The Canker Medication is finished and Pete bumped his Foot

From the

Diary as of  8/29 – 8/31/09

8/29 Today it’s not very warm and it started to rain a bit even – only 19°C and apparently the babies feel it’s too cold to go outside. When Pina was on the balcony balustrade for a couple of minutes she realized that she was getting cold feet and jumped on my arm. She HAD cold feet. Even Peppi was not eager to stay outside – although he loves being outside with all the other pigeons.

Oh my – what kind of pigeons have I grown? They are lying in a cardbox right on the top of the closet in my livingroom and cannot be convinced that they have a life outside. They should fly around and have their fun – instead they are sprawling  and sleeping!!!! But maybe they need that for their final recovery 

Jimi appeared this morning. He was in a hurry as usual, quickly ate some seeds from the foodie pots and disappeared again. Have not seen Joey so far.

Winnie has laid her egg #9 – I have to produce new plaster eggs!!!

8/30 Winnie has been treated this morning – she will receive another pill tomorrow. Thank heaven – no visible canker. And their behaviour tells me that they are all perfectly okay.

So in total: Peppi got 5 pills, Pina 3, Willy 3, Pete 3, Emma 2 and Winnie 2.

I forgot to tell – 3 days ago we were at the lady doc again. Today we went to the lady doctor again. Well – I told her what I did etc. etc. – she was not very much amused (telling from her face) that *I* did change her prescription but in fact she did not say anything. I explained to her that it was not simply my idea but that I was in contact with a whole group of very experienced people who deal with these deseases on a daily basis. Sadly enough she did not jump on what I was saying so I left the subject. I really don’t understand why a doctor would not be willing to learn from other people who may have much more experience. It was disappointing.

Still I am grateful for her help (she made Emma healthy again) and I cannot thank enough the people from the Pij’n Angels Forum

The results at the vet:

Peppi and Pina both still had a tiny bit of those deposits in their throats but it looked much better than before. Peppi has got 5 pills, Pina 3. According to the lady doctor those few tiny nodules would clear by themselves so her recommendation was to give the little ones some vitamins to help their immune system.

I ordered some vitamin compound today (Vitacombex) which the vet recommended.

Peppi and Pina are greatly enjoying little outings on the balcony now, to the neighbour balcony etc. They eat and they drink and seem to be very happy but I still have a close eye on them.

Oh my, this morning I got up again at 6:15 – both babies requesting to be let out. So they went off. After an hour Peppi was back – hungry – what’s probably driven him back but Pina did not come back. After 2 hours I was getting nervous, especially as Willy, the father, seemed to look for her also. 3 hours went by, then another one. You can imgine that I was nearly in panic but what could I have done? I did not even see in which direction she flew off and with whom. I already saw Pina, my sweet little pigeon girl, hanging somewhere, entangled in one of those nets  – another half an hour went by and then, some flapping wings at the balcony door – and there she was, heading directly to the foodhouse and the water bowl.

Everybody on this planet must have heard that avalanche coming from my heart….

Winnie laid her second egg, which is  #10

Winnie got her second pill today. Also she had no visible canker. I will leave it with the second pill. It is actually great distress for her to pick her from the nest and make her swallow the pill. She is very strong and it was difficult to hold her.

Pete must have bumped his foot heavily  while fighting with an intruder. He is limping. I cannot see any injury though. I will watch this but I think there is no real bad injury. I think he is getting old and just cannot act as a young one any more. Sometimes he forgets about his age and he does things he should better not have done. Does this sound human???It is impossible to tell how old he already is. But I think he is not the youngest any more. You can see this from his ragged beak, his movements which are not as quick as those of a young pigeon. I really hope that he will have a couple of good years still though. I love him very much. He is such a good father and grandfather. And very sensitive too…

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.Pina and Peppi checking my book shelves

Willy (in front – father) checking on his kids and their readings – hm…

Peppi and Pina happily snoring in the box

Peppi and Pina on discovery

Willy (father) – the control freak… Peppi is not amused…

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Angelo brought another Homer – Hubert

From the

Diary as of  8/16 – 8/17/09

8/16 Joey appeared today again – he was soooo hungry and really smacked his beak – yes – that’s possible – while he was eating like a pig. He was in a hurry and flew off as soon as his little belly (crop of course) was full.

We have another homer! We called him Hubert. He was not as desperate for food and water as Emil – remember the wedding pigeon? – But he was darn well grateful to find food and water on our balcony. And you know what? It was Angelo again, who brought him. Slowly I get the feeling that Angelo really is some kind of angel – he brings the lost and starving to our balcony. How about that? This is becoming quite mysterious…

8/17 Zoltan (my dear partner) was communicating with Pina today: he laid on his belly on the floor in front of Pina and whistled between his teeth very shortly and softly and Pina answered exactly the same way with her sweet voice. He wistled once – Pina squeaked once, he whistled twice – Pina squeaked twice. How amazing is this? This IS communication! Pijjin English!!

Jimi appeared today again – he also was very hungry and I have heard him for the first time smacking just as Joey did. He was in such a hurry – probably his kiddos waiting and he did not have any time for a little small talk. Off he was in a blink….

