Tag: bird keeping

tinysaurus-rex:

tinysaurus-rex:

So @ramseyringnecks often has to remind people that you can’t feed pigeons leafy greens, vegetables, or fruits, and this is why:

The cecum is an organ that’s responsible for breaking down leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, and fibrous plant material.

Chickens are omnivores that naturally eat bugs, fruits, small animals, grasses, leaves, and just about anything they can find. As you can see above, they’re so adept at grazing on plants that they have two caeca (cecum plural), and they’re BIG. Every so often they expel a brown slimy excrement that is them clearing out a cecum.

Pigeons on the other hand are pure grain and seed eaters. They have a cecum…but much like a dog it’s a little itty bitty blip of an organ near their rectum. They can’t extract hardly any nutrients from leaves or fruits, and attempting to is just hard on their body and wastes energy. They are designed to efficiently break down grains and seeds and shouldn’t eat anything else. A healthy diet for a pigeon consists of a variety of 5 or more seeds and grains, the more of a variety the better but ONLY seeds or grains (with grit and oyster/egg shell of course). In fact, pigeons aren’t grazers like chickens, so another big difference is that they shouldn’t have free choice of food; they should eat in meals unless they’re young and learning to eat on their own or sick.

reblogging this to remind everyone not to feed your pigeon leafy greens, fruits, or veggies. They don’t need them, and they’re harmful! Other things to avoid but are commonly given are:

• dairy products

• parrots pellets/mixes (these are too high in sugar for what a pigeon needs…pigeons are parrots!!!)

• basically any people food, bread, pasta, pizza…things like corn, peas, quinoa, rice, those are okay to share

• worms and bugs

Do pigeons or doves behave differently while they’re molting?

theramseyloft:

They can stress a little more easily or be a little uncomfortable in the hand.

Blood feathers are sticks of flesh when they come in, full of nerves and blood vessels. They are sensitive and may be painful to the touch.

As the feather develops, the blood vessels withdraw and the sheath dries up and flakes off. That shit ITCHES like a peeling sun burn!

In mid development, the tip itches, but the base is tender, which is understandably frustrating.

So they can be a little irritable and stand-off-ish.

At the end when most of the feather is in, they are just itchy and will appreciate tons of scritches, if you have that relationship with them.

So Ringnecks are easier to care for but more spooky, while pigeons are need a little more care but more feisty? Am I getting this right? If so, choosing between the two is kind of a “what are you more willing to deal with” sort of deal.

theramseyloft:

Ringnecks are not spooky so much as they are not bright and have delicate balance. They freak out when they can’t comfortably stand up, or can’t take a step with out falling over, and can hurt themselves in their panic.

Pigeons are fiesty because they are smart with a complex social structure. 

They are literally the cognitive equivalent of a 5 year old human child, and their entire skill set revolves around pattern recognition.
Visual patterns, auditory patterns, patterns of behavior. 

The choice between the two is simplicity with small return or complexity with a much bigger return.

Ringneck doves have simple physical, mental, and emotional needs and are easy to keep happy.

They don’t need a big enclosure, complex toys, a complicated diet, or intensive interaction.

They are sweet and cute, but only form one really strong bond and will never be able to understand you or learn anything that involves more than two steps.

Having a pigeon is, in every literal sense of the words, like having a precocious nonverbal toddler with wings. 

They need a lot of space, a degree of freedom, a more carefully mixed feed and a ton of enrichment when their handler can’t be around.

Their pattern mapping skillset makes them naturally inclined to pick up on language and behavior of other species. They are FAST social learners, so there isn’t much you can’t teach them.

Probably the most smazingly fascinating thing is that they learn language the way toddlers do, so the more you talk and explain to your pigeon like you would a small child, the more of your spoken language they will come to understand.

They are socially motivated, and human social pigeons genuinely need a close bond with their handler.

So all the work that goes into keeping a pigeon happy is returned with a companion who is more of a nonverbal friend than a pet.

If you have space or time constraints and what you want is a cute, simple pet, a Ringneck dove will be a better fit for you.

But if you have time and space, are willing and able to put in the work, and want a very deep, close bond that’s more like a friendship with some one who isn’t human, but can learn to understand you, a Pigeon is the better companion.

I have a single male pigeon which is Bonded with me but I’m considering getting a canary, and I am wondering if this would be a good idea or not. My pigeon is a Lahore pigeon who has a large God creat which he sleeps in but for most of the he’s out and about in my medium sized bedroom. I plan on also taming the canary as well but seeing how pigeons treat other smaller birds in the wild I’m debating if this is a good idea or not. I hope you see this and thank you.

ramseyringnecks:

artfromyebard:

theramseyloft:

Pigeons in a domestic setting don’t actually seem to notice small non-columbids.

Feral pigeons don’t really seem to care one way or the other about the presence of Sparrows, who do not take enough food to bother, or use the same nest spaces.

There is nothing to defend from them, so they are largely ignored.

What WILL draw your boy’s ire, though, is you paying attention to the canary.

He may well try to chase it off for that, which will make taming it difficult.

If he is not free roaming, you could do it if they weren’t out at the same time. but if he is, you can;t really spend time with the other bird without pissing him off at it.

Seriously, if you have a single pigeon
and bring another, especially a smaller bird in, the pigeon will get
very angry if you give the other bird any attention.

