

Sorry about Susan. Maybe take her to a vet? 

I like the black pigeons. We've not seen Jack for a while now, but I saw an all-black pigeon just the other day while I was out and about.


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## malfunctional

Mikey 7 days
Susan 6 days

Quite a change on the pigeon front today. No parents. After not leaving the kids alone at all for 7 days today they are gone. When I got up no one was on the nest. Within about 15 minutes Dad and Mom arrived but seemed more interested in cooing at each other. Dad eventually settled in one of the plants and tried to coax Mom. She wasn't interested and pecked away at food for awhile before finally deciding that the next best option was obviously to sit on the nest.

Mom lasted on the nest for about 10 minutes before Bangers came along for food and somehow managed to scare her away. She never returned. Dad eventually rocked up around his usual shift time. Even though he couldn't see me he started making some of the unfriendly gawking sounds. I went outside to investigate. He was in the nest, and when I moved closer he immediately took off.

Very interesting. Yesterday he would run along the floor right past me to jump on his nest to protect the chicks. If I went near him he would get very angry and puff up and wing slap me, but he certainly wouldn't budge from the nest. Today he is off without any consideration for the chicks. I guess they have decided that they are old enough.

As for the chicks, Mikey is growing really well. His spines are popping out and he is pretty big. Susan still looks like a new born . I felt a little sorry for the poor little ones all on their own and went to give them a back rub in the nest. Mikey clicked a couple of times to defend himself as they always do but then something strange happened, he tried to get a feed. It was interesting, he kept trying to get his beak between my fingers, almost pecking me for food. I guess they are pretty hungry now, but I'll let Mom and dad continue with their business.


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## malfunctional

Babies are doing well. Mikey's spines have started splitting into feather sprouts at the ends. This is mainly on the feathers on his body. I guess those are the ones that keep him warm when Mom deserts him at night. Things seem to be still going like clockwork on the behavioural side, in which case Mom will only be on the nest for 2 more nights before they have to fend for themselves. Poor little Susan is going to freeze.

Mom wasn't on the nest first thing this morning but she did end up spending a fair amount of time on it later, and feeding the chicks. Mom and Dad seem to be getting ready for their next batch and Dad is certainly pleased to have a bit more freedom to fly around now.

They did eventually leave the nest long enough for me to get a couple of photos of the chicks. Mikey is so cute. He still thinks that I might be there to feed him so he pokes his beak between my fingers. He started doing stretches while I was out there. Man his feet are so big in comparison to the rest of his body. I guess i haven't noticed as they are usually well tucked in underneath him. He also did some wing stretches with his tiny featherless wings. Very cute.

Susan on the other hand still hasn't grown. Mom's going to leave them in the evenings and I fear she might freeze. She already seems to be shivering when left alone during the day although it was a little breezy yesterday. Just like with Tanith before her, she tries to get comfort from her older brother by burrowing underneath him. She is however not as full of life as Tanith was and seems to sleep most of the time.

News of the food may be spreading. Russell brought a friend along yesterday too. A big grey pigeon with black bands on the ends of it's wings. The type you often see in pigeon photos. Dad chased them away in no time though so it probably won't be a habit.

Lucy was on her own again today too. Her feathers look a little out of shape. Her tail has gaps in it and her wings seemed shortened. I wonder if she had an encounter with someone malicious.


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## malfunctional

New babies coming soon. Dad has been cooing away at Mom trying to encourage her all day.


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## malfunctional

Lots of pigeons around yesterday. They finished off the food several times and I had to refill. Parents are no longer on the nest, but Dad had a full time job fighting off all his offspring for food.

Lucy was with the huge black pigeon again, so they probably are an item. 

Mom didn't sleep on the nest yesterday like clockwork-tenth day off the nest, even though the one baby is definitely too small to be left alone.

Poor little Susan. Without parents on her full time now she seems to spend most of her day freezing. Mom and Dad are always close though, cooing away in a near by flower box and planning their future batch.


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## malfunctional

Happy Birthday Bangers

It's the first birthday of the first two babies to be born on my balcony. Just Bangers is still around and he's achieved a lot in a year. He has a beautiful girlfriend in Abby and they've already had 3 batches of little ones, the youngest of which hatched last week.

