HEATED PIGEON OR CHICKEN NEST

HEATED PIGEON OR CHICKEN NEST for use in Outdoor aviary. Radiant floor heating for birds ~:<)

Will keep nest 10 to 15 deg F above ambient down to minus 30 deg. . .Made from ordinary 10" Pine boards.

15 watt Coffee cup heater Electric costs just pennies per year.

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This is what I made, used for 15 years in Minnesota in the draft free unheated flight aviary.

Sometimes the Pigeons sleep outside the nest anyway even at minus 25 deg ... but they do lay their eggs and sit in the nest area, If set up at eye level, you can easily see the Pigeons in the nest ( I use net-cams).

. . Works fine for Pigeons, but may NOT be warm enough for Chickens at minus 25 deg F. For Chickens, there are other easy solutions to keep Nest area ABOVE freezing

. . My Chicken coop which is attached to the outdoor aviary, uses the same principle but stays ABOVE freezing even at minus 30 degrees with the door OPEN to the unheated aviary, no need to heat water, no frozen eggs. The aviary is Solar so it's almost free heat, ..$5 per YEAR electric for small 100% VERY safe plastic dog house heater, timers, lights, vent fans, 35 net-cams. Extremely efficient for operating cost AND ridiculously easy Chicken maintenance (seconds, not minutes). For you critics, if elec goes out, it still stays at about 20 deg F above zero with no electric.

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Khufu steals food from my plate.

WITH BOTH FEET, she landed in the middle of my mashed potatoes.

Khufu . . . She's such and imp, so quick, so super sneaky, so very persistent, snatching food off my plate. She hates Spinach, Loves everything else, PIZZA is by far her favorite (NO meat allowed).

.... 

Likes broccoli, corn, egg rolls, cauliflower, sweet rolls, hot dogs, hamburger, salads (and even some dressing), rice, burritos, tacos, churros, french fries, mashed, pudding, Flan, corn on cob, sandwiches (any kind), tomatoes, Avocado (toxic to her), cucumber, radish, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, cookies (any kind), pancakes (some syrup), rice crispy bars, ice cream, brussel sprouts, etc, ... pretty much anything. ... a junk food junkie ~:<)

 

Simon, Khufu, and Pearl Pigeon taught me tricks

1) Simon Pigeon (RIP) taught me that when he pecked at my shirt, he wanted a treat.
2) Then Khufu Pigeon taught me the same thing
3) Now Pearl Pigeon has taught me that when she pecks at my shirt she wants a treat. . . . . .(Pigeons are smart ~:<)
. . . . Simon and Khufu also taught me that when they pecked my HAND they wanted a HUG. (Pearl has yet to teach me that, I've only had her 3 weeks)
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Simon was a 16yo white Modena Pigeon. - 140813f

 












Khufu is a mostly black 1yo Egyptian Swift. - 180211c

Pearl is a greyish Jacobin.(new to me) - 180415c

MR KING GOES VISITING, Show King Pigeon visiting a nursing home

Mr King will soon have a new home with someone who can give him the attention he deserves. I will miss him dearly... But I know he'll be happy at his new home. 

Mr King went for his last visit to see my Mother in her nursing home. 

FIRST Mr King had to sign in at the receptionist desk. 

 

Then a nurse stops by to say Hi...

 

 Mr King wanted to play the piano in the waiting room.

 Then we visited my Mother.

Mr King shows off his profile. 

And more nurses wanted to meet Mr King. 

Then we went shopping... Everyone wanted to pet Mr King.

 

 

 THEN we went home... Mr King asks to come in the house. 

So I opened the door for him. Mr King wants his supper.

 

2.5 was "barking", she knew there was an owl lurking nearby

WHY was she "Barking" on the railing next to the house I wondered? Something was wrong for sure. . . . 2.5 Homer Pigeon saw what I could not. I dismissed it.
Later a neighbor called to alert me that there was a Great Horned Owl near our back fence. 2.5 knew she should not fly to the Aviary. The Chickens were unsuspecting and in the yard as usual.
2.5 is So smart and intelligent... later, she did make her way safely to the aviary.... All is well, no birds lost. No birds loose tomorrow though.

Purebred Show King - Frillback Pigeon feather.

My purebred "Show King" Pigeon is only 99.99999% Purebred.

A single curly feather from another breed (Frillback) is growing from her breast, Hmmm.

His eye was poked out.

His eye was poked out .. Gone, nothing left but bits of flesh, and tissue inside his eye, a mess. It was ugly (No pic then, too gruesome) 

His eye/head was swollen to nearly to twice the size of his head.
> > > > BUT > > > now a week later (pic) the swelling has gone down, he blinks, and his eyeball seems to be intact.. AND we have verified that he CAN see from that eye (not sure how much?) (eyeball wasn't punctured). and it's getting better everyday. It's possible? he may? make a complete recovery?
. . He's a 4yo "Show King" Pigeon. He and his wife got along SO well with the Chickens eating/drinking from the same dish... but... ???

