Monkey

Thanks, the advice is appreciated. I was starting to lose faith :'( Kirky - he'd been penned in for 4 weeks in total - 3 days in an aviary flight in the garden whilst we set the dovecote up and then 3.5 weeks under the netting in the dovecote. joshdonlan - thanks that is a great help So how long should we keep the remaining one in for? Any other advice on what to do from here would be gratefully received. This is all new to me.

We've left a tel no with the neighbour who has the adjoining balcony so should hear if he turns up there. If anyone can shed light on ANY of my questions I'd REALLY appreciate it. 1. Should we release the other (we think it's a hen) in the hope that they'll find each other OR keep her in to tempt him back? 2. Neither of their original owners (see previous thread - one was from County Durham, the other from Tunbridge Wells) bothered to come and get them after being notified they were strays 2 yrs ago. They are still ringed with their original numbers. Can we re-register them now, so that if he's found he can be returned to my parents? 3. Has the remaining one been kept in long enough to break it? 4. As far as we can work out, they were new birds in 2006 that were liberated from Beachy Head. That was only 5 miles away from our flat at the time so they didn't get far, would they be likely to find their way back to my old balcony more than 240 miles away from their new home? Thanks in advance.

If you mean due to the fencing, that is only temporary to support the netting and give them a bit more room whilst they're in? It is due to come down with the net.

Hi people, I posted a couple of yrs back when I unwittingly adopted 2 racing pigeons who had been abandoned by their owners as they'd taken up residency on my balcony: http://forum.pigeonbasics.com/m-1162924209/s-all/ Well, I moved home over Xmas/New Year so had to do something about the birds (they'd settled in nicely - came in every day, ate off my lap and sat under my desk for a couple of hours, spent the rest of the day coming and going, nestbuilding for most of the summer etc). So I bought a dovecote and offloaded them onto my parents 240 miles away (my new place is another flat so unfortunately was unsuitable). They were boxed up on Xmas eve and spent a couple of days in an aviary flight whilst we set the dovecote up (digging holes and mixing concrete to set a post on Boxing Day isn't much fun?!), then were released under a homing net on December 27th: They took to their new home pretty well - spending all day in and out of the cote and on the feeding table, sleeping at night on a perch across the corner of the temporary fence (they never used to sleep on my balcony, preferring the rooftop above the flat) until 2 days ago when one of them seems to have found a way out and is now missing? We were planning to release them both next weekend anyway but my questions are: 1. Should we release the other (we think it's a hen) in the hope that they'll find each other or keep her in to tempt him back? 2. Neither of their original owners (see previous thread - one was from County Durham, the other from Tunbridge Wells) bothered to come and get them after being notified they were strays 2 yrs ago. They are still ringed with their original numbers. Can we re-register them now, so that if he's found he can be returned to my parents? 3. Has the remaining one been kept in long enough to break it? 4. As far as we can work out, they were new birds in 2006 that were liberated from Beachy Head. That was only 5 miles away from our flat at the time so they didn't get far, would they be likely to find their way back to my old balcony more than 240 miles away from their new home? Any other advice much appreciated.

I thought I'd better update my thread as I've had a couple of mails asking what happened? The answer is so far not much. I've reported the second bird to the RPRA. They have passed me the owners details and sent him notification. It appears he's on holiday for a couple of weeks and so far there's been no response to the messages I've left on the landline/mobile numbers I was given. I'm therefore sitting tight until he gets back to see what he wants to do about the female. I've also had a very kind offer to re-home them from a member of this forum who is local to me. I'll be taking him up on the offer if her owner isn't interested. Updated pic for you all. Cheers Monkey.

Thanks for that, I was wondering why he was starting to look a bit bald & rough around the head (although he has been a bit territorial with the local birds and has had a couple of "incidents"). I've had an offer by PM to re-home them both which is good to know. We'll have to see what the owner of the second one wants to do first though. Many thanks for all the advice. I've only discovered internet forums this year and have found them to be a mine of info whatever the topic. You lot are obviously passionate about your sport/hobby which as an outsider is great to see.

He, he - no monkey nuts but they do like to nibble @ my toes given half a chance. She's been eating wild bird seed once a day for about 2 weeks now. The NEHU sent me a letter which I still have. I haven't let them know he's not interested though? I'll drop them a line to update them. I was surprised someone would just abandon a bird like that but he said he's lost a few young birds already this year?! I could no doubt catch them both fairly easily if need be. If I leave the door open they wander in until I see them off (they're not my carpets ). If I leave it open & leave the room Piston is usually under the desk by the time I get back (is that what you'd call coming home to roost?) & Pie is in the hallway!

Thanks people. The advice is much appreciated. The flat is rented so unfortunately a loft is out of the question as I don't think my landlord would be too impressed (but strangely we've become quite attached to them & my girlfriend now wants pigeons when we eventually move). I'll give the RPRA a call tomorrow and see what they say about the female. That unfortunately leaves the male on his own though and me still with a problem as his owner has already disowned him? Could he be retrained by a local fancier (I'm in Eastbourne)? Piston (the male) on the day he arrived: .... and then this afternoon (5 weeks later, does he look any different? He's certainly livelier?): Pie (the female) this afternoon: Paul.

Evening all, I don't know the 1st thing about pigeons but seem to have temporarliy adopted 2 so could do with some advice? Just over 5 weeks ago the 1st turned up on my balcony (which is covered & on the 4th floor so there's no danger from predators). I looked at a couple of websites for advice & on their recommendation gave it some dry rice & water for a couple of days. I managed to read the ring on it's leg & reported it to the NEHU. They notified the owner but when I spoke to him he wasn't interested in having the bird back (my girlfiend named him Piston @ this point)? He told me to stop feeding & it would mingle with local wild birds & be OK? I carried on feeding for a couple of days as at that point I'd been out & bought some wild seed. It seemed a waste to throw it away when the bird was obviously hungry. About a week later I noticed a second pigeon (with a GB ring) was starting to follow the 1st around & eventually it too came onto the balcony. I put some more food down as this one was also hungry & didn't look too good (she's now been named Pie). The 2 of them have now paired up, are inseparable and have been mating on the rooftop here? I'm still feeding them a little food every day, they come & go and sleep in the eaves on top of the building. I find them intriguing and although they make a mess on my balcony I don't mind cleaning it regularly. My neighbour downstairs doesn't agree though and is starting to complain so I need to do something. I have the ring number for the second bird but haven't reported it as the owner of the 1st doesn't want him back so it seems unfair to split them up? My questions therefore are: 1. Should I report the second bird? 2. If I did report her would the owner take both of them? 3. If I stop feeding them will they find their own food or am I condemning them? Any advice much appreciated. Paul. p.s I've been thru the Lost section of the forum since finding this site today & the GB number isn't there.