The current batch on my balcony however aren't doing too well. Little Susan still has not started growing. She has no feathers to keep her warm and Mom isn't staying over on the nest at night any more so she gets rather cold. Yesterday we made her a nice little bed with a hot water bottle to keep her warm and within 30 minutes she was bounding with life again.

I also fed her. Wow my first time feeding a baby pigeon and it was so easy. I took a syringe, cut the end off and covered it with a stocking, poked a little beak sized hole in it and filled it with food. Hey presto, an artificial Mom. It was amazing how well it worked. Poor little Susan isn't getting much food as big brother Mikey grabs almost all of it. Yesterday after Dad had come around for the lunch time feeding I noticed Mikey all bloated and little Susan crying for more. Dad was still on the nest. He spent most of yesterday on the nest. Anyway I put the syringe into the nest with Dad there and little Susan stuck he beak in it and ate immediately. It was amazing, her eating there with Dad.

Dad has been so brave lately. With the last batch I couldn't even look at them without scaring Dad away and now this.

Anyway last night was a little cold so Susan slept inside and I returned her to the nest at dusk. Mom and Dad hadn't arrived yet, but she woke up in no time and as you guessed it. She was super hungry. She tried really hard to get Mikey to feed her. She thinks he's her Dad. In the end I gave her another feeding before Mom and Dad got there. Mikey was extremely jealous. He kept trying to get his beak in the syringe too. In the end I had to take Susan out and put her in another flower box to feed her, which worked well.

Mom and Dad have been feeding her today and her crop is now full of seeds, etc. You can feel them all lumpy and such like. Poor girl. Her body is basically stilll like that of a new hatchling and I doubt it can process them. Well see how it goes. No idea why she doesn't grow. She is now 11 days old. Any ideas?

Her sibling from the last batch was the same. Yesterday I looked out and could not see Susan anywhere. In the end I lifted up Mikey and there she was snuggled under him. I think that might be what happened to poor Tanith. She got cold, climbed under Russell and got squashed. Anyway I'm here to look after Susan who is still full of life (when warm) so we'll see how long she lasts.


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## Luke0987654321

why dofnt you bring susan in and handreer her by your self? 
i think she would doo much better with you feeding her and beifng warm.
hope everything goes well


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## BirdDogg10

I was thinking the same thing. Sounds like she needs some help. I know folks here typically put smaller more 'premature' pigeons with a foster pair or just raise them by hand. Just a thought.


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## malfunctional

Not to worry. I'm still looking after little Susan. It is really hot here tonight so she is outside with big brother. She is still surviving fine. She doesn't seem to have any problems, other than not growing. I might need to make sure Mom and Dad don't feed her though, but I really don't want her imprinted on me. These are wild birds after all. From photos of Mikey, she looks about how he looked after 4 days even though she is now 12. Does anyone know of this happening before. Is it normal?


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## malfunctional

Wow lots of exciting news on the pigeon front. Yesterday was extremely hot here in Cape Town and I guess this made everyone really hungry. They were all here looking for food at the same time and poor Dad had a tough job defending his balcony. Let me name those that were here.

Lucy-4 month old from the September batch.
Dark Knight or DK as we call him. He is Lucy's mate. They have been hanging around together for about a week now. He seems to be a bit of a wife beater. He often seems to be attacking Lucy, but still they are always together. Lucy in fact is missing some tail feathers and some wing feathers on her right side. She still manages to fly ok, but there is a definite hole in the fan when she splays out her tail.
Bangers-it was his birthday from my first batch
Silverfoot and Abby-I'm not sure which. They both look the same and both seem to have lost their tags. There is no way I'm going to catch them again.
Then of course Mom and Dad.
And finally poor lonely teenage Russell

So basically I had 7 pigeons on the building, all on the other balconies on my level as Dad would chase them away if they came any where near this one. I think my neighbours are going to start getting suspicious. 

Mikey has grown a lot of feathers. I can't quite figure out what he will look like, but he's getting there.
Susan still isn't growing but seems healthy enough.


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## Siam Sam

If your neighbors say anything, just agree: "Yeah, we've noticed a lot of pigeons, too." 

Happy birthday to the young 'uns!


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## malfunctional

Hehe. I like the idea. Unfortunately they may be on to me. The old lady down stairs caught me in the lift the other day with two bags of bird seed and asked.

