Hi, Tumblr, I'm Dani. ^v^
Welcome to The Doves Nest: home of the resident Columbid trolls, Risori Soleil and Nurray Unkari.
I'm an Adult who's seen some shit, so adult themes are portrayed here pretty often.
I do not have the attention span to tag much. Legitimately not going to remember to most of the time. So, Minors, please DNI.
I’ve been quiet for the last several months because I’ve been busy with some personal things.
IUD placement has been a Godsend! No more weeks where I’m just incapacitated by pain.
New blood sugar meds have been preventing crashes.
But the biggest thing taking up my attention has been house hunting.
We finally had enough saved up to put a down payment on a house in September, and have been focusing on finding the place we intend to put down roots and spend the rest of our lives.
On the third of this month, we closed on a 4.6 acre property.
It’s an older house, so a lot of repair and updating work needs to be done before we can move in and get the new lofts built.
If all goes well, we should be able to begin construction this summer, and will hopefully be done before fall.
No breeding or hands on rescuing will resume until both new lofts are completed and all of the birds that didn’t make the keeper cut go to their permanent homes.
Until they do, fees are capped at $20, which also covers the mate of the bird in question, if they are part of an established pair, and the applicant passes the screening for a pair.
We’ve been posting brief updates on TikTok every day this month, if you would like to see the flock in action.
My family and I are going to have a lot on our plate for the next few months, so while I do plan to try to update often, I’m not going to take on the stress of promising any specific update schedule before we get settled.
I no longer have Tumblr on my phone, and I’m honestly not sure if I want to download the ap again.
So updates, when I have them, will be in the evenings when I don’t have anything pressing hanging over my head.
See you when I see you, dears.
I had been using RP to blow off steam from medical and house hunting stress.
There will no doubt be more house fixing than house hunting stress, but we’ll manage.
Here’s an update for any one interested.
See you in fall, or winter, if things settle enough.
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Or finding out there is nothing and we’re all just alone with no higher anything. I feel like some people wouldn’t be able to deal with that idea.”
When the arrow hits her and you hear the tell tale sound of someone probably wanting to go pet said skeleton, you pull the bed out of your inventory and set it on the ground.
“Remember to set your spawn before dying. Don’t want to make this dark souls with the run backs.”
When you spot the skeleton you look around for others, hoping this one was by itself so you wouldn’t have much trouble with them.
“I actually don’t think many people would be able to handle knowing if there actually is a higher being or not.”
“Rright.”
He sets the bed down and you dutifully right click it.
“I doon’t knoow if therre noot being any higherr anything necessarrily means we'rre aloone.”
Orienting on the twang of the bow, you stroll off to meet the skeleton, or at least keep between it and your coplayer.
“Noot like therre arren’t knoown rreality bending entities.”
You do manage to reach the mob to boop into it before dying from your pin cushioning, and end up in the loving embrace of the same soil.
“Whetherr oorr noot they need us interracting with them just seems like an individual thing.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right on other reality benders being a thing. Though that just brings up the thought of if they count as higher beings or not.”
You watch her strolling to her death, listening as each arrow fires and finds its mark in your co-player.
“And if there is, then I’m sure there are some that would want some interaction but probably wouldn’t want us bothering them every five minutes or such.”
Once you hear the sound of her returning to that soil textured loading screen in the sky, you wait for her to respawn before moving the bed back to your inventory.
“Like how you’re doing for this games god~” he teasingly laughed as he went off to clear out the skeleton for both of you to move on.
“Same shade oof dirrt, but that isn’t a surrpurrise.”
You hop off the bed to wait patiently for hom to kill that skeleton and a few others that had spawned in.
“Ooh. Looooks like therre’s a cave herre.”
“Whetherr oorr noot things like the Hoorrrroorr Terrrroorrs coount as ‘higherr beings’ is a verry interresting oone.”
“Hoow woould yoou even goo aboout defining a good?”
“I’ll set the bed down near the entrance to the cave, then I don’t have to try setting it down every few seconds when we run into enemies.” You suggest as you take the final swing at one of the skeletons that had spawned. Clearing out the area for now.
“We should have brought some torches but at least they aren’t difficult to make.” Once the bed had been placed near the entrance, you take some of the surrounding dirt blocks and make a small cube around the bed, leaving an opening big enough for either of you to get through.
“And yeah, I have no idea how you’d define a God. Like, I feel like they’d have to meet a lot of standards all at the same time, like omniscience and some sort of power. But even then, with the powers some trolls get it’d be hard to tell a God from just a really lucky individual.”
