# I Have A New GrandFid!



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi All,

At long last Castor and FanFan successfully hatched a baby
yesterday. The other egg you see in the pictures
got a serious dent in it from them on about day two .. I taped it,
but when I checked the egg tonight, the partially developed
embryo was dead .. the membrane of the egg had dried out.

Anyway, we've got one .. sadly, the first thing they did was
both get off of it, and it got cold. I put it on heat last tonight and
then back with the parents this morning .. so far, so good.

http://www.rims.net/FanBaby

and some better pics from today .. this is Mom On The Job
and very unhappy with my interference http://www.rims.net/FanBaby2

Terry


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Terry, 

Awwwww....congratulations on the new "grand fid". I'm sorry but I don't recall the story of Castor and Fanfan or why they were having such a hard time raising young. However, I sense your happiness and I'm very happy for you, Castor and FanFan


Thanks for the delightful pics,


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Hi Terry,

Isn't Castor the fantail that Peapicker drove to you all the way from Kentucky and lost his mate Pollux around the same time? So glad to hear everything worked out for you and Castor and congratulations on the new baby....best wishes that everything goes well.

Linda


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I'm curious to see this baby growing up. Never seen a baby Fantail. Do their tails fan out at a young age? So cute.............


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks everyone! Yes, Castor is Marjorie's beautiful boy, and yes, he was driven from Kentucky to California to become my beautiful boy. FanFan is one of my rescues from several years ago. It was such a delight to see Castor and FanFan become devoted mates. They have had many failed clutches since they got together, so their success with this one was a wonderful surprise.

Renee .. I've never seen a baby fantail myself, so I'll try to keep the pictures going as the baby grows, and we can all see how the baby develops. I would imagine that an itty bitty fan would appear as the feathers start coming in.

I'll bet Robert can answer this for us.

Terry


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

*Congratulations!!!*

What beautiful photos of the two of them. You were brave to get that close, considering the look FanFan is shooting you!!! The shot labeld hpim0536.jpg is neat because you can compare the baby's tiny toes to one of mama's. Really awesome - congratulations all around!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thank you Terri! Yes, Mama was very, very upset with me, and I got one really effective wing whack for my paparazzi efforts today. Great observation on your part about the toes!

Suffice it to say, you will all be sick of pictures of this baby before it's over <LOL>!

Terry


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## pigeonmama (Jan 9, 2005)

Oh, Terry,
Never sick of baby pics. All babies are cute, but there is something special about pigeon/dove babies. They are so homely, they're cute.
So glad you're now a grandparent.
Daryl


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*New Pics - Baby Fan, Frillbacks, and Trooper*

Here's some new pics from today. Enjoy!

http://www.rims.net/2005Mar13

Terry


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

As the youngbird grows it will start its tail just as any other bird but it will be growing a fantail. with say 28 to 32 tail feathers. I noticed the birds are indian fantails. And I would suggest trimming the tails Say the first 7 feathers on each side as close as you can to the tail. And then trim the vent feathers. This helps them to fertile the eggs better without the old tail getting in the way. Then at the begining of the moult you just pluck out the trimmed tail feathers. Good luck with the youngbird


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks, Robert for the info .. actually the Mom (black and white) is clean legged .. Dad has feathered legs and feet. So what's the determining factor(s) .. clean legs/feet or the crest or lack thereof or some combination when trying to determine Indian vs. American?

Also, any guesses as to what color this baby might end up being .. Mom is white with a partial black fan and Dad is speckled .. brown and white?

Terry


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## KIPPY (Dec 18, 2003)

The little guy is absolutely adorable. It would be cool to keep the thread going and post pictures as the little guy gets older.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Terry, 

Not to detract from Castor and Fanfan's gorgeous little baby, but Trooper is a fine looking bird as well


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## Pete Jasinski (Jan 2, 2005)

Wow! Those are some incredible fids you have there! They are drop dead gorgeous! Best of luck with all of them


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Going back and looking agin. Te hen still carries a crest. even though it has no muff. It is indian fantail. About color of the young bird. Being the hen shows about 3/4 tail mark. And the cock show just slight splash thru the body. If I was to guess. You could get a slightly marked tail mark. or a white. But I would look for a few marked tail feathers. They will show at the pin stage as being darker.The american fantail Will be smaller, no crest or muff, pull the head back to the pocket [ which is lower tail cushion feathers} If you band the young bird use an indian fantail band. The leg will be slightly larger then the american fan, and may develop a small muff. Though the cock is has a short muff and the hen no muff. It still may develop one.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks everyone for the kind comments about the birds! And, Robert, thank you for the additional information about FanFan and Castor. It will be interesting to see how Baby Fan turns out. I will try to keep going with the pictures every couple of days .. don't want to bore everyone to tears with them!

