..But local wild pigeons may lead them astray
REGULARS of Soho 2 Silo already know I am now the owner of some beautiful white fantail doves after a nostalgia attack during a bird auction in Cumbria recently.
The sight of the fantails on the auction room floor suddenly propelled me back more than four decades to the chaotic journey on the Scholars 4 bus in my home town of Stanley, County Durham.
One of the landmarks on the route from Stanley Grammar School to home used to be a corner house where stunning fantails would pose and perch from a beautifully painted dovecot.
The ride home from school was always manic, loud and rough but everything would stop for those 10 seconds as we hurtled past the exotic looking dovecot in the gritty mining town.
However when I bought the birds if I thought recreating a scene - minus unruly schoolkids - was going to be easy I was wrong.
The fantails have been housed in a large bird cage while I spent the last few days trying to find a bargain dovecot. Eventually it arrived and hubby, bless him, set about painting it and then planting it deep into the ground secured by concrete.
It occurred to me that the fantails had become quite settled in their cage and probably would freak out at their new upscale residence outdoors so I bought a massive big net and with various ladders and created a tent-style effect to hold in the birds as you can see in the pictures.
I'm told if they remain there for the next few weeks then this will imprint as their base and if they do fly off their homing instict will kick in and bring them back. So, by the time Ramadan is over I should be able to remove the netting and just hope the birds remain.
However, some alarm bells began ringing after I heard the sound of local wood pigeons cooing this evening. According to one local the wild birds may try and make the doves fly with them until they become part of their flock and disappear.
Without sounding like a snob, the last thing I want is my lovely posh fantails mixing with local pigeons.
I have a feeling, like just about everything else I've taken on in my Borders small-holding, this is not going to be as smooth running as previously expected.
Advice please ... as long as it does not involve a shotgun and a recipe for wild pigeon pie!
REGULARS of Soho 2 Silo already know I am now the owner of some beautiful white fantail doves after a nostalgia attack during a bird auction in Cumbria recently.
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| THERE'S NO PLACE ... like home |
One of the landmarks on the route from Stanley Grammar School to home used to be a corner house where stunning fantails would pose and perch from a beautifully painted dovecot.
The ride home from school was always manic, loud and rough but everything would stop for those 10 seconds as we hurtled past the exotic looking dovecot in the gritty mining town.
However when I bought the birds if I thought recreating a scene - minus unruly schoolkids - was going to be easy I was wrong.
 |
DES RES: With temporary
scaffolding & netting
|
It occurred to me that the fantails had become quite settled in their cage and probably would freak out at their new upscale residence outdoors so I bought a massive big net and with various ladders and created a tent-style effect to hold in the birds as you can see in the pictures.
 |
| POSH BIRDS may be targetted by local pigeons |
However, some alarm bells began ringing after I heard the sound of local wood pigeons cooing this evening. According to one local the wild birds may try and make the doves fly with them until they become part of their flock and disappear.
Without sounding like a snob, the last thing I want is my lovely posh fantails mixing with local pigeons.
I have a feeling, like just about everything else I've taken on in my Borders small-holding, this is not going to be as smooth running as previously expected.
Advice please ... as long as it does not involve a shotgun and a recipe for wild pigeon pie!
OK, first thing first, Ramadan Mubarak to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I was going to give you a lengthy and expensive advise but found these while looking for some material: http://www.wilfirs.com/view_product/pigeon-loft-want-cage-4-bird-bird-boxes-and-tables.html
I think it is a very good idea and it is much cheaper to implement, the net currently covering is not very safe to say the least, if anything (e.g falcons,cats) freaks out the fantails, they will try to fly away and since the net is not very secure, the outcome may not be very pleasant.
About the wild pigeons flying them away, it depends on a couple of things. If the fantails are paired, as they should be because they've been kept in a cage, they're not much likely to fly away and if they're single, then there can be two outcomes, either they will pair with wild pigeons and fly away with them, or either the wild pigeons will move in with them. Either way, you don't want to take any chances, so I would advise you to only let them out once they've paired and have become familiar with the surroundings.
Alhumdullilah! That's fantastic - thank you so much
DeleteA question; have they paired yet?
Deletehttp://pigeonbasics.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/kinds-of-breeding.html
ReplyDelete"OUTCROSSING - mating of unrelated cock & hen of the same breed.
Ginawa ito to produce Hybrid Vigor ( Heterosis ) birds,ang ibig sabihin nun yung offspring will exceed both sire & dam,assuming na maraming good qualities yung both parents.Ang isang disadvantage ng outcrossed birds ay malaki ang gene pool nila,meaning yung character ( both good & bad ) ay nag increase dahil nag contribute ng bagong character yung sire w/c is differerent from the hen.Ang magandang example nito ay kung tumataya tayo sa " lotto ",mas maraming combination of nos. involve....mas maliit ang chance natin na manalo.Kaya nga most of the time ,kung meron tayong " Champion Bird " tapos try nating i-breed,karaniwan hindi maduplicate ng offspring yung good character ng champion bird dahil sa dami ng combination ng genes na pwedeng ipasa from the said bird."
Dave, you've lost me, sort of. I was with you until you launched into Hindu?
DeleteSalaam
ReplyDeleteInshAllah your upwardly mobile doves will behave as all experts seem to expect and not desert you. My father seemed to keep doves quite successfully in Pakistan when we were kids. He used to hold a seed in his lips and the dove perched on his arm would take it from him. They were a pair of doves and that does seem to be the thing to keep them happy...to have a mate. Things seemed so simple when we were kids! I had no idea you would have to employ ladders and netting to encourage your birds to stay!!
I am worried about the ladder falling over though...the sooner you can dispose of it the better.
May you and your doves enjoy each others company for many happy days :)
Z
wsa, thank you for sharing those memories - I'm not sure about putting bird seed in my mouth though - I'm so hungry during Ramadan the temptation would be too great and I'd probably eat them myself, lol!
Delete