As you talk you start to gather materials for crafting torches, using the first ones to light the area around the bed cube to keep mobs from spawning nearby. Then stocking up on them to use in the cave.
“Yeah. Purroobably all soorrts oof neat shit in therre.” you purr, strangely comforted by several options for gruesome in game deaths.
Once he finishes the little dirt hut around it you step in range to right click the bed again.
“And cooal usually isn’t that farr doown. Maybe we’ll find a vein.”
With a twitch of arms to approximate a shrug, you stroll into the cave entrance and chirp with delight as you meet a bat.
“Hatched lucky… attained goodhooood thrroough poowerr crreep… Yeah, I’ve seen my fairr sharre.”
“Makes 'good’ an absoolute bitch oof a thing too define, and moost oof the beings oorr trroolls with that kind oof poowerr arre asshooles I’d hoonestly rratherr avooid.”
“Yeah, so I don’t think there really is a good way to quantify what makes someone an actual god or what that even means. The biggest question should just be what our very first origins were and figure shit out from there. If someone made us then I guess that would count as a god. If not then there isn’t really much of a way to answer.”
You do the same as her by right clicking the bed before moving into the cave. Seeing the bat doesn’t alert you, knowing they shouldn’t be able to kill her or you.
You also give your own approximation of a shrug “I don’t have anything against the people with those god like powers as long as they can put them to a good use. Though it’s very rare when that actually happens. Alot of the ones I’ve heard of are either fleet and hemo loyal or couldn’t give much of a fuck and just do what they want with it.”
You can hear some noises coming from below as you move deeper into the cave, wondering if this one goes down and connects to whatever is making those sounds or if you’d have to dig down to them which would be the riskier option.
“I can’t really tell where the enemies are so far, I can hear some but no idea if this cave actually connects to them. I guess for now just keep and eye out for coal and mobs.”
Speaking of which, your pickaxe comes out from the hotbar and swings away at the first coal block you see.
“That’d be a bitch oof a mysterry too unrravel.” you sigh.
While he’s looking for coal, you keep nearby to avoid agro-ing any more mobs than he can potentially handle.
“Say we everr did. What doo yoou even doo with than infoorrmatioon?”
Every so often, you find coal where he isn’t digging and pause there like a living marker.
“But coonsiderring hoow the good-like trroolls arre, it’s purroobably foorr the best that any actual goods that may be make themselves unfindable.”
Another bat catches your attention, but rather than going after it, you remain where you are like a live beacon.
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Or finding out there is nothing and we’re all just alone with no higher anything. I feel like some people wouldn’t be able to deal with that idea.”
When the arrow hits her and you hear the tell tale sound of someone probably wanting to go pet said skeleton, you pull the bed out of your inventory and set it on the ground.
“Remember to set your spawn before dying. Don’t want to make this dark souls with the run backs.”
When you spot the skeleton you look around for others, hoping this one was by itself so you wouldn’t have much trouble with them.
“I actually don’t think many people would be able to handle knowing if there actually is a higher being or not.”
“Rright.”
He sets the bed down and you dutifully right click it.
“I doon’t knoow if therre noot being any higherr anything necessarrily means we'rre aloone.”
Orienting on the twang of the bow, you stroll off to meet the skeleton, or at least keep between it and your coplayer.
“Noot like therre arren’t knoown rreality bending entities.”
You do manage to reach the mob to boop into it before dying from your pin cushioning, and end up in the loving embrace of the same soil.
“Whetherr oorr noot they need us interracting with them just seems like an individual thing.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right on other reality benders being a thing. Though that just brings up the thought of if they count as higher beings or not.”
You watch her strolling to her death, listening as each arrow fires and finds its mark in your co-player.
“And if there is, then I’m sure there are some that would want some interaction but probably wouldn’t want us bothering them every five minutes or such.”
Once you hear the sound of her returning to that soil textured loading screen in the sky, you wait for her to respawn before moving the bed back to your inventory.
“Like how you’re doing for this games god~” he teasingly laughed as he went off to clear out the skeleton for both of you to move on.
“Same shade oof dirrt, but that isn’t a surrpurrise.”
You hop off the bed to wait patiently for hom to kill that skeleton and a few others that had spawned in.
“Ooh. Looooks like therre’s a cave herre.”
“Whetherr oorr noot things like the Hoorrrroorr Terrrroorrs coount as ‘higherr beings’ is a verry interresting oone.”
“Hoow woould yoou even goo aboout defining a good?”
