Re: Bird's Nest (Sept. 2019) The Migration Begins

mousiegirl · ‎03-09-2010

@Bird mama wrote:
@mousiegirl assuming that she lays a second one in the next 48 hours, the goal is to replace the real eggs with wooden dummy eggs.

@Bird mama What happenes to the real eggs? Don't you want baby chicks, lol.

Bird mama · ‎03-12-2010

@mousiegirl The eggs will be destroyed.

For 9 of his 10 years, Grayson (with my help) has gathered twiglets from the walnut tree. Each spring he makes a nest in his man cave and sits on either his rubber chicken or small rubber ball.

He has a natural instinct to want to brood something and I feel no joy or satisfaction in taking that away from him. My little General is a father

I've been giving this alot of thought as I watched Grayson court Finley. Sure, he has an instinct to brood. If I do nothing, does he have the instinct to partner with Finley to raise a baby? What about Finley? She abandoned the egg she laid the day or so after she arrived. That was a traumatic experience for her all the way around. I know she develops what appear to be viable eggs (I didn't poke around to look at today's egg) and she seems to be a bit more maternal with today's egg. Does she have experience to raise a baby, possible alone if Grayson doesn't know how?

One thing I can say with certainty is that I don't know how to hand raise a squab.

There's a website called Palomacy that I've visited since it was named Mickaboo. It's a pigeon and dove rescue network.

I'm going to follow their recommendations to slow down egg laying by replacing the natural eggs with fake eggs. The most humane thing to do is to replace the natural eggs within the first couple of days of being laid before the embryos develop.

There are many elements: wind, fire, water
But none quite like the element of surprise

mousiegirl · ‎03-09-2010

@Bird mama wrote:
@mousiegirl The eggs will be destroyed.

For 9 of his 10 years, Grayson (with my help) has gathered twiglets from the walnut tree. Each spring he makes a nest in his man cave and sits on either his rubber chicken or small rubber ball.

He has a natural instinct to want to brood something and I feel no joy or satisfaction in taking that away from him. My little General is a father

I've been giving this alot of thought as I watched Grayson court Finley. Sure, he has an instinct to brood. If I do nothing, does he have the instinct to partner with Finley to raise a baby? What about Finley? She abandoned the egg she laid the day or so after she arrived. That was a traumatic experience for her all the way around. I know she develops what appear to be viable eggs (I didn't poke around to look at today's egg) and she seems to be a bit more maternal with today's egg. Does she have experience to raise a baby, possible alone if Grayson doesn't know how?

One thing I can say with certainty is that I don't know how to hand raise a squab.

There's a website called Palomacy that I've visited since it was named Mickaboo. It's a pigeon and dove rescue network.

I'm going to follow their recommendations to slow down egg laying by replacing the natural eggs with fake eggs. The most humane thing to do is to replace the natural eggs within the first couple of days of being laid before the embryos develop.

@Bird mama Fascinating.

Bird mama · ‎03-12-2010

@mousiegirl I read that and saw this is my head

Image result for spock fascinating

I have to be practical. Grayson and Finley will be the only unrelated birds. After that, I'm looking at inbreeding. If I don't manage this right, I will be doing a disservice to any offspring. It sure as heck don't make me feel much better about it, but there you have it.

There are many elements: wind, fire, water
But none quite like the element of surprise