Simon Pigeon takes his daily medicine.

Simon takes his daily medicine.
He's 16yo, arthritis, hard for him to walk.
This is kinda like a pain reliever, seems to help ~:<)
Quite cooperative compared to most birds, he really doesn't seem to mind.

Simon Pigeon goes Van Camping ... and mushroom hunting.

Simon Pigeon goes Van Camping ...
and mushroom hunting.

 Good morning Simon ~:<)

Simon waiting for breakfast.

Wow, Big rock.

Simon found lots of mushrooms.

 

 Simon found this babbling brook to get a drink of clear cold water. 

 More mushrooms


Simon says ... Yup, this is the North side of the tree. 

  Simon checks out Lake Alice.

 Waiting for the lecture to begin.

 

On the way home, . . . waiting for an Ice Cream treat at Nelsons in Stillwater MN.



End of a nice camping trip ~:<)

160816 Hawk attacked birds on railing

THE HAWK skimmed  one foot above my shoulder like a missile yesterday... aimed 6 feet in front of me at my 4 pigeons sitting peacefully on the deck railing. There was an explosion of birds flying to escape the hawk and in 1/4 second the hawk had vanished thru the lilacs... not a bird left on the railing It was over in an micro-second. I ran down to the patio, where my white Homer Pigeon 2.5, had smashed herself into the house trying to get away and she  got wedged into some folded lawn chairs and was stuck... I picked her up, no blood, she was ok, just very frightened. I looked for the other three. Newbie and Sue-ez had flown away but had quickly returned to the railing, they were ok too.
. . BABY Khufu however, was nowhere to be found. It appeared that the hawk had snatched him right off the railing and flew away with him. Over and over we searched everywhere, all the tiny hiding places, etc... and searched the neighbors yards. Khufu had vanished. We searched and searched for 3 hours. . . . . Khufu had been having so much fun, flying repeatedly to my arm, shoulder, and head... I love that little bird. Now it was clear that he was gone. I gave up the search and sat on the couch and cried...
. . But then, more than 3 hours later, Karen discovered Sue-ez (Khufu's mother) sitting on the playhouse in the far back of the yard, with another bird... I ran out and yes, it was Khufu, looking as good as usual.
. . Apparently Khufu DID fly away, far away? but even at 7 weeks old he managed to find his way back home. Khufu followed me to the deck, then onto my arm and we went inside and I hugged him for a long time . . He/She's fine ~:<)
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 . It appears that the white Homer, 2.5, had been the target, but 2.5 has been attacked many times and is experienced at not getting killed.
. .
Just two weeks earlier the same happened but we were not home to witness it... baby Khufu was hiding in a window well and the others were gone. Sue-ez eventually returned an hour later, but Cleopatra did not... That's when I lost my sweet loving Cleopatra Egyptian Swift.
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C:\Personal PICS AND VIDS +2000\-J Pics 2016\160726 2731 Pigeons Egyptian Swift Cleopatra Suez Khufu Tuna Cat
Pic = 160726e Sue-ez, Khufu, Cleopatra, Newbie
Pic = 141111c Cleo

Almelund Thrashing Show, Flea Market with Simon PIgeon..

An annual family event, ... Threshing show, Booth at the Flea Market.
Simon loves adventure of any kind. He's such a great traveler, never complains about anything, always enjoys himself ~:<)

 Simon Pigeon wanted to see everything (except fleas)

 Simon was the most expensive item at the Flea Market (Nobody offered).

 Everyone wants to pet Simon. ... Got petted about every 10 minutes for 2 days.... was in many selfie photos too.

 Simon had to check out the 7 rows of tractors. He found a red one he liked.

Simon complained that there was no toilet paper.

 He looked and looked, ... ... there were no trains ~:<(

 Simon was hoping his favorite red tractor would win the tractor pulling contest ~:<)

Simon wanted a drink of water.. Didn't know which valve to open.

 Simon says..... he could fly faster than this 1921 Ford Model-T Touring
(I had one identical to this 1921 Model-T except mine was nice and shiny).

 Simon was SURE he could escape from this jail.

 Simons favorite red tractor, ... a Cockshutt.

 Simon checks out a school bus from early 1900's

 He checked out all the equipment, ... many questions ~:<)

 Near the end of the day Simon needed to sit for a while.

 Simon got SOOooooooooooo many hugs from strangers over the weekend. ... little kids just couldn't resist petting Simon. Everyone wanted selfies while holding Simon ~:<)

 Finally at the end of the day, time to relax.
Simon loves Van Camping too. .
Next day when we got home, Simon took an all day nap ~:<)

Simon thought maybe Dean Haehnel could use this for his boat ? ... ... ~:<)