“I’ll set the bed down near the entrance to the cave, then I don’t have to try setting it down every few seconds when we run into enemies.” You suggest as you take the final swing at one of the skeletons that had spawned. Clearing out the area for now.
“We should have brought some torches but at least they aren’t difficult to make.” Once the bed had been placed near the entrance, you take some of the surrounding dirt blocks and make a small cube around the bed, leaving an opening big enough for either of you to get through.
“And yeah, I have no idea how you’d define a God. Like, I feel like they’d have to meet a lot of standards all at the same time, like omniscience and some sort of power. But even then, with the powers some trolls get it’d be hard to tell a God from just a really lucky individual.”
As you talk you start to gather materials for crafting torches, using the first ones to light the area around the bed cube to keep mobs from spawning nearby. Then stocking up on them to use in the cave.
“Yeah. Purroobably all soorrts oof neat shit in therre.” you purr, strangely comforted by several options for gruesome in game deaths.
Once he finishes the little dirt hut around it you step in range to right click the bed again.
“And cooal usually isn’t that farr doown. Maybe we’ll find a vein.”
With a twitch of arms to approximate a shrug, you stroll into the cave entrance and chirp with delight as you meet a bat.
“Hatched lucky… attained goodhooood thrroough poowerr crreep… Yeah, I’ve seen my fairr sharre.”
“Makes 'good’ an absoolute bitch oof a thing too define, and moost oof the beings oorr trroolls with that kind oof poowerr arre asshooles I’d hoonestly rratherr avooid.”
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Or finding out there is nothing and we’re all just alone with no higher anything. I feel like some people wouldn’t be able to deal with that idea.”
When the arrow hits her and you hear the tell tale sound of someone probably wanting to go pet said skeleton, you pull the bed out of your inventory and set it on the ground.
“Remember to set your spawn before dying. Don’t want to make this dark souls with the run backs.”
When you spot the skeleton you look around for others, hoping this one was by itself so you wouldn’t have much trouble with them.
“I actually don’t think many people would be able to handle knowing if there actually is a higher being or not.”
“Rright.”
He sets the bed down and you dutifully right click it.
“I doon’t knoow if therre noot being any higherr anything necessarrily means we'rre aloone.”
Orienting on the twang of the bow, you stroll off to meet the skeleton, or at least keep between it and your coplayer.
“Noot like therre arren’t knoown rreality bending entities.”
You do manage to reach the mob to boop into it before dying from your pin cushioning, and end up in the loving embrace of the same soil.
“Whetherr oorr noot they need us interracting with them just seems like an individual thing.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right on other reality benders being a thing. Though that just brings up the thought of if they count as higher beings or not.”
You watch her strolling to her death, listening as each arrow fires and finds its mark in your co-player.
“And if there is, then I’m sure there are some that would want some interaction but probably wouldn’t want us bothering them every five minutes or such.”
Once you hear the sound of her returning to that soil textured loading screen in the sky, you wait for her to respawn before moving the bed back to your inventory.
“Like how you’re doing for this games god~” he teasingly laughed as he went off to clear out the skeleton for both of you to move on.
“Same shade oof dirrt, but that isn’t a surrpurrise.”
You hop off the bed to wait patiently for hom to kill that skeleton and a few others that had spawned in.
“Ooh. Looooks like therre’s a cave herre.”
“Whetherr oorr noot things like the Hoorrrroorr Terrrroorrs coount as ‘higherr beings’ is a verry interresting oone.”
“Hoow woould yoou even goo aboout defining a good?”
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Or finding out there is nothing and we’re all just alone with no higher anything. I feel like some people wouldn’t be able to deal with that idea.”
When the arrow hits her and you hear the tell tale sound of someone probably wanting to go pet said skeleton, you pull the bed out of your inventory and set it on the ground.
“Remember to set your spawn before dying. Don’t want to make this dark souls with the run backs.”
When you spot the skeleton you look around for others, hoping this one was by itself so you wouldn’t have much trouble with them.
“I actually don’t think many people would be able to handle knowing if there actually is a higher being or not.”
“Rright.”
He sets the bed down and you dutifully right click it.
“I doon’t knoow if therre noot being any higherr anything necessarrily means we'rre aloone.”
Orienting on the twang of the bow, you stroll off to meet the skeleton, or at least keep between it and your coplayer.
“Noot like therre arren’t knoown rreality bending entities.”
You do manage to reach the mob to boop into it before dying from your pin cushioning, and end up in the loving embrace of the same soil.
“Whetherr oorr noot they need us interracting with them just seems like an individual thing.”
