# My little orphan



## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Since "he" seems like he's gonna make it, I thought I'd introduce you to my little orphan. He was found sitting in the middle of the road on Sunday. Because of the wind we'd been having, I think he was blown out of his nest a few days prior to us finding him... He was VERY skinny and is slowly putting weight on...

The day we found him









After settling in









A couple days later









And just now


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

Aw bless him! They're so ugly when they're young :lol2: There already looks like there's a marked change in him!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

He's trying to fly, bless him, but still a bit nekkid in a few places *lol* Luckily, he's eating on his own, as well!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Awww hes cute:flrt: He hasnt half grown already:gasp:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

And he's all bug free, too!!! :2thumb:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

He needs a name now that it seems he's gonna make it  Been thinking George :hmm: But the chicken man's name is George....


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

Amalthea said:


> He needs a name now that it seems he's gonna make it  Been thinking George :hmm: But the chicken man's name is George....


Eugene? 
I dunno why but he screamed Humphrey at me :lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I quite like Eugene.... :hmm: Cuz I figure when he's released, he'll probably stick around (as pigeons do... luckily we've got a group of pigeons that hang around), so it needs to be something I can call him with *lol*


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## *H* (Jun 17, 2007)

He's an ugly little bugger isn't he! :lol2:

Looking so much better though Jen, well done 

(p.s he looks like a Worzel, as in Worzel gummidge )


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## sarahc (Jan 7, 2009)

Good on you for saving him.I think you should call him Gillespie or Chas who were both plastacine mates of morph and infant pigeons have plastacine faces.Guess you may not be familiar with morph and friends though:lol2:


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## DarkCarmen (May 17, 2009)

was just gonna ask what he was
and read the comments
thought he might be a pidgeon wasn't sure

he so cute:flrt:
but hasn't he grown
keep us updated on his good progress


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

No idea what morph is *lol* the names are all great!!!  keep 'em coming!!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Just realised.... The only orphans I ever seen to get are "vermin" :lol: I do love my vermin :flrt:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

My goodness, he's improved since you first posted his picture! :2thumb:

He's doing brilliantly!

Oh! And by the way, here's Morph!! Children in the UK grew up with him in the late 1970's. The Morph Files - Episode 1 - Babysitting - YouTube


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

feorag said:


> My goodness, he's improved since you first posted his picture! :2thumb:
> 
> He's doing brilliantly!
> 
> Oh! And by the way, here's Morph!! Children in the UK grew up with him in the late 1970's. The Morph Files - Episode 1 - Babysitting - YouTube


Odd..... :hmm:


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## Junior13reptilez (Oct 17, 2010)

Alistair:whistling2: Can be shortened to Ali, Al, Als etc:2thumb:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

peter pigeon of course:whistling2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Gromit? :hmm: just had him out for a tickle before bed :flrt:


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

Amalthea said:


> Gromit? :hmm: just had him out for a tickle before bed :flrt:


So is he relatively tame? Or still wary of humans?


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

He acts tough when ya go in, but settles in and enjoys tickles when ya get him out.


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## FreddiesMum (Jan 10, 2007)

Well done :2thumb: Percy pigeon :lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Just gonna upload some pics of him now.... He's got quite the little attitude one him, too *lol*


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Bwahahahahahaha!! Poor Diesel.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Aw, bless him - he's starting to look nearly handsome! 

Not quite though! :lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

He's still all nekkid under his wings, but we're starting to exercise his flappers.... He's getting better at choosing a landing spot, since he just basically flaps down for a gentle fall (in theory). He has landed on the cat scratcher, my head lol, a set of ladders... And the floor *lol*


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## pippainnit (Feb 20, 2009)

Amalthea said:


> Since "he" seems like he's gonna make it, I thought I'd introduce you to my little orphan. He was found sitting in the middle of the road on Sunday. Because of the wind we'd been having, I think he was blown out of his nest a few days prior to us finding him... He was VERY skinny and is slowly putting weight on...
> 
> The day we found him
> image
> ...


When I first saw the picture I thought that the bumps on the beak were the top of its head and he looked like some kind of bizarre vulture! Maybe I need glasses... 

I think he looks beautiful now - what a transformation. Well done!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Haha!! He does think he's tough


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Hes cute:flrt:


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## Draco (Nov 23, 2005)

lovely looking lad.

I've had 6 of these little ugly mugs this year. Its my first year being trusted with them (I hand rear for a wildlife hospital) and I think there great.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

He's getting there  starting to spend less time with him now...


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Up until about last week, Gromit would freak out like a moron every time I went in to feed him, which was good, but so annoying (ungrateful little brat!)...

Now he tries his damnedest to be sexy. :roll: He coos and puffs up and does the little pigeon sexy dance. He really needs to be released! *lol* I just want some mild weather, cuz it's nice and warm in the house, I think just being thrown outside would be too much of a shock. 

Anyhoo... Here are some pictures from just now...



















You can really see his iridescence showing through on this one:


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## DavieB (Mar 15, 2011)

He looks like he is doing great. 

I rescued a pigeon a few weeks ago, came in from work and it was sitting under ledge a the door, I could see its skull and all sorts a real mess on the back of its head, reckm a nasty cat had been playing. I put it in a box and phoned the SSPCA, I reckon it was probably put down 

Father in law had been in he thought I was mental bringing a manky pigeon in the house.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Yeah... Quite a few people have said I'm nuts for bringing Gromit home... But I couldn't leave him. He's doing well and will be released once spring settles in...