Bonded
pigeon pairs will mostly ignore smaller birds, but even they can get
territorial about their  owner or a certain space.

And pigeons
are brutal with each other in mate/territory fights, they can easily
dislocate and break a smaller birds wing, which will be the first
thing they try to grab in an attack.

DO NOT RISK IT!

I have a male who has a
partner, and even then he would try to attack smaller birds. First they
attack the wings, then they will attack the head. And a pigeons
hacking peck can crush a smaller birds skull.
So he is not allowed
any contact with non-pigeons.

Pigeons are faster in their attacks than you think. And it takes only seconds for a blood bath to happen.

On the other hand I have also a
pigeon who truly loves any other small birds and lets them cuddle
with him.

But a single bird who is bonded to you? They will
see any other birds as rivals and act  accordingly. Which can end deadly for the other bird if they are smaller than the pidgie.

In rare cases they might accept a smaller bird as adoptive
baby, but that is rare. So please don’t risk it for the sake of the
smaller bird.

Reblogging for outside pogeon experience.

I was looking around and some people have been saying keeping only one pigeon is inhumane, even if you can spend all day with it. They said you just can’t replace a member of its own species adequately enough, and it would be happier with another bird.I was really excited to get a pigeon one day but now I’m discouraged. Do you think this is true? I want to give the pigeon the happiest life it can have, would that not be possible with only one?

tinysaurus-rex:

theramseyloft:

They are thinking in terms of parrot, which are wild animals. And no, you cannopt replace the company of a wild animal’s own species.

But pigeons are every bit as domesticated as dogs, and cognitively equal to a five year old human.

They were engineered over thousands of years to enjoy human company.

So while it would be unkind to suddenly isolate an adult, a human-social young bird can very much be happy in a human flock that has enough time to share with it and has put effort into learning to communicate. 

Even pigeons who were raised by their parents will prefer human company to other birds. It just depends on the indivual, kind of like how some dogs love playing with people and others prefer playing with other dogs. Rex seems to view humans and pigeons equally, and doesn’t acknowledge a difference between our species…this leads her to thinking it’s okay to try to land on other birds’ shoulders but that’s besides the point.

Part 1) Not too long ago my brother found a ringneck dove at work and brought it home. He and his family were going to keep it but they discovered that their dog would try and hunt it every time the dog would see the dove. They called me up and I got the dove. He’s a dark pied ringneck and I guess he got loose, or they threw him out, and there’s no ID band or anything. If my brother hadn’t found him he’d would probably be very much dead. The poor thing was starving when I brought him home.

ramseyringnecks:

theramseyloft:

Part 2) after being quarantined, fed a lot of good yummy seeds, named Pearl before I realized it’s probably a boy he was introduced to the other household pets. And he’s been here ever since. I have a question on how do I tame him? I’ve tried to handle him a lot and feed him from my hand but even after all this time he’s as skidish as the first day he came home. All of my other birds after a time realized that I’m not trying to eat them but be their friend but this one..

Ringneck Doves are not very smart.

A pigeon, psitticine, or even galiforme will eventually come to realize over repeated handlings that its handler is always gentle and never hurts it and they will eventually lose their fear because they have the mental capacity to connect those dots and reach the conclusion that you are harmless.

A Ringneck Dove completely lacks that mental capacity. 

Every time you pick him up or reach for him will be more frightening then the last, because he believes that he BARELY ESCAPED THE VERY JAWS OF DEATH!!! Every. Single. Time.

He has to discover that you are a harmless friend on his own, because as long as it’s forced on him, you will remain a predator to be intensely feared.

You have to tame Ringneck doves in a completely opposite and counterintuitive way from all of those other pet birds.

You have to ignore him.

Aside from feeding, water, cage maintenance, and talking softly in passing, DO NOT attempt to engage a skittish dove AT ALL.

Do this consistently for at least a week.

When he stops spooking when you pass too close to his cage is when you can start to hang out nearby again.

When he stops reacting to your hands in the cage for cleaning, feeding, and watering is when you can *start* to reach, VERY slowly, in his general direction.

It is important to always approach a shy dove from below. From above or straight ahead, hands look a LOT like big talons to a little bird who knows only that EVERYTHING wants to eat it!!!

The second he so much as turns or leans away, IMMEDIATELY withdraw, close the door, and walk away.

It will take him a while, but he will slowly start to desensitize to you reaching, and will let you get closer and closer.

Eventually, he will let you rest your hand on the perch beside him. 

From there, try to gently touch his feet. 

Then, touch his front toes to trigger him to step up, but do not move if he does! Sit with him like that as long as he’s comfortable, softly praise him, and when he’s done, the session is over for the day.

After that point, you can try to draw him closer little by little after getting him to step up.

Once he is consistently ok with step up, you can experiment with very, very gently petting his chest with the tip of one finger.

About this time, you can also start leaving his door open when you will be in the room for a while doing something quiet like browsing the internet or reading a book. Curiosity will drive him to come out and explore and he’ll eventually want to see what you’re doing. 

When he is ok with chest touch, you can try to pet his back the same way. Some ringneck cocks will allow it, some won’t, but pretty much all will eventually be ok with lightly stroking his chest.

Be patient with him, and don’t lose hope. He will come around eventually.

@laurendille

Taming.