Little Lynn hatched yesterday (Tuesday), later the same day as her brother Bo. Both on the same day. But Lynn is so much smaller than Bo, maybe half his size. Both seem healthy. Lynn looked a little like a cartoon last night, as the bottom half of the egg was gone, and she was still stuck head first in the upper half with her butt and legs sticking out. We thought of helping her out of the shell, but than Mama returned and covered the squabs, and she always stands her ground and won’t move.
But all is well with this batch. The Bully has already disposed of the shells.
Sunday morning and the new squabs are five days old. Healthy. Their eyes are open now. May have opened yesterday, but we were away all day and so didn’t notice. New photos soon.
Saturday morning and the new guys are 11 days old. Healthy. Growing. Bo clearly has a lot of white feathers starting to sprout. Lynn less so but still some white – it looks like she’ll be more of a white/dark mix like Rose, but it’s still too early to tell. They hatched on the same day, but the eggs were laid two days apart, and Lynn is clearly smaller than Bo. Less developed, I’d say. Could just be a male/female thing, but I think the shorter development is it.
Jamie stayed away for three nights but then returned, so we have a full crew out there at night now – seven pigeons and the two new squabs.
I’m running around this weekend with my buddy from upcountry, who’s come into the city for meetings and a long weekend. But I’ll still try to get those new photos up soon.
Fear not. It really is me. Siam Sam. As explained in my signature and in this post in the thread on Board performance problems, I’ve been sanctioned to use this sock account for a limited time in a bid to help find out what’s causing some of us posters to get zapped with a glitch sporadically.
Yes, that’s not unusual at all. They always hatch on the same day or one day apart. But the eggs are always laid two days apart, so I wonder about the development of the younger one.
Tuesday morning and the little guys are growing. Looking whiter and whiter. And the parents are getting all romantic again. They seem to be hanging out in the tree pot. I wonder if they’ll switch back and forth between that and the flower box.
It’s getting crowded out there at night. Seven grown. Previous squabs have all left for whatever reason (eaten by a cat? :eek:). But Emmy is seven months old now. Jamie turns six months tomorrow. Now we’ll have two more leaving the box soon. C’mon guys, go find mates and get a life.
Four days later on August 12: A potful of pidgees! Zoe and Woody with Dad, who is, sadly, on the clutch of eggs that did not work out and ultimately had to be discarded.
And here are Bo and Lynn on September 17, one day old. That’s little Lynn resting her head on brother Bo’s back, with the remnants of an eggshell. I believe that’s Dad on the other side of the box.
Then Sunday at 12 days old: Placed on the floor (that’s Lynn in front; looks like she’ll have a darker head than Bo). Back in the flower box (with Bo on this side; they always drift to that end of the box, away from us monsters). And a close-up.
Friday morning and the squabs are 17 days old. They’ve moved into their “cute” phase, fluffy little balls. Both white, but Lynn will have a dark head. Squealing constantly for Mom and Dad, who are back to having sex like teenagers again. Oddly, Bo and Lynn are our first squabs who don’t rear up and snap when we come near. All of the others would snap at us when about 7-10 days or so, but not this pair.
I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t point to my other pigeon thread, heh.
Sunday afternoon. Bo and Lynn are 19 days old, and today was the worst day of their lives. That’s because the Big Bad Monster (me) was out there terrorizing them all afternoon. Actually I was painting the balcony, a distinction that seemed to escape them. Their beloved parents stayed away, while I kept giving them little tickles that they clearly did not appreciate. Cleaned out their nest in the flower box too and laid down fresh dirt. All is well now though, as I’ve come back inside and the parents have returned.
Thanks! Nah, just whatever tickles out fancy at the moment.
The parents have been screwing like teenagers all evening. And they’ve been putting new twigs into the tree pot. New eggs soon. They seem to hope to switch back and forth, but if the eggs in the tree pot do hatch, we’ll have to move the squabs into the roomier flower box after a couple of weeks.
Monday night and … we have another egg! Little Timmy is out there incubating as I type this. In the tree pot. We expect another egg on Wednesday if the pattern stays the same.
It will be Timmy and Gwen this time around. This is starting to get a little problematic, as we have a full complement of seven pidgees at night now, plus the two new squabs, plus a couple more eggs due this week. But Woody flew off tonight. I had to squirt him a little for attacking his sisters, and off he went into the night. Strange that one, disappeared before for three weeks before coming back to stay at night again.
And … we have the second egg! The egg containing little Gwen was laid yesterday (Wednesday), right on schedule. ETA for hatchings to start is October 23.
On TV a couple of years ago, the wife saw footage of a pigeon laying an egg. She said it didn’t look easy. Seemed to take a lot out of the poor bird.
Even though the eggs are already here, they’re building up the nest. Today I watched The Bully keep flying off for more twigs. He brought them back one at a time, handing off each one to his sweetie Ladyboy, who went to work tucking it in among the others. Then he’d fly off for another one and be back with it right away. Always neat to watch.
Friday night and the squabs are 24 days old. I came home before the wife and fed the parents. Then Bo finally hopped out of the box! Ran squealing to Mama, who wanted to eat and so pecked him away. Shocked, he tried going back into the flower box but couldn’t make it. I had to give him a boost.
They’ll both be in and out of the flower box this weekend though, I’m sure. They’re just about at my favorite age – old enough to run around but can’t fly yet.
Friday morning and the new little guys, Bo and Lynn, are 31 days old. Running around the balcony in wide-eyed wonder at the world but not flying yet. They’re jumping up onto the green concrete verge now though. Dad tends to them, is trying to coax them to fly, while Mom pays attention to the new clutch of eggs, which should start hatching about next Thursday.
There’s a little bump on Lynn’s head, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering her.
Woody from the previous batch is a bad’un. Comes home at night to start fights. Have to squirt him with water quite a bit to make him stop.
Henry and Geri are still coming around. Fed them a nice breakfast this morning.