Some of them are now super brave. Lucy and DK will eat with me standing about half a metre away unperturbed. Clearly they are really hungry. It's so great that she has a mate. He is much bigger than her and aggressive so I assume I have the sexes right.

This means more grandchildren to fend off for Dad!


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## Siam Sam

Always conceal your birdseed. Since even birds are specifically banned as pets in our building, that's what we do.

And I dispose of the birdseed bags in the trash two floors below.


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## malfunctional

Yeah I know. I wasn't thinking at time.

Good news is that little Susan seems to be growing! Her feather spines are finally starting to come out. She is 13 days old today! We've been feeding her a little. Just the basic three meals a day although Mom and Dad are definitely still topping her up when they feed big brother Mikey. I can especially tell as she is full of big lumpy seeds. They do seem to eventually digest, but they take a lot longer than the cereal we have been feeding her.

We are starting to get quite attached to the little girl. She is just so cute. We do leave her in the nest with big brother most of the day so hopefully she won't be too human imprinted, although feeding her probably makes a difference. Anyway if she survives to a full size pigeon we'll be happy and we can figure out then. As far as things are going for the moment I think she is lasting a lot longer than she would otherwise. She sleeps inside in a little shoe box with a hot water bottle for warmth. The poor girl still has no feathers to keep her warm so outside would be a no no. In fact even during the day she cuddles up to Mikey most of the time. It is very cute. She often finds herself under Mikey's wing for a little warmth. 

Mikey is so sedate by comparison. He used to try beg me for food if I came near the nest, but now he is pretty much unperturbed and doesn't move at all. He's starting to get a little scared of me. I've picked up the babies before and that seems to scare them, so Mikey will only be getting pats. We'll see if that helps him trust me more.

No food on the balcony today as it is weekend and there are plenty of people around. They seem to have got hint and Dad has had a much easier time patrolling today.

Night night from little Susan!


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## BirdDogg10

Aww, nice to hear she's coming around. I have an older brother and we're close too. I used to feed a squirrel who semi-domestic, what I mean by that she'd walk right up to me and let me get close but I didn't try to pet or anything.


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## Siam Sam

A late bloomer.


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## malfunctional

Little Susan is 15 days old and now has little feathers growing out! I think she might be fine! This morning when I got up she stood up and clicked at me. Now that is a good sign considering a week ago she hardly even had legs.

On a bad note, I think I might have been over feeding her. I noticed a little stretch mark on her crop where there was bear skin between feather tufts. She seem to be totally fine though, but I'll be more careful in the future. I usually full her up good and proper before putting her to bed. It's interesting to see how she converts brown mushy stuff in one end into brown mushy stuff out the over end and growth. Wow she is growing fast now. It's always a surprise to open her box in the morning and see how different she looks.


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## malfunctional

Mom and Dad have decided that it is much nicer living inside rather than outside. Today they scouted around my flat without a care in the world, as if they owned it. I was sitting on the couch in the lounge and Mom sauntered right past me to explore the bed room. Only when I got up was there a moment of terror in her body when she realised she was trapped. She stealthily walked right back out onto the balcony almost pretending nothing had happened.

Mom is now lying on her belly on the balcony enjoying the view.

Then this morning I was on my haunches having a look at the babies in the nest and Bangers and Abby started eating from the food dish right behind me. Abby's tag was come loose so I thought it would be a good time to grab her and put on a new one, but she got away and I was stuck with Bangers who flew into the flat. Silly bird.

The irony is the both Abby's and Silverfoot's tag have come off in the last couple of weeks and they are impossible to tell apart, and Silverfoot is really the only unwelcome pigeon, as he is not direct family. It's almost like a night club now, no tag, no food.


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## malfunctional

Poor Susan is always hungry. Today I saw something super special. Even though I had just fed Susan she was still hungry. Dad came along to feed Mikey and Susan but wasn't around long enough. Susan just kept begging and begging, and begging Mikey. Eventually I saw Mikey feed her a couple of times. She actually had her mouth down Mikey's throat and he was regurgitating just like his parents. Now I've heard of an adult bird feeding a nestling, but two birds the same age feeding each other!