Terry


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## Peapicker (Sep 18, 2000)

*Baby Fan*

Hi, Marjorie here,
Terry has been keeping me updated on Baby Fan and I'm so happy that the decision to give Castor a better home has worked out better than I dreamed. The info about Indian Fantails is very interesting. For a long time I had no idea what kind of fantails Pollux and Castor were. Then I went to a bird show and they were almost identical to the Indian fantails there (only much much scruffier). Baby Fan is just beautiful, and I too will be watching to see how that tail grows! 
Hello to you all - I have no pigeons in my home now, but they are always in my heart. And Terry, all the birds in the pics are very handsome indeed. I love the frillbacks - just want to run my fingers throught those feathers!
Marjorie


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Marjorie .. I was thinking that we two Grandma's should probably be coming up with a real name for Baby Fan .. what do you think?

Terry


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## Peapicker (Sep 18, 2000)

Hi Terry,
Great idea on the name, but you're the Mom of this new family, and you've done all the work to bring it into being, so whatever name you choose will be absolutely fine with me. I'm very happy to be the paternal Grandma and to be able to say to my friends and family "have you seen the latest pictures of my grandfid?"


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Those are beautiful pigeons, Terry. We don't have Indian fantails, but American. Our first set of chicks from my young pair, Stormy and Cindy, are now about six weeks old and they are adorable. They are very cute in the nest because they get their fantails right away when the feathers come in. I love watching them toddle around the loft when they leave the nest. 

Love the frillbacks, too. We have one, a pure white named Lily. Unlike your white, she lacks a crest, but otherwise looks just the same. She was a rescue--wound up at the Humane Society and we adopted her about 7 months ago. She is very, very shy and afraid.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

*Shiloh & Shelby*

OK, now that I finally figured out how to compress pictures and post 'em, couldn't resist one more of the youngsters. (You know these proud grandmas with their pictures!)  Here are Shelby and Shiloh, 5 week old American fantails.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Birdmom, 

Adorable photos of your babies, Shiloh and Shelby I'd like to ask though, do you have their wings clipped, or how well do the fantails fly? I noticed that they are outdoors and in the "open" so I'm just curious.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Love the pics, BirdMom .. keep 'em coming! Your babies are beautiful!

Terry


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Thank you for the compliments. No, we don't clip their wings. They were just five weeks old when the pictures were taken and still not flying well. Their big, cumbersome tails interfere with flight. But they do love to climb up on our shoulders. It wasn't until this week that they really began to fly around the loft and get to the landing board and higher perches. Even our adult fantails don't fly well. 

We have sort of a family tradition of taking babies out on the front lawn on nice days and playing with them. With better flyers, such as our rollers, we do it a little earlier, around 4 weeks. They stick close to us because they see what a big, wide world it is and we are the only familiar fixtures. Of course it makes for a great photo op.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Birdmom, 

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I knew fantails didn't fly well but I wasn't sure how well is well in their case. My runts don't fly well either but I would be afraid to take them outside, the youngsters particularly. They fly better than their parents do. I'm glad you got that photo op with your babies though


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## alaska (Mar 17, 2005)

Seeing photos of little babies like this makes me want to hurry and get a mate for Cecil  Fantails are a beautiful breed, is it possible to cross breed a roller with a fantail?
Keep the photos coming


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

It's possible to cross any domestic pigeon with any other domestic pigeon (including ferals). If you cross a roller and a fantail you would get a smallish pigeon with a larger-than-normal tail, but not a fantail. Some people treat cross-breeding as if it is akin to blasphemy while others enjoy experimenting. The reason we have hundreds of pigeon breeds is that people experimented with cross-breeding. Keep in mind, though, that should you need to find new homes for your pigeons, it's easier to give away purebreds than crossbreeds. And if you're going to show, you want to keep your purebreds pure.


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## kooper (Sep 19, 2004)

congras to you and your birds! they look awesome!

kooper


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