I know this picture is difficult to understand. If you look real close you can see there are two little sets of eyes staring out at you from the middle of two perfectly helpless bundles of fur. Those two bundles of fur are actually two feather dusters. Baby pigeons.
There are a lot of things we didn’t expect to be when I retired. I thought we would have one donkey and a few sheep to mow the grass. Sally knew she wanted chickens but didn’t share her intentions at first. At least not very vocally. Now we sit here with 5 donkeys (3 are loaned out for lawn maintenance duties) one Llama, two dogs, and perhaps 70 birds. We are not successful farmers (abject failures) because I have a brown thumb and we don’t kill anything we raise. I have been a hunter during my life but an experience in southeast Asia dulled my appetite for that. Sally says if it can look her in the eyes she doesn’t want to eat it.
It’s all Kelly’s fault. He is our son in law and the hunter's hunter. That’s when he isn’t busy being the fisherman’s fisherman. Sometimes he invites us over to eat fish or venison so there is nothing tongue in cheek about that comment.
He works at Reliant Energy and they had a pigeon problem. He came walking across the yard carrying a box like this. He told me that he had a choice of trapping them or killing them and asked me to take them. I’m sure that he had some thoughts of some of them making it to his table. He obviously forgot about Sally.
He works at Reliant Energy and they had a pigeon problem. He came walking across the yard carrying a box like this. He told me that he had a choice of trapping them or killing them and asked me to take them. I’m sure that he had some thoughts of some of them making it to his table. He obviously forgot about Sally.
I put them in a cage that we use to raise all sorts of birds from babies. Guinea Fowl, Chickens, Ducks, and Geese had all occupied that cage. The problem was that I had to devise something for them to live in. I didn’t know that but Sally did.
That was 18 June of last year.
That was 18 June of last year.
This has become a common sight now as we have a thriving pigeon community. But it wasn’t easy and it was quite involved.
Pigeons get a bad rap as being dirty birds. Personally, I think they get a bad rap because of the gifts they leave on so many heroic statues in parks. There are marble statues that are eroding away from acid rain. The acid frequently comes from pigeons. They aren’t exactly potty trained but neither are the other birds. If I had to choose one, I would pick ducks as the worst (on our farm) in that respect.
Sally told me right up front that if she was going to be involved in this, she was going to do it right. Do you have any idea how much work is involved in building a pigeon loft? Almost certainly, if you are inexperienced as I was, you do not.
Pigeons get a bad rap as being dirty birds. Personally, I think they get a bad rap because of the gifts they leave on so many heroic statues in parks. There are marble statues that are eroding away from acid rain. The acid frequently comes from pigeons. They aren’t exactly potty trained but neither are the other birds. If I had to choose one, I would pick ducks as the worst (on our farm) in that respect.
Sally told me right up front that if she was going to be involved in this, she was going to do it right. Do you have any idea how much work is involved in building a pigeon loft? Almost certainly, if you are inexperienced as I was, you do not.
First I needed to build a domicile that was like living outside but without the rain and wind. To do that I just converted a chicken coop into a pigeon loft. It was a great chicken coop that looked like it was a log cabin. I removed the top and made it a lot higher. Pigeons actually fly instead of flapping around and jumping like chickens. Actually chickens do fly, of course. It just doesn't seem that way when you see them intimidated by a 4 foot leap to a perch.
Those things that look like inverted Vs are just that. That’s what the male pigeons perch on.
Those things that look like inverted Vs are just that. That’s what the male pigeons perch on.
The story on the chickens abandoning the coop was that the chickens had decided they were safer roosting in trees. Then after I had converted it, Sally just had to have 24 more chicks. I built another coop after I had squandered the log cabin. I guess that could be another story but I am not convinced I want to tell it.
Giving the keys to a mansion like this to 25 baby Austrolorps (a black chicken originating in Australia) can be very frustrating.