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## malfunctional

Mikey just took his first steps, although I didn't actually see him. It's been raining and their nest was getting pretty wet. Both of them are not water resistant yet, so I moved the flower pot they were in out of the rain. The next time I looked Mikey was in the house sleeping on the floor at the balcony door between the curtains. He looked so cute and happy. Unfortunately the floor is tiled and he had no traction. I was a little worried about his legs so I put him in Susan's nesting box. He had obviously decided it was warmer inside and he was quite happy. I'll see how him and Susan go in the box, but I'm sure Dad will want to feed them soon.


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## malfunctional

Mikey is being a great big brother, well other than often standing on little Susan now that he can walk. Several times I've heard feeding cries and peered out the window to see little Susan with her head in Mikey's mouth. He's feeding her often now. I guess the poor guy has to live right next to her in the nest with all her crying so he gives in more often than Mom and Dad.


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## malfunctional

Susan just took her first steps. I'm still supplementing her feeding. She was on the floor on a tea cloth and she walked all the way across it to get to the food. Seems she is only behind Mikey in size, but not in coordination.


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## malfunctional

Little Susan has taken a turn for the worse.

On Thursday when I fed her at lunch time I noticed her whole crop swell up. It was like it was filled with only air. She looked terrible. I put in an emergency post on the site and got loads of helpful advice. After awhile she didn't seem to be in serious danger.

Yesterday Plamenh sent me some pigeon medicines, but I'll only get them Monday. Little Susan seemed fine all of yesterday. She wasn't quite full of her usual energy, but I did run around chasing me for food at lunch time. I thought she'd easily make it through till the medicine on Monday. In fact she was so well that at one stage she wasn't in the nest. She somehow climbed out (or maybe was pushed) and was on the ledge watching the world go by.

This morning the family was on the balcony and I didn't want to disturb. I tried to stealthily look out the window, but I couldn't see little Susan in the nest. Then I saw her. Her lifeless body was laid out limp camouflaged by the soil of the nest. She looked dead, dead, dead.

I went outside and saw that there was still some movement. She was alive, but barely. I touched her and she was cold, really cold. I tried to pick her up, but she was totally limp. I've never seen a pigeon like that. Her wings drooped, her feet are like cold spaghetti.

Very sad. I put on the kettle and made her a hot water bottle. I brought her in carefully and put her in the little nest I'd made to warm her up.

She is still there now, warming up slowly and still alive. She is breathing by opening her mouth. I've finally got to see what canker is. Poor girl it is all over her mouth. It was impossible to see into her mouth before. She would always fight me, but I'm pretty sure none of that was there during the glimpses I did get. Hopefully she pulls through.


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## malfunctional

Little Susan didn't make it.

She lasted a few more minutes after my last post, gasping a little, but largely lifeless. She was on her last legs. Eventually she perked her head up, looked and me and I knew that was it. Poor girl. She would have been 20 in a few hours.

I'm going to make a plan to bury her in the garden below now.

Very sad. I didn't think someone could get like this over a pigeon. They are such awesome little creatures.


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## TAWhatley

malfunctional said:


> She is still there now, warming up slowly and still alive. She is breathing by opening her mouth. I've finally got to see what canker is. Poor girl it is all over her mouth. It was impossible to see into her mouth before. She would always fight me, but I'm pretty sure none of that was there during the glimpses I did get. Hopefully she pulls through.


Where there is life, there is hope. Given your description of the breathing and the amount of canker, I am sad to say that the prognosis is not good. Still .. where there is life, there is hope .. hope those meds get to you tomorrow.

Regardless of the outcome, I thank you for your amazing observations of pigeons and your efforts to save this one.

Terry


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## TAWhatley

malfunctional said:


> Little Susan didn't make it.


I'm very sorry for the loss of Little Susan. I was posting back to you as you posted this sad news. Thank you for caring and for trying.

Terry


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## malfunctional

She was doing so well. She had such a good week. She took her first steps, her feathers came in. She had little wings. It all seemed like she had just lost a few days on Mikey and was catching up fast. She had more life, more confidence and loads of personality for a tiny little animal. She began to love me like her mother. When the syringe came out she would go crazy and flap her wings ready for some food. In her last couple of days she would run around the floor chasing me to get to the syringe. Even yesterday.

It was a real surprise. I certainly thought she would make it to Monday and the medicine. She was just a little fighter. As I read in another post, pigeons don't show they are weak until they are just about dying else they would get picked off. Well she certainly made it all the way there.

It's very sad. I'm glad she still had a bit of life left in her even if it was only for a few minutes this morning. We got to say goodbye. She looked at me just before she passed on and we definitely had a moment. I knew that was her time.

