Having two hens is not always easy. Pugeons are social, like many birds. So you have to interact with them. You play, cuddle, scratch their head. However it gets really tiring sometimes. They behave towards me and my partner the same way how they treat other pigeons. So I am like a big deformed pigeon.

But we are talking about pigeons and what do they love? Deep voices. It is how the communicate and it is important to find other mates. So no matter if you like it or not, they can find you somehow attractive or simply get agitated. They do it even despite already having mates (They are monogamous, but only if we talk about “love”. They will still mate with others) and this has to be handled with care. One time back then I talked with my grandmother and I only talked russian with her. Since my breathing, while talking russian, is different compared to english or german, they freaked totally out. In the end the oldest landed near me and went into “mating position”. I had kindly to take her into another room so they could all come down.

This is normal with pigeons. Important is not to provocate this behaviour. And since I am male and my voice can get very deep and voluminous, I have to be more carefully. No kidding, its just the voice. Other pigeons which visited me however thought I am marking my territory. Meaning, I am something like a rooster. The positive thing is, that a deep voice can calm them down. Just singing something calmly can make them sleep - Its like singing a lullaby to a child.

Few Months ago a notorious pair of pigeons was nesting again on my balcony. At first it didnt look like it, because there were no signs. The rooster was there, but the hen was never to be found somewhere. One night I decided to destroy all their nesting stuff, because they were failing everytime. So many eggs had fallen down and got destroyed in the past. However by cleaning up I found a squab. It was older as expected and dont know how the hen has hidden it. However, he wasnt caring for it anymore and the rooster did not know there was squab. He was rather chasing after other hens.

I only decided to check if its fine, put it back, restore the nest and make it safer - This is the right approach. It is ok to destroy a nest, as long there are no eggs or squabs. It has to be empty.

The squab seemed to be fine at first glance. However after few minutes a felt something crawling on my arms and it were red bird mites. The little thing was full of it. Examining the nest showed that it was contaminated with them - Probably also the reason why the nest was abandoned.

The following question was not easy to resolve: Take it back and it would probably die or keep the squab and risk that my pigeons will get them too. After I washed the squab it got clean enough, that I could not find more of them. Luckily enough my youngest had unfertilised eggs and I simply swapped them with the squab. And the squab got accepted.

Maybe the hen would came back and find out, that the squab was missing. But because the nest was contaminated and endangered the life of the little chick, I was fine with my decision. And since I have way to weak heart towards pigeons, I am keeping giving them no place to make a new nest. And this was not the first time I had to save a squab from this notorious pigeon pair.

The youngest one was happy and did her best to fed the new family member. The oldest one joined too. However the fought here and there, because both wanted to care for the squab. But it was managble.

Weeks passed, feathers were fully grown and it was able to fly. But also denied to fly away - like the others two. For real, I am not keeping them. They had many opportunities, but I guess they prefer save environment. Funny enough the notorious pair tried to build a nest a few times in my living room, when I let them in back then.

The squab got named “Kyuken”. A combination of “cute” and “Küken”. Küken means chick in german. Kyuken had become more aggressive over time and also got a specific look in its eyes. A specific look you find also by chicken roosters. Pigeon roosters also often have this aggressive, dominating look. And it turned out to be rooster indeed.

Roosters are great. It is of course cute how this little guy is performing his dance and tries to impress the way older hens here. But more important he is managing everyone here. In the moment he decided to cuddle with the oldest one. Sometimes with his foster mother or my partner or myself. Difference is, that you cant cuddle him, he cuddles you. If you try to touch him, he will peck and bite. However he will come sometimes and lays down on your hand. He is the rooster, it is his territory, he is doing his best to dominate, even if it is a gigantic featherless being. I love him, he is entertaining the other pigeons pretty well.

So much about him. But I have to tell few general things. Probably the reason for my long absence on Lemmygrad was, that I liked to share photos about my flock and tell stories. I often wanted to write a update regarding rescued pigeons and squabs. Things is, sick and young birds are fragile. I am experienced with them and can raise them, but there is only so few things you can do, if something doesnt go well. They can be sick from the start or a pigeon decides to feed them seeds and not crop milk or injure them by mistake. Or they just die, even if everything is optimal. My biggest mistake was to share pictures about rescued birds often to soon. It reached it final point, when the rescued wood pigeon, which had 1½ wings, died after months. She became part of our feathered and unfeathered flock and she was happy as well.

I am still not over it, because it happened suddenly. And I didnt want to see the picture in this community I posted of my beloved wood pigeon or the others which didnt make it in the end. I also won’t update who made and who not, because I really dont want to add negativity to a picture of a squab or adult rescued pigeon, which someone may enyoed. This would be sad.

Caring for them shows me often how fragile life can be. How it appears like magic (A hour passes and then something starts forming in an egg) and then it also vanishes without even knowing why. Sometimes it happens so fast, that it is emotionally exhausting.

I had now enough time to think about it and also find the energy to continue this community. I really like it to share pictures and stories and gives me joy. In the end I missed it a lot and also whole Lemmygrad. Now is the time to continue my agitation for socialism with pigeon characteristics.