Hello from Bangkok!

Siam Sam wrote:

Henry and Maggie are showing up regularly again several times a day to ask for food. Henry will jump up in the window, Maggie will stand and stare intently like she's trying to hypnotize us. She showed up alone early this morning and just stood and stared and stared until I fed her.

they're probably telling each other how amazingly clever these humans are...you can just stare at them and they bring food

rattyfied wrote:

Siam Sam wrote:

Henry and Maggie are showing up regularly again several times a day to ask for food. Henry will jump up in the window, Maggie will stand and stare intently like she's trying to hypnotize us. She showed up alone early this morning and just stood and stared and stared until I fed her.

they're probably telling each other how amazingly clever these humans are...you can just stare at them and they bring food

rattyfied wrote:

Siam Sam wrote:

Henry and Maggie are showing up regularly again several times a day to ask for food. Henry will jump up in the window, Maggie will stand and stare intently like she's trying to hypnotize us. She showed up alone early this morning and just stood and stared and stared until I fed her.

they're probably telling each other how amazingly clever these humans are...you can just stare at them and they bring food

Maggie has disappeared again, since late last week. We figure that means new eggs in their nest, wherever that is. And Henry is pigging out a lot more. Maybe Henry really is feeding Maggie while she's on the nest.

That would explain Henry's increased appetite. He's really demanding more food now. Usually if we close the curtains while he's out there, because there are too many other pigeons around and we don't want to feed everyone, he'll take the hint. These past few days, though, he's been standing out there, staring at the closed curtains and cooing for food. Sounds like a mating call, but he's clearly asking for food (he's done this before). And he'll jump up on the little ledge the sliding door runs on like he normally does when the curtain is open, only now he'll do it while the curtains are closed, and stay on there. We can see his little silhouette through the curtain. Once the other pigeons leave, then we'll feed him. Hungry little guy these days. I really think he must be feeding Maggie. I guess we'll see her again in three or four weeks.

Hi Sam,
Appreciate you stopping by.

It does sound like Henry is storing up to feed two. Especially when he stays around after everyone else leaves, knowing he'll get fed again.
They truly are very crafty little ones.

I hope all is going well with you and your wife.

It does look very likely!

Well, at least you won't be worrying so much about Maggie! Say hello to her when she's back!

Thanks! And Happy Holidays to everyone here.

And no sooner had I written my previous post than Maggie appeared briefly. But she's definitely cut back. And there's a new one small one that looks suspiciously like Maggie. Just appeared today. Hmmm.

Wishing you and your wife a very happy holiday as well, Sam.

to Maggie.

A very happy 2011 for you, your wife and your balcony friends!

That one appearance by Maggie was the last we've seen of her. She must be on the nest with eggs again. And now we suspect that is indeed correct about Henry feeding her. He comes by in the mornings, eats A LOT, flies off, then returns, hops up onto the window ledge again and asks for more. He'll do this two or three times in the morning, then sometimes back in the afternoon.

But now there's a little Pigeon Mafia of bullies who try to attack Henry while he's eating. So now what we often end up doing is standing guard near Henry so he can eat. We have a small spray bottle with which to shoot a stream of water at the attacking bullies to scare them off and let Henry eat in peace. This is all becoming a bit surreal: A wild animal regularly comes by and formally asks for food, then eats it as we stand guard over him. And he won't even let us touch him!

I can sympathise with that 100%! During the summer months, when it's difficult for the park pigeons to find clean water, I often take 10 litres of water from home and then stand guard, with the help of my dog, to make sure they can drink without being disturbed by rowdy kids!

I also spray hostile intruders on/near my roof, but I use a 15 ml syrige for that -- the jet is pretty accurate at 10 metres!

Hi Sam,
As many times as Henry comes by to eat, there maybe a couple babies he's also feeding.

Like you and Teresa, I have stood guard many a times so a non-aggressor could eat without interruptions from the others.
Yep!! I also have a squirt bottle handy at all times.

Aha, we are all squirty-bottle terrors!

Maggie was here regularly again just a couple of weeks ago, so we think maybe she's laid eggs since then. Could be getting close to time to hatch.

There are two pidgees -- a gray and a "sammy," which we've named the pattern after the original Sammy from a couple of years ago -- that show up with Henry most times in the morning. These two, Henry chases. They look nothing like Henry or even Maggie -- Maggie is much darker than this gray -- but it's almost like they are Henry's squabs asking for food. Grown enough that there's no squealing.

Ladyboy keeps coming around with the Pretty One too. She seems to be exploring her sexuality, as they are constantly "doing it" in the designated sex area. But we don't think she's gone off and laid eggs yet. By our reckoning, she must be between five and six months old. Maybe too young for eggs? She sure has seemed to make the Pretty One get over his loss of Scruffy.

