Came back from a short vacation to -20C and pigeon squeakers

So I guess -20 Celsius is about -2 Fahrenheit


I went on a short break and left the homestead with my long term sitter

I warned him to steal any eggs immediately and give them to the dog before they develop, or, alternately, compost them, but, well, I don't expect perfection and those pigeons can be broody, sneaky, and stupid!


So ignore the rest if you find feathered squeakers to be boring!
It's okay -- some of us love sharing our critter diatribes

I will survive and most of these chicks should as well !

but talking about my beloved feathered critters keeps the loneliness at bay...

warning this is really long, just keep in mind I think in video not words and well you know how a picture tells a thousand words, well fortunately I can amuse myself

yep, family on the spectrum...

bookmark for bathroom reading or something

I'm reading this back, I see how confusing it is without the pictures in my head !!!

I think I need to add more pictures



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I got back last Friday with cold sweats and hacking with a very nasty cold which is finally turning the corner because today it doesn't hurt when I cough!

Yesterday I had 3 chicks in the bathtub,
A missing chick from its nest too young to fly
I intrepidly searched for a frozen morsel but found a wobble walking empty live one who is sitting in a yellow bowl -- he has the shortest tail -- certainly not flying yet and I am guessing about 14 days old
He has been getting hand fed defrosted frozen peas because they are fast to digest (his smaller sibling I found frozen dumb parents)

Chicks typically start self feeding between 18 days and 35 days, with pure giant runts always maturing later and self feeding around 4-6 weeks

Drinking varies from 14 days to a month and they can choke do death because they can't cough efficiently like we can, so really you g ones get frozen fresh peas that won't dry them out, and I put them in ankle deep warm water a few times a day and the smart ones will start drinking.

So I collected the 2 squeakers from the motorhome "tractor" because they are old enough to self serve except they won't stand a chance against a hungry predator
The female and that little male, Bowler, will make fast friends and company through the winter

Good job I have lots of cages

I rescued a chick who had spent the night out alone December 7, which I realized the next day and caught him at dusk, he was too weak to be left home so he went on vacation with me
We already had 14" snow
A week along, he was eating alone, living in a cage in my truck

All four were getting a long fine in the bath tub once I added this little guy who I have determined in the meantime wasn't sick, probably fell out of the motorhome

So I just finished fetching another I had grabbed a long with its papa (mom got nabbed we've had a loose very fast young husky coming around killing for sport)
This father I've had since he was my first chick born here about 8 years ago
His chick should be self serving
And I can pair him up with a young female

His older son is pretty timid just like his wifey was, so he is indoors in his own cage for the winter

That leaves a squeaking bleating pigeon I caged the day after I got back who was self feeding
Another who is already bigger than a regular pigeon who is about 3/4 giant runt I did an egg swap and had him fostered but giant runts are not too smart and he didn't stand a good chance of surviving outdoors this winter
So anyway two more already in cages I now know from checking their food and water they are self serving without help and aren't sick

So all of them are in the bath tub getting along great, and other than Bowler and Berêt, who get a cage together while I keep my eye on them, the rest will be sharing a decent sized cage with little cardboard boxes condo'd together with duct tape (secret is make sure there are more boxes than babies)
Their cage will go in a corner in the unheated 1/4" mesh shed (partially vapor barrier wrapped) that sits on half of the balcony -- a good thing because the floor is patched and patched and patched again with plywood!

That leaves two half giant runt chicks that are self serving still with momma in a cage temporarily indoors -- she lost her prime breeding mate to that dog

I found my livestock dog is no use against a young female dog and I was lucky this time he listened and came back

Also two pure runt chicks with my prime breeding pairs who are getting a small cage each for winter.

I lost a lot of prime breeding stock and was down to two mature females
More than double that in males
I need to keep some giant runts to regularly beef up my cross breeds or shall I say free range landrace meat pigeons
I have two pure young females 4-6 months who can breed next Spring
I have one top quality male I have just paired with a healthy cross breed female for his first year clutches, and will later be paired with a young female purebred
I also have the two squeakers off my alpha pair

In addition I have 3 other young ones two of which I am not sure because I didn't tag fast enough but one is a purebred and a tagged purebred, but I won't know the sex for a few more months because they were singles
(Pigeons almost always come as one male egg followed by a female the next day, 19 days to hatch but giant runts can be 20-21 days, and the male is almost always bigger, plus they have two colour genes while females get one gene from their father, so sometimes you can calculate their sex based on dominant and recessive colors)

Well that leaves me with a bunch of musical cages before I fly up to Iqaluit Nunavut and spend January with my son

It's doable but yes, both a joy and a challenge

All in all, my loose pigeons are totaling about 80 give or take, so enough for winter falcon tax, which averages about 15-20 in January and usually about the same for February and then they usually leave them alone until next winter

It's a beneficial service (unlike municipal taxes which mostly aren't) unless the really young ones and stupid pure breds are left at their mercy. The falcons are getting stronger and bigger and it is a joy to watch them.

I had the wardens visit once and had them laughing about how I feed the falcons! (Whole corn laying around all over the edges of the yard that time.) No they aren't for eating although they would be food security for my dog, but I watch out for Trich which falcons can get. I showed the wardens the antibiotic powder to treat it (and they can't be eaten for at least 6 months afterwards) as proof that no they aren't livestock -- they are staff: soil builders for my permaculture

Note about Trich from University of Florida:.
Trichomoniasis (pigeon canker) is the most common disease of pigeons. Approximately 80 percent of pigeons are infected with this organism. The organism is a microscopic flagellate classified as a protozoan. Different strains, Trichomonas gallinae or Trichomonas columbae, vary greatly in their ability to cause disease

You look in the corner of their mouths and for blocked beak / under tongue and down the throat if it's gotten worse.
I bought a bunch with it but never again restock my pigeons. I found you can treat them but their livers get ruined indicated by very dark green stools. They can have youngsters but the parents won't live long' better to do a swap out and steal their eggs to adopt out to two pairs of experienced healthy fosters, and usually their eggs, or at least their females I then foster our again and a long the line my dog gets fresh eggs

So anyway you can appreciate why I need to do my part to ensure falcons don't contract this parasite

Note: if you are going to keep squeakers in your bathroom, keep the toilet lid down and cover any gray water buckets with lids so no one drowns if they decide to start flying!

PS I am now down to two destined for a cage this morning. Everyone is eating and drinking by themselves and Bowler has broken toes from falling on his feet no doubt when he was probably pushed out of his nest. He will be more than fine -- no broken wings.

What a funny surprise to come home to.

Not so surprising for me -- I learned the hard way to look for and steal the eggs years ago!

I had a bath last night! So nice to have my baby blue tub back! Hacking pretty well finished too.

The chick with its papa that should have been self serving was sick and didn't survive.
I like to put them together when they're ready to wean because they will copy each other, but not sick ones, but being it's winter, the rest will be isolated in cages from the flock anyway.

That's the bigger problem with winter squeakers: they'll need to be raised in cages and fed and watered individually and in pairs all winter or their chances of survival against the falcons are slim to none.

I do have a really nice looking one with the wing stripe, a trait I select for, who cuddles up with Rimouski (the vacation truck chick) so two happier chicks and half the work cleaning cages