Jack or Jackie?

Chile (21) has been fighting for the Alpha Male position in the loft for sometime. In fact, he has some pretty sturdy competition from Brooklyn, Topeka, Juneau and 'Frisco. Just a side effect from having way too many cocks.

Oddly enough, the one bird he tolerates is the non-homer, black Jack. While Chile chases all other birds away, off, etc. of the new nestboxes, Jack is permitted everywhere. There are even some tiny signs of wooing.

The other wooing couple is 'Frisco and Dover. It's on. They are always together, beaking, etc. Still, they show no interest in the nestbox.

I need a second loft (or a much bigger one) to hold these couples. Then I need to thin out the male population or bring in a batch of hens.

I Give Up, Pass the Baycox

Time to stamp out this bout of coccidia once and for all. I was resistant about medication, but enough is enough. I've been following a strict diet of pro-biotics, vitamins, apple cider vinegar and garlic. Nothing - still have large amounts of coccidia.

This means that it comes down to (a) the loft, or (b) loft management. I think it's a bit of both. The loft is too small. Period. I also have too many cocks all competing. And, yes, I could run a cleaner loft. There also may be another underlying issue such as heat, cold or draft.

So I will use the Baycox to stamp out the problem and bring the birds to good health and then I will address the other issues.

Solutions? Build a second loft or expand the one I have. Both are bad options in my tiny backyard, but necessary if I want to keep the pigeons - and I do! They are an absolute pleasure.

More brainstorming later after I speak with a few old timers.

Cheyenne (98)

Did not eat at AM feeding. Very easy to catch. Pulled and put into aviary for observation.

New Pair

Frisco (83) and Dover (42) are pairing up. This morning they were feeding each other and beaking. Even though they are too young to mate, I want to get the nestboxes set up and use dummy eggs (if they get that far). Trouble is, I'm not a builder!

I am going to take a trip to Home Depot today and see if I can come up with any quick ideas.

A Cute Feral Story

13 of the white homers flew this morning together as a flock. They started in a group of two and then merged into one. I had to toss a tennis ball in the air to get them to start flying the second time.

One bird flew separate from the flock - and took up with a young feral. She was the last bird to come in at the feed can. The feral actually flew down to the landing board but did not attempt the bob trap. Cute. Looks like the flock has a new friend. :)

I Find this Disturbing

This post has nothing to do with my loft, but it's information I've been learning that I find a little disturbing.

Fancy pigeons and homing pigeons are often banded by an organization - for example, The American Racing Union, The National Pigeon Association. The band numbers are used to locate/trace owners if the birds are found by third parties. Sounds simple, right?

First, I spoke with a division of the Los Angeles Animal Shelter. They informed me that they did not contact any banding organizations when they picked up lost pigeons. I later found out that the birds are given to a pigeon rescuer when they come in. No attempts are made to contact to the owner.

I spoke directly with the pigeon rescuer who was a lovely person. BUT, he told me that he no longer made any attempts to contact owners because the owners simply "killed" the birds on return. It's troubling that the birds might be killed, and troubling that this is very outdated thinking. I think most people would like the chance to have their bird returned. Also, the birds are then re-homed without any effort to contact the owner. Is this even legal? It's an unfortunate word, but pets are considered "property." Can I simply take an animal I find and find it a new home simply because I don't wish to take the time to contact the owner? Does the same shelter and/or rescue organization ignore a tag on a dog or cat?

And part two of the disturbing news: Los Angeles rescues do not take in "non-native species" of birds. However, they do (and will) treat non-native migratory birds. Does this make sense? Because pigeons, European starlings and house sparrows are not protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Act they are denied medical treatment by rehab facilities. It seems wrong on so many levels. In addition, rehabs spend tremendous resources rehabbing birds that will not be sufficiently healed to live in the wild. A mended broken wing rarely operates at 100% and puts a prey bird at tremendous risk for survival. Wouldn't it be better to take in viable release birds that are pigeons, etc. than non-viable birds?

Needless to say, I disagree with many aspects of avian rehab in Los Angeles, the rules of the shelters regarding pigeons and the ignorance of rehabbers and public in not giving owners the opportunity to have their birds returned. I certainly don't have the answers to all or any of the questions but see a big area for improvement.

Flock

Although some of the birds are still holding back on daily exercise (today Topeka, Berkeley and Jack), the majority of the birds are now flying as a flock. There are still visible at all times so I don't believe they have started to range - hopefully soon!

Now that I have the permit and no neighbors have complained, I will attempt to expand the loft. I just need to come up with a plan.

Shanghai Returns

89 (Shanghai) was on the lawn in front of the loft this morning trying to get in. The latecomer trap was open, but he doesn't seem to know how to use it. Reminder: Train him on the latecomer trap.

He was very excited at the water jug and trapped right away.