I found a beautiful little cardboard box with angels on it. It's very pretty. I placed her in it and wrote a little note. I've buried it in the garden below our building. It's in a nice sheltered place where she is not likely to get dug up. It's the exact place where I found Mash. Mash was from Mom and Dad's first batch a year ago. One day while she was still too young to fly she disappeared. I went looking for her around the place and found her in this spot. One pigeon saved, one moves on.


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## Luke0987654321

i'm s sorry for your loss 
i think you should treat the other chick or at least check it for canker 
hope everything goes well


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## malfunctional

Yes good idea. I will treat little Mikey when the medicine arrives on Monday. It is really difficult to check them though as it is impossible to get them to open their mouths.


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## malfunctional

Mikey hasn't moved from the nest yet, except for that one time when I moved the nest out of the rain and he jumped out later. Even little Susan who was half his size and not well managed walking around. Mikey seems totally content on the nest. He has started swallowing a few seeds himself and Mom and Dad are trying to coax him out of the nest. Another late bloomer. I'll give him some meds when they arrive tomorrow.


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## malfunctional

Medicine arrived this morning from Plamenh. I spent a bit of time getting Mikey cleaned up and rid of bugs and gave him a spartrix pill. He doesn't seem to be showing any signs of canker, but now he'll definitely be ok. It took forever to get the pill in his mouth. He just was not keen to open it up. I haven't done this before so I don't really know if this is normal, but I certainly wouldn't let some giant shove something in my mouth.

I did notice that his beak is soft. I always imagined them as rigid hard things, but I guess he is still young.

Mom and Dad popped by and started exploring the flat like they owned it. I threw a few peanuts down and they came right in to get them. It was mentioned that I should treat the parents as well so they don't reinfect the baby, and so future babies will be ok. Anyway I though what better time to do it. I threw a couple of peanuts deep into the flat, they chased after them and I snuck around them and closed the balcony door.

Clear panic set in in the minds of Mom and Dad. They realised right away that they were trapped. They both got startled and flew up into the window to try escape. I threw a towel over Dad and caught him. I could hear lots of panicked heavy breathing by both Mom and Dad. I wrapped Dad up with his beak sticking out. Then a gave him the pill with no problems. Soothed him a little and let him go.

Mom was obviously a little more cunning after seeing Dad, but I also managed to throw the towel over her, find her head, open her mouth and give her the pill. I then let her go and she ran off to Dad for protection. I opened the balcony door and the two of them ran out immediately and flew off.

They were getting so used to me... I think the trust is now destroyed  But at least they should be having more healthy babies from now on.

Dad did come back a little later, but it is yet to be seen if they'll be confident enough to come inside again. Probably just as well as they were starting to think they owned this place.


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## Siam Sam

Just read about little Susan. I'm very sorry. That brings back bad memories of Bob's death last August. Very similar.


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## malfunctional

Mikey has been getting out of the nest a little finally, although he is very quick to climb back in. Dad has been around regularly and cooing loudly, but Mom hasn't been around much. I did see them together in the gardens below, so I think Mom might still be upset about Monday's catching and medicating.

I'm moving out in a few days. I'm going to miss my pidgeys.


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## malfunctional

Mikey has finally been chasing Mom and Dad around for food. He is 27 today. Slow learner. I'll bet he'll pick the windiest day next week to decided to fly. Looks like Mom and Dad are planning one more batch. Dad arrived with a stick in the mouth although I had in inadvertently left a spade in their nesting spot. Oops..

Mikey has been trying to eat seeds. If I hold out a whole bunch he'll peck at them and get them in his mouth, but he can't get them past the tip of his beak. He'll get there though. Very cute.


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## Siam Sam

You're moving? 

I hope the new tenants like pigeons.


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## malfunctional

Yip I'm moving 
I picked the new tenants for their pigeon liking qualities so it should all be good.


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## malfunctional

News for the past week is that my balcony has finally been taken over, but more about that later. Mikey has just made his first flight.

On Monday I caught Mom and Dad and gave them a spartrix pill each. I think that caused some sort of domestic between them. Since then I haven't really seen the two of them together. Dad has been around a lot cooing for her to arrive, but it never happens. Mom then quietly arrives, has her feed, feeds Mikey a little and goes. I'm not sure what is happening, but I don't for see any new babies here.