Giving the keys to a mansion like this to 25 baby Austrolorps (a black chicken originating in Australia) can be very frustrating.
This is the ladies quarters of the new pigeon loft. Female pigeons hang out in these even, it appears, if there are no males. They certainly seemed to show no interest in each other once I finished the quarters. The ladies hung out in the roosts and the gents on the perches. I don’t know how long we let them stay like this, getting used to the new quarters and figuring it was home. I suppose about a month.
One of them got loose and instead of running back to Reliant Energy he kept hanging around his buddies. That was our signal and we turned them loose one morning and held our breath. Almost all of them came back. None of this population replenishment took place till that happened.
As you can see some of these are full of twigs and some are not. I expected that there was a fear of the baby falling out of the crib in the long green flower pot....er, domicile. My first inclination that all this was going to work out was when one of the birds was spotted dragging a small leafy twig into the loft.
One of them got loose and instead of running back to Reliant Energy he kept hanging around his buddies. That was our signal and we turned them loose one morning and held our breath. Almost all of them came back. None of this population replenishment took place till that happened.
As you can see some of these are full of twigs and some are not. I expected that there was a fear of the baby falling out of the crib in the long green flower pot....er, domicile. My first inclination that all this was going to work out was when one of the birds was spotted dragging a small leafy twig into the loft.
A little bit of glue and a clamp constituted urban renewal on this project. Now we have a successful pigeon farming effort.
I think we are stuck because these girls mean business. That’s one egg here but the picture above turned into the twins in the top picture.
When the birds are trained, you are supposed to have one of these in a pigeon loft. It’s a one way door. They can't get out but they can return any time. I figure there is an alternative. Every morning I just open the door and when evening comes I shut it again. During the day we have an open door policy.
We built a grate floor because it prevents a big mess. Since I didn’t really sign on to clean the stalls for the donkeys or the loft for the pigeons I had to do something like this. I think the soil under the loft would be great in a garden.
Now I know there is a stereotype about women oohing and aahing over babies. 'Fess up guys, you do it too. At least I do but if you don't, the difference between us is that I’m being truthful. We have two great granddaughters and a great grandson that are under two years and all three make me melt. Here you see ten pigeons and what you cannot see is the pre-flying youngster in the round roost at the right. You did see mama sitting on the egg three pictures up.
This is what the pigeons do and it is the source of the title. I do not know if these are all male or female. I will put my money on both just because of the number. That square box just below and to the right of the picture is where the twins are. It's also where all the oohing and aahing in this picture is directed.
Now Kelly is right that the hawks must have gotten some of the pigeons. However, the pigeon’s reproduction rate exceeds the mortality rate. That is why, I am told, rabbits reproduce faster than bobcats or coyotes.
One day I heard a tremendous kerfuffle from the loft and I thought a snake or worse. I was wrong. All of the pigeons seemed to be gathered around a roost and coaxing a youngster to fly. Anthropomorphism indeed.
They get along with the other birds but as you can see, they are not in the middle of the group. To give perspective the group consisted of at least 30 chickens and ducks to the right of the picture with the pigeons all clustered right here. I normally am concerned that they do not get enough to eat since they have to regurgitate for the young. Since the chickens and the male ducks cannot fly and the female ducks prefer the low hanging fruit I have something I always do. I throw a handful of feed on the roof of the porch. I wait till the feeding frenzy has started and the female ducks are occupied. As soon as the pigeons realize it’s there, it sounds like a hailstorm on top of my roof.
I will probably glue a metal covering on top of the fiberglass roof where they eat. They wore some holes in the floor of the loft by eating grain dropped there.
My parents always said that staying busy kept them young. If that were true, Sally and I would probably be wearing diapers by this time. However, it sure has turned out to be a lot of fun.
My parents always said that staying busy kept them young. If that were true, Sally and I would probably be wearing diapers by this time. However, it sure has turned out to be a lot of fun.
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