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Aw! Who's a pretty boy then? :lol2:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Hes so cute, well done on rearing him so well:no1:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

It really makes me laugh when he tries so hard to be sexy :lol: I just walk in to the room and he starts in, bless him. But he really has turned into a handsome guy


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> It really makes me laugh when he tries so hard to be sexy :lol: I just walk in to the room and he starts in, bless him. But he really has turned into a handsome guy


 
I bet when you let him go he will keep trying to get back in the house as hes known no different:lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I have visions of just that happening :roll:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> I have visions of just that happening :roll:


 
Hes gonna build you a nest and everything pmsl:lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Haha!! Bless him :flrt: Hopefully, he'll find himself a nice lady PIGEON when he goes out...


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> Haha!! Bless him :flrt: Hopefully, he'll find himself a nice lady PIGEON when he goes out...


 
In his eyes he is a human so he wont be interested in a pigeon:lol2:


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## tinyfish (Nov 11, 2008)

I only just found this thread, you've done a great job rearing the little one! Please do be careful about releasing him, because he won't have a clue what to do, where to find food, where to sleep safely etc., (they learn these things by watching and doing things along with the other birds in their flock - important lessons he has missed out on) and will always look to people for food, really he would probably be better off becoming someone's pet in an aviary (do you have a garden? - that's how many of us started keeping fancy pigeons...)

I have only recently had to rescue two (of an original four) white pigeons which had obviously originally been somebody's pets and were abandoned near the local leisure centre. 

When I first saw them (on a weekend) they were lovely and clean and poking around in the grass so I just thought that perhaps someone had started keeping pigeons near there. When I saw them again mid-week I was devastated to see only two of them (one with its tail missing), utterly filthy and desperate for food (I also saw the remains of at least one other in bits being carried off by crows). The staff at the leisure centre told me the remaining two had been trying to get into the building all day. The birds were so hungry and weak I managed to catch them easily with a bit of bread and the aid of the revolving doors. They were so desperately thin under their feathers that I am fairly certain they would not have survived the night.

I'd hate to see your little guy end up like this! Regarding him mating with other pigeons, that will work fine, pigeons do not imprint like geese and will mate with another pigeon as adults even when they have been hand reared. Oh, and they call the colour of yours 'grey checker'. Once again congratulations and well done!


PS 
Incidentally, my two rescued birds will soon be ready to go to a new home, they are digesting properly again now, have been putting on weight, have been treated for internal and external parasites, have had several baths in F10 to get the filth out of their plumage as much as possible, and are now in the process of being re-acclimatised to outside temperatures, so if anyone can give them a loving home, please let me know! It looks like they are either a potential pair or two hens, I am fairly certain that they are not two males.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> I have visions of just that happening :roll:


So have I! :lol2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Thanx for the input, tinyfish  I wasn't planning on just throwing Gromit out  I'm gonna start with an outdoor run and we feed the wild birds, including a decently sized group of pigeons. So I am hoping he will join up with them once he's released completely. I don't mind if he hangs around, cuz I am expecting that. He has seen the group of pigeons in the past (during a mild spell, he spent his days outdoors)...


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

That sounds very sensible, Jen. Put him out in a pen to 'harden him off' after the winter and in a situation where he can see and interact with the pigeons, but be safe from a possible altercation and then just open the door and let him choose his moment, but know he can go back into his pen if he wants to.

If you're feeding the birds, then you know he'll have a permanent source of food, so he won't starve.

Imao that's the right way to release wildlife - I'm reliably told that hedgehogs and rabbits are the only wildlife that you can successfully 'hard release, but all the rest are much better to be 'soft released' Like my squirrels! :2thumb:

We handrear a load of squabs at the Sanctuary and when we release them, they don't go. If you looked at the shop, barn and house roofs at the minute they are all covered with pigeons, cos the blighters won't push off. I'm sure you find it the same Shell!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

That's what I was thinking... I may use Diesel's crate as a release cage for Gromit... :hmm:


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## tinyfish (Nov 11, 2008)

That sounds like a perfect plan, he really has picked the best possible person to get himself rescued by! :no1:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

It really was lucky we found him... He was down a random side street that we just happened to go down to turn around.


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

Good job! What a chunky little thing he is!

My friends laughed at me when I hand-reared a pigeon! 
I laughed cos I liked the pigeon more than my friends :whistling2:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Well, Gromit is HOPEFULLY going out on his own this weekend... His wings work very well and the weather is lovely. So I may be getting the last proper cuddles from my feathery little pest... Some pictures that were taken of him last night:


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## *H* (Jun 17, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> Well, Gromit is HOPEFULLY going out on his own this weekend... His wings work very well and the weather is lovely. So I may be getting the last proper cuddles from my feather little pest... Some pictures that were taken of him last night:
> 
> image
> 
> ...


 
:gasp: I cannot believe that is the same bird!, talk about ugly duckling! 
What a handsome bird he is now! :gasp:
You've done a fab job with him Jen, well bloody done hun!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

It really is amazing that he turned into such a handsome guy! :lol: Bless him. I'm really gonna miss him, though. He starts cooing at about 7am and continues throughout the day... Then he sleep coos, too :flrt: And he still sexy dances for me or Gary whenever we go into the room :lol: And really does try it on with my hand (which can hurt) :roll:


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