8:00 Update

Still three birds missing.

Super hot day. Breaking 100. Memphis off her feed.

Update 8-15-10

I took four birds out last night at 6:00PM for their first 1/2 mile toss. Sunny skies, direct line to the loft. Simple, right? Wrong!!

21, 79, 89 and 97 were released at 6:00PM. They fought like crazy in the basket. They did not want to fly at first and had to be gently urged out of the basket. Two took off north and landed on top of a nearby train. The other two birds started circling and (I thought) headed home.

At 6:24PM one bird was seen flying off to the East of the loft. At 7:15PM 21 (Chile) landed on the roof and immediately trapped. Another bird was seen circling for a few minutes but never came in (predator?)

The birds were loft flown this morning. I was hoping they will pick up some of the missing birds. All birds (except Chile and Jack) flew but did not range. All 12 trapped immediately on the feed can.

As of 1:33PM, 79, 89 and 97 are still missing.

Plan of attack: The birds must be flown every morning (with the exception of bad weather). They cannot be permitted to hang out on the roof. I must get strict about this if I want to stop all these crazy losses.

Marty: Last night fecal showed coccidia. Sigh. Started him on Coximed.

Fantails: Moved into the house. Must build second loft for fantails and one set of breeders.

Marty 8-14-10

Growing everyday. Still hobbling around but he can now fly in short bursts. I bought him a harness (no judgment, please) so I can take him outside and get him used to flying in safety.

Weaning has been extremely difficult. He will not eat seed on his own. I've cut back on the tube feeding but, unfortunately, it means a big loss of weight when he does not self feed. I'm working on my "tough love" skills this weekend.

Thoughts on Training

There's one things I never took into consideration when planning on training young birds...getting them to fly.

I received the birds a little older than I had planned (loft building delays, etc.) and their general experience of me is injecting them with needles and shoving pills down their throat. I fear they will never truly be "handleable" or tame. I also don't have very much time to spend with them other than the loft cleaning/feeding time. So I am the "scary person with the loud scraper."

I imagined that I would open the door to the loft/aviary and they would take off soaring. Nope. I have to round them up (very stressful) and toss them out. Usually, they land on the roof and hang out. The only way to get them to fly is to slightly startle them by waving a flag or throwing a tennis ball in the air (in the air, not at them). A few birds might take to the air and loop around the house for a few minutes, but most simply move to a neighbor's roof or a nearby telephone pole.

It's so rudimentary, books don't even mention how to make birds fly. It's simply implied that they do. Duh.

I'm going to require the help of someone more experienced than me. I wish I had the time to join a club.

Coximed/Marty

Marty has regressed and is hardly self-feeding. To keep his weight up, I bumped his tube feeding to 2X per day for 3 days. Each feeding was a whopping 40ccs. In between feedings the crop was completely empty. As of 8/11 he weighed 260g and I am reducing his tubing to 1X per day.

The fantails were given a one pill treatment course with Coximed, with a 10 day follow up. They seem to be in excellent health. Subsequently, the homers were given an initial dose on the 7th or 8th and will receive a 10 day follow up (or the most convenient weekend).

As much as I hate to dose the animals I felt it necessary since I could not isolate the homer with the high levels of coccidia and could not be sure if it was drinking enough to receive treatment through water. Good news: all birds seem to be doing well and have a lot of energy.

The other morning Berkeley, loft flew for about 20 minutes and then self-returned.

Necropsy 8-7-10

Bird: Casper
Band No.: AU2010AA40099
Weight (post mortem): 353g

No external trauma
Feathers healthy
No broken bones
Extremely thin
Crop full of undigested formula and seed
Vent clean and uninjured
Esophagus clear
Mouth pale
No signs of worms or other internal parasites
No sign of Trich
Contents of crop and intestines viewed under microscope - nothing abnormal

It's most likely that Casper died of an acute coccidia infection. I can find no other cause.

I find another dropping in the loft which held a higher than normal number of cocci. I am hand treating each bird with 5mg of Diclazuril with a 10 day follow up. I decided not to use the Baycox right now because it is administered in the water. I want to be sure that all birds are evenly medicated.

New Feed/Ace Pigeons

Yesterday I went to Ace Pigeons in Sylmar. It was one of those "what took me so long?" experiences. Great store! I talked for a long time with Paul about feed and grit and flying. He confirmed my suspicion that the feed I was using was crap. I switch to a Leach Grain and Mill feed with 14% protein. During the growth and molt I will add safflower to the diet, perhaps even some flax seed to improve feather condition.

He directed me to some great, informational websites, e.g. CBS Pigeons.

The birds were switched to the new diet today with the added Sunday Spinach. Happy birds. I'm still watching them for signs of illness...none.

The dissection kit should arrive by Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll have a better idea what killed Casper.