Thursday my landlady was here to inspect the place before we leave. She needed to see something on the balcony door, and luck would have it Dad was there. I never chase him away, so he had no idea what was happening when we went outside. He didn't fly away either, but stuck with little Mikey near the nest. Landlady didn't notice though, so all is good, but had to laugh.

Mikey finally made it out of the nest that day, and 3 days later he is flying. Incredible, from zero to hero in 3 days. (30 days old.) We were starting to get a little worried about him as all he would do would be lie in his little nest and sleep all day. He's the first pigeon in awhile to pick a nice day to start flying. Lucy and Russell before him picked the windiest days of the season and both got blown off the balcony at first attempt. Russell wasn't seen for another week and Lucy disappeared for a whole day.

Then yesterday morning Dad wasn't around. I opened the curtains without noticing and seven pigeons flew off! The balcony has been invaded. They flew away to quickly for me to see which ones they were, but I only have 7 pigeons, including Dad. So there was at least one newbie.

This morning the newbie was here again. A very interesting coloured bird.


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## malfunctional

*The new pigeon*

Here is the new guy I saw today.

And another thing. besides Mom and Dad not being together, Dad does not seem totally well. i think fending off all his kids is starting to take it's toll on him. He seems to be getting grey, if that is at all possible. Dad is almost totally black, but grey tufts have appeared on his feathers this week. Maybe this is why Mom is no longer around him. He is just lying on the balcony now, in the water bowl. I've never seen him use it before, but there he is.


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## Siam Sam

That is a pretty bird!


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## malfunctional

Yeah she is a pretty bird, but not part of the family, so she was chased away fast. It's quite strange, as I'm getting ready to move I've been slowly putting out less and less food, and it seems to have the opposite affect. Instead of there being less pigeons around, there are more. I think this is mainly as they are spending their time here waiting for the food rather than just coming in, grabbing some and being off.

As for Mom and Dad, things have changed around just as quickly. After not being together for a week, they have both been around this afternoon. Dad has been in the nest, Mikey's nest, sometimes with Mikey. He has been cooing away and calling Mom. At one stage all three of them were in Mikey's little nest.

A little later all three were on the balcony and Mom and Dad did the deed in full view of the neighbourhood. I must say it was quite funny as they struggle to balance on the balcony at the best of times. Today in the wind on top of each other, was never going to work, but somehow they made it happen


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## malfunctional

A traumatic last day for the pidgies. The movers were in and there was way too much activity, and way too little food for them. Mikey hid upstairs for most of the day looking down as the home he knew disappeared. I'm going to miss them all so much, but I'll check in with the tenants every now and again and see how everyone is doing.


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## Siam Sam

Good luck! Be sure to try to start a new family in Canada.


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## malfunctional

Thanks Sam. I am keen to start up a family. We'll see what happens.

I spoke to the tenants today. Apparently Mom and Dad are at it like rabbits, so obviously my move didn't disturb them too much.


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## malfunctional

News from the balcony is that little Mikey no longed sleeps over, and Mom and Dad are taking shifts coming round. (Although the tenants are not up to speed on who is who.) So perhaps the big chaos of last weeks move has persuaded them nest elsewhere.


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## malfunctional

I had dinner with the new tenants on Monday. It seems that the pigeons don't come by any more. They said that they left food out for them but they weren't really interested and after awhile they stopped coming at all. A little sad. I guess they liked me, of perhaps the food I put out was better.

But in other news, I'm with my parents up country for a couple of days. I was working at my Mom's desk and I saw a pigeon fly up into the roof outside. The roof leaks a little in one spot and has caused the ceiling below it to go soggy and disintegrate. There was a big enough spot for a pigeon to get in and they obviously decided it was a good place.

The pigeon flew off a little later and I went outside and stuck my head up through the roof. What do you know, a nest and one little tweeter and an egg in it. The egg was well cracked and the other little guy was making his way out. Amazing stuff. I wanted to get some photos, but the gap between the ceiling and the roof is very small and it is totally dark in there, so no luck. 

I'll have to get my parents to fill me in on the progress, although I don't think they're too interested.

The pigeons up here are quite different though. They are the type I call evil pigeons. The ones with red scales around the eyes. They might also be doves, I'm not sure. I'll try get a picture.


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