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Would you really have wanted to see a God in the afterlife?”
“Knowing that there’s such a thing while everything is going on probably wouldn’t be all that comforting.”
“Plus, they are probably just a big block or something. Not really anything all that interesting.”
“For all anyone knows, we could be the gods of a world that was long forgotten about”
“Anything moorre interresting than the face full oof dirrt.” you giggle.
Though, a thought crossing your pan extends it into soft laughter.
“Maybe that was the verry boossoom oof the good oof this game!”
“I guess it could be possible that the dirt is part of the God of the game, but then does that make the end and nether parts of a different God or all just part of one?”
You wouldn’t be surprised if an update eventually did start dealing with God’s and such, many games tended to lean towards those themes lately and it would be interesting to see if there was any actual lore.
“Though if the dirt is part of the God then that just reinforces the fact of how small you are!~ so small that God can just learn over you and you wouldn’t notice~”
“I guess we’ll have too see if therre is a differrent death scrreen in the Netherr oorr the End.”
Well, now you’re curious!
“Coould be differrent oones, but it’s hoonestly way funnierr too imagine it’s eitherr differrent parrts oof the same good oorr that oone good is just Changes outfits based oon eitherr wherre yoou die oorr rresurrect.”
“What if this world is part of the gods’ torso, the nether is one arm, and the end could be the other? Though that would mean there are still three worlds we haven’t gotten to yet.”
The idea is kinda fun but you doubt three worlds are going to be added to this game ever. It’s more likely more bioms will be added to the other two to fill them out.
“So you’re really just gonna run in and die for trying to pet stuff and seeing if the loading screen is different?”
“It’s moorre that I was gooing too goo get myself mauled and bloown up and pooisooned and lit oon firre trrying too pet stupid things anyway.”
“May as well check the death and rrespawn scrreens foorr signs oof good while I’m at it.”
“Foorr Science!”
“I guess that does cross three things off the list then! Petting everything, dying, and checking for God!”
“Honestly I wonder why more people don’t do it that way. Just die and tell us if there is a God when you come back!”
“Would cut down on the fanatics probably.”
“Heh.”
“Surre woould be nice too be alloowed rrespawns too check.”
“But faith seems too be a purretty big coompoonent in maintaining any poowerr foorr a good.”
“Soo letting us check soo dirrectly woould purroobably might be a bit self defeating?”
“Eh, faith is fun until people learn the truth. Then it just comes down to if people like what they see or if they are horrified by it.”
“Checking so easily would also defeat the point of death. The dead shouldn’t be able to talk to the living outside of specific circumstances.”
“Would probably bug the hell out of the God cause all these random people just strolling up and going ‘omg you are real!’ Heh”
Your ears twitch a little.
Right, ghosts are a thing he can see.
Like your beloved hivemate, but it reads like he feels a little different…
“Oooof, yeah.”
“Imagine finding oout the being yoou'rre devooted too is the oopoosite oof everrything yoou’d been lead too believe aboout them.”
“Oorr a foolloowerr finding oout and gooing back.”
An arrow pierces you, and you just kinda look down at it.
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Would you really have wanted to see a God in the afterlife?”
“Knowing that there’s such a thing while everything is going on probably wouldn’t be all that comforting.”
“Plus, they are probably just a big block or something. Not really anything all that interesting.”
“For all anyone knows, we could be the gods of a world that was long forgotten about”
“Anything moorre interresting than the face full oof dirrt.” you giggle.
Though, a thought crossing your pan extends it into soft laughter.
“Maybe that was the verry boossoom oof the good oof this game!”
“I guess it could be possible that the dirt is part of the God of the game, but then does that make the end and nether parts of a different God or all just part of one?”
You wouldn’t be surprised if an update eventually did start dealing with God’s and such, many games tended to lean towards those themes lately and it would be interesting to see if there was any actual lore.
“Though if the dirt is part of the God then that just reinforces the fact of how small you are!~ so small that God can just learn over you and you wouldn’t notice~”
“I guess we’ll have too see if therre is a differrent death scrreen in the Netherr oorr the End.”
Well, now you’re curious!
“Coould be differrent oones, but it’s hoonestly way funnierr too imagine it’s eitherr differrent parrts oof the same good oorr that oone good is just Changes outfits based oon eitherr wherre yoou die oorr rresurrect.”
“What if this world is part of the gods’ torso, the nether is one arm, and the end could be the other? Though that would mean there are still three worlds we haven’t gotten to yet.”