Teresa wrote:

Aha, we are all squirty-bottle terrors!

That picture of Sammy is too cute.

Maggie has returned, pretty much on schedule. But the bad news is she seems a little sick. The past couple of days, she's just stayed on the rails and watched Henry eat. Doesn't want to eat anything herself. A little droopy-eyed too, like she's sleepy. Not as bad as Junior seemed afflicted, or Max, but definitely something going on. No chance to catch her so far, as she won't come down to the floor, and when I try to get close for a look, she'll fly away.

In case it's thrush, the wife stopped by a pharmacy and asked if there was anything for that, explaining what it was for, and they didn't know anything about that. Is there a generic medicine name we can ask for? There wouldn't, by any chance, be something we could just mix in with their water, would there? I guess for thrush that wouldn't do any good, but I thought I'd ask. We haven't seen her come down to drink water either anyway.

Henry himself is as fat and healthy as ever. He's definitely not affected. Eats like a pig, chases the pidgess away that he can. We still guard him against a couple of bullies he can't handle. If he's been feeding Maggie or otherwise intimate with her, seems like he should be affected too. Hope he stays okay!

Hi Sam,

It's very hard to know what to recommend, because so many different illnesses can cause the symptoms you mentioned. Smell can be a good indicator, but it's no good if she won't let you get close enough. (For example, a fishy smell usually means canker, sour smell means yeast infection, and a sickly sweet smell can be Salmonella or a similar bacterial infection).
Any chance you could watch where she poops on the balcony and have a look at their appearance?

Sleepy eyes are often related to dehydration. Does she have diarrhoea? Watch out for a very curved back, with the tail feathers touching the ground -- that's a sign of abdominal pain and suggests an intestinal infection.
Missing feathers on the front of her neck or face are usually associated with canker. She may also have difficulty swallowing.

I use Flagyl for canker, Baytril, Bactrim or Synulox for bacterial infections, and Mycostatin for fungal/yeast infections. For Coccidia I've used Cocci Plus (water soluble), but tablets are better.

Here's a link to the Chevita site with a list of symptoms and what they represent:

http://www.chevita.com/en/pigeons/symptoms/index.php

Hi Sam.
It's great to hear from you.
I am so sorry to hear that Maggie is showing some sign of illness.
I'm glad Henry is doing well.
Keep an eye out on him though. Being Maggie's mate, it's possible he may come down with something as well.

Teresa has posted some good information. Teresa.
I hope you are able to catch Maggie and take a look.

Please keep us posted.

Thanks! It's just after 6:30am Saturday morning here now, and the sun is coming up, so maybe Maggie will appear soon with Henry. We have not noticed a droopy appearance. Since she's been staying on the rails, we've not had a chance to see her poop lately. Will monitor.

Thanks again.

There's some good information here, Sam about pigeon illness and treatment. I don't know if you have ventured out of this thread but there is a lot here to educate folks.

My guess is she has canker as an underlying problem. If you can find flagyl in liquid form, we can help you figure out a dose to put in the water. It wouldn't hurt to treat all the pigeons that frequent your balcony.
Stress, such as la shortage of food, mating weather change and such, can bring on a canker outbreak.

Siam Sam wrote:

Thanks! It's just after 6:30am Saturday morning here now, and the sun is coming up, so maybe Maggie will appear soon with Henry. We have not noticed a droopy appearance. Since she's been staying on the rails, we've not had a chance to see her poop lately. Will monitor.

Thanks again.

Appreciate the update, Sam.
I will be thinking good thoughts for Maggie.

In the event you are able to catch her, this is a good link to start with.
Basic Life Saving Steps

Thanks. No, I've not ventured very far from this thread or particular forum. I think I have heard of flagyl -- may even have taken it myself for intestinal trouble. Sounds familiar. I'll see if we can find some in liquid form, but if not, would it be good to crush up tablets and mix them with the water at an appropriate dosage?

Sunday morning now and no Maggie for 48 hours. Henry's still healthy and eating a lot. He may be feeding squabs. Maybe Maggie, too.

Siam Sam wrote:

Thanks. No, I've not ventured very far from this thread or particular forum. I think I have heard of flagyl -- may even have taken it myself for intestinal trouble. Sounds familiar. I'll see if we can find some in liquid form, but if not, would it be good to crush up tablets and mix them with the water at an appropriate dosage?

Sunday morning now and no Maggie for 48 hours. Henry's still healthy and eating a lot. He may be feeding squabs. Maybe Maggie, too.

Yes, that would work. But you'd need to agitate the mixture before using it, because the med tends to settle at the bottom of the water.

Appreciate the update, Sam.
I'm sorry to hear there has been no sign of Maggie.
Positive thoughts continue that she shows up.

I'm glad Henry is still coming by and doing good.