Unfortunately FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MARCH WE HAVE NOT SEEN OUR SWEET ANGELO today! I hope he is doing okay. But maybe he was here and we did not see him. We had food and water ready to take on his own. Water is always on our balcony – normally I don’t let the food outside because it attracts too many other VISITORS and then “our” pijjies are getting the fits chasing them all off – I don’t want to get them a heart attack….

Hubert, the homer, even slept tonight near the water pot – that is on the lowest board of pigeon city and Willy did not chase him away. Miracle! What does that mean? We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

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Babies are so small – are they behind? (day2 to 7)

From the

Diary as of  7/22 – 7/28/09

7/22 The babies are sooo small still. So tiny and so vulnerable. But look how adorable they are still with lots and lots of yellow “fur”.

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Jimi and Joey are now coming in the morning for food and later on during the day or late afternoon again. They are both eating like crazy, they are even smacking and are in such a hurry that they eat the corn crossways, no matter how big it is. I would never have thought that they can eat such big pieces!!! I suspect that both have babies because they only eat as much as they can and then are off again in a hurry. Normally they would stay for a while and listen to me chatting with them. Now they have no time for me! Both are in the moult – especially Joey – he looks really awful, totally ragged and Jimi is missing a lot of feathers around his mouth.

7/23 Emma has laid her second egg – it is #27. How many still?

7/24 – 7/25 The babies are still very small – I am a bit worried because they are much smaller than their parents have been and the others. I compared the photos.

7/26 Today I weighted  Peppi – he has 100 gr – Pina has 90 gr after 6/5 days – is this good or bad? I have no idea how much a feral pigeon should weigh after that time.So many things to learn still. I decided to do a regular check on their weight until I am sure that everything is okay.

7/27 Unbelievable but both made a giant step. Peppi has 110 gr now and Pina 105 gr. So it seemed. I have yet to keep in mind that I do not know any more whether I weighed them yesterday before or after feeding.

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7/28 Peppi and Pina are both growing better now. It’s day 6 and 7 now. Quills are coming out and their poop – a lot – looks very fine – as it should: round, brown green little heaps with a white top. Perfect!
Willy and Winnie are wonderful parents although they are still so young and although it is only their 2nd clutch. The behave as if they had done nothing else. Remember – their first child was incredible Angelo! They do care a lot:  f.e. when it was windy and a bit cool today Winnie came more often and warmed the babies.

Both parents are feeding them simultaneously now quite often. One can see that the babies need much more food now. Winnie and Willy are often coming into my studio to “ask” for sunflower seeds. As if they exactly know how they could boost up the growth of their little ones. These little buggers know so well how they can make me weak!!

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Emma is okay again and Willy’s new Babies have hatched!

From the

Diary as of  7/15/ – 7/21/09

7/15  – 7/18 Emma’s poop is  still a bit thin but she seems to be okay again. I am so happy. She recovered very quickly.

7/18 Big highlight of today was: Angelo jumped on my hand in order to eat his beloved seeds directly there !! I tried this a couple of times, laying my hand with the seeds on the balustrade as usual and then moving it slowly further away until he could not reach it any more, making his neck as long as possible without falling fromthe balustrade. So he had to make a decision – either no seeds any more or jumping on my hand to reach them again. I know – I was mean but it worked:  today he was couragious and jumped on my hand. What a feeling this is.

Joey not coming for breakfast….

7/20 Yippee – Willy’s first baby of the second clutch has hatched during the night. Sooooo tiny but so full of golden hair….. thank heaven it is warm again!

7/21 Second baby hatched too – how wonderful. Willy is behaving like a berserk – protecting his precious nest and fighting everything and everyone who dares to come near.

Joey appeared this morning again to get food!

Emma laid an egg: it is #26! She will be ruining her little body if she continues like this…

And now I want to introduce Peppi and Pina to you:

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Now look at these lots and lots of golden “fur” –

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Blessy is back and the Pijjies have their Moods

From the

Diary as of 6/23/ – 6/24/09

Joey is sleeping in pigeoncity since 2 days – the weather is so awful – raining and raining and raining and he is in the moult.  Pete also seems to be very depressed – he is hardly eating. He does not even quarrel much with the foreigners who do not belong on our balcony. I really hope that he is not sick.

It is quite apparent: pigeons have their moods just like humans. It is unbelievable but they seem to know depressive feeling. If we only could communicate with them – many things would be so much easier. Maybe I am a little bit crazy about all this but then I simply don’t care. I KNOW that these wonderful birds are more than just wild animals. Every one of them has his and her own personality and there are days where they are feeling bad and there are days where they feel a whole lot of joy. You can simply see this.

If you only could see Angelo flying on a bright sunny day. He is showboating, he behaves like dolphins who are surfing on a wave. Clearly they have fun – a lot of fun! So do the piggies. I only wished I could fly with them together….

Blessy appeared today on the balcony again after such a long time – and he seems to be doing well.

Angelo, our little icebear, is becoming more and more trusty – he sat on the stepper’s railing and ate the seeds from my hand again (see last post). Willy became jealous and chased him away. Silly Willy but Angelo came back soon and continued eating.

Jimi is coming every day at the moment too – eating from the seeds. From the bowl with the old sock…

This is a photo of Blessy with his colourful plumage:

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