L2G2, if you are interested in building your own playscape, I just read about some safety tips to follow. Let me know and I will d-mail them to you. They were in "Backyard Living" magazine from last fall. Or, I can post them on a new thread.
GG
Need advise asap pretty please : )
Keeping 'em busy might help a bit. I am building a sandbox for my hens today : )
Awesome yes I would be interested. Pleas make a new thread for it
With you all talking about how roo's are to the hens and their behavior, I just had to tell you all what I witnessed today. Our pigeons and their habits. The are so wonderful to watch. Their breeding habits are so far from that of chickens it would about make you wonder how they are both considered birds. Pigeon pairs not only mate, but they have a relationship and the male courts the female and they are very loving and affectionate to each other. I happed to catch a pair mating today and it is not always so easy to catch. The whole act is so gentle and almost graceful. When done, the male does a little strutting walk and then he went right over to the female....almost acting like he was checking on her to make sure she was alright. WOW! Then she went to sit on what I think is going to be her nest and he was right by her side. I imagine the egg will be coming soon. Maybe two. He will then take turns with the female with sitting on the eggs, then will also take care of the babies with her. It is so amazing how they act!
I hope no one minds me sharing. I know that a lot of people think that pigeons are just nasty little critters that fly everywhere and poo on everything and I was one of them until I met my DH. That is when I was introduced to actually keeping them and raising them on purpose and I fell in love. : )
Christy
I love pigeons too! For years I had a ring-necked dove named Bob. I would get another in a minute, but first I want to build an aviary so I can have several birds. I think pigeons are even lovelier than doves--so many colors and shapes!
Catscan......I am so glad to see someone else that loves them too. I know what you mean about building an aviary.....we are needing to build them their own special house. Right now they are in a special built pen in the barn that was designed for chicks. They need their own permanent place and we need our chick space back! I'm with you one pigeons over doves......all the colors are so interesting and it sure makes them a lot easier to tell apart. Do you know what kind you would get? Would they be pure bred or just 'run of the mill?' I was looking at some pairs on one website, not sure if they were even purebred, and they wanted $100 -$105 for a pair......I am just not the type to need anything that 'fancy' and to me they looked an awful lot like ours, got at an auction for $2.75 each. We have rollers or what some call tumblers. When flying, they roll wing over wing.......how they don't get dizzy is beyond me but watching them fly is amazing!
Christy
Well pigeon fanciers get pretty fanatical. When I lived in England we were in a working class neighborhood and there were pigeon cotes everywhere! People were crazy over them. I think you can get very nice pigeons for much less than $100 per pair.
I've seen rollers--and I don't know how they do it either! I also remember some called "pouters" which strut around with their chests pushed out. And I love the sounds they make--so soothing.
This site has wonderful pictures of breeds I've never heard of: http://www.2racepigeons.com/Pigeon_Breeds.html
Do pigeons coo like doves?
well at least he stays and helps with the kids my roo dosent and he leaves the hen knocked up all by her lownsome
Yes, Patchouli, pigeons have a lovely bubbling coo.
Your roo is a cad, luckycharm! LOL
Just wanted to thank everyone for the input. I wasnt home all day yesterday, we had a wedding to go to four hours away, Argh!), and didnt get home until 1am. Today everyone is better. The bronchial stuff has passed. The wheezing buff is doing better, not wheezing and seems in less distress. Rooster has his full crow back in, much to the neighbors dismay!, and other hen that sounded a little wet in the chest had no sypmtoms today. I havent had a chance to add all of those thinks into the water yet, but I will this week. So I should give them this water combination with ACV, garlic, slippery elm and chammomile, keep them locked in for days without food?
Ooooo, that sounds a little rough. I would introduce the garlic/ACV gradually so they keep drinking. Except when you pour it down the poor hen's throat. I am not sure how long they should go without food and if that might make them more likely to pick if they are (though the darkness should help).
tf--clarify, clarify!
i forgot tamara knows all her home remedies and stuff lik that dosent she
she will know wat to do
well, you say they are all showing signs of improvement. but i would ni pit in the bud. if you are going to be home the next few days, and you can shut them up in the dark... start with the slippery elm, add the chamomile... then when you let htem out, get them started on ACV with garlic on a regular basis. just save those tea bags and dry them, then scatter them in the chicken yard. they help aid oin composting.
glad they are better and hoep you had a great time. as you can see, everyone just carried on here with out you! and without me too, it seems LOL
i would go 2 days at least, get their systems cleaned out of whatever go tto them. consider it a spa treatment/detox ... without the mud bath...
but my chickens lik mud baths hers might lik them to lol
Well, life is crazy as always, and the best of intentions always seem to take forever to carry through. Flock completely back to normal other than looking scruffy for the impending moult. Rooster crow is back to normal and wheezing chicken is no longer wheezing. I like the idea of a detox. I know I personally like when I do that. Makes you feel so much better, so hopefully it will be a chicken spa weekend!
they will love you for it....
glad to hear every one is back to normal