The idea is kinda fun but you doubt three worlds are going to be added to this game ever. It’s more likely more bioms will be added to the other two to fill them out.
“So you’re really just gonna run in and die for trying to pet stuff and seeing if the loading screen is different?”
“It’s moorre that I was gooing too goo get myself mauled and bloown up and pooisooned and lit oon firre trrying too pet stupid things anyway.”
“May as well check the death and rrespawn scrreens foorr signs oof good while I’m at it.”
“Foorr Science!”
“I guess that does cross three things off the list then! Petting everything, dying, and checking for God!”
“Honestly I wonder why more people don’t do it that way. Just die and tell us if there is a God when you come back!”
“Would cut down on the fanatics probably.”
“Heh.”
“Surre woould be nice too be alloowed rrespawns too check.”
“But faith seems too be a purretty big coompoonent in maintaining any poowerr foorr a good.”
“Soo letting us check soo dirrectly woould purroobably might be a bit self defeating?”
NK: Oh thanks! Don’t get too many messages like this so it’s a nice surprise to get.
NK: I’m glad you enjoy them!
NK: I’ll do my best to keep them entertaining for you!
“Would you really have wanted to see a God in the afterlife?”
“Knowing that there’s such a thing while everything is going on probably wouldn’t be all that comforting.”
“Plus, they are probably just a big block or something. Not really anything all that interesting.”
“For all anyone knows, we could be the gods of a world that was long forgotten about”
“Anything moorre interresting than the face full oof dirrt.” you giggle.
Though, a thought crossing your pan extends it into soft laughter.
“Maybe that was the verry boossoom oof the good oof this game!”
“I guess it could be possible that the dirt is part of the God of the game, but then does that make the end and nether parts of a different God or all just part of one?”
You wouldn’t be surprised if an update eventually did start dealing with God’s and such, many games tended to lean towards those themes lately and it would be interesting to see if there was any actual lore.
“Though if the dirt is part of the God then that just reinforces the fact of how small you are!~ so small that God can just learn over you and you wouldn’t notice~”
“I guess we’ll have too see if therre is a differrent death scrreen in the Netherr oorr the End.”
Well, now you’re curious!
“Coould be differrent oones, but it’s hoonestly way funnierr too imagine it’s eitherr differrent parrts oof the same good oorr that oone good is just Changes outfits based oon eitherr wherre yoou die oorr rresurrect.”
“What if this world is part of the gods’ torso, the nether is one arm, and the end could be the other? Though that would mean there are still three worlds we haven’t gotten to yet.”
The idea is kinda fun but you doubt three worlds are going to be added to this game ever. It’s more likely more bioms will be added to the other two to fill them out.
“So you’re really just gonna run in and die for trying to pet stuff and seeing if the loading screen is different?”
“It’s moorre that I was gooing too goo get myself mauled and bloown up and pooisooned and lit oon firre trrying too pet stupid things anyway.”
“May as well check the death and rrespawn scrreens foorr signs oof good while I’m at it.”
Listen, guys, I would really rather those of you who are going to block me based on a malicious anon with a cherry picked, albeit very well written call out doc just go ahead with the block than ask me about it and block me half way through answering.
For those of you who don’t know, I have been raising, rescuing, and studying dove and then pigeon behavior since 2012.
I’ve documented all of that on The Ramsey Loft, formerly Ramsey Rringnecks, when I just raised doves.
I think I started that blog in 2013?
The Ramsey Loft is an instructional blog, where I have documented every aspect of keeping, raising, breeding, showing, and rescuing, including and especially what can go wrong, and what did, for me.
I think breeders should be as open as possible, both so that people who want to buy from them know what they’re getting, and people who think they want to breed or rescue know exactly what they are getting into.
I posted near daily updates of life in the loft, through changing species of interest from doves to pigeons and breeding goals from pets and show birds to pets and therapy animals, after a street pigeon taught himself to alert me for anxiety attacks and blood sugar spikes.
For the sake of personal medical records and other potential breeders information, I necropsied and documented every bird that died.
Between rescues and purebreds, I’ve documented some pretty wild shit, which has been shared with my vet and the state vet, when particularly interesting.
My own health, and its effect on the care I was able to maintain have also been very frankly, free form documented.
Some one combed through all that information, cherry picked several accidents, the necropsies of rescues that passed on or shortly after arrival, and “this went wrong, here’s how” accounts with the “what I’ve done to prevent it in the future” parts left out, and it looks really monstrous.
So monstrous, in fact, that I don’t even blame anyone for taking it at face value and blocking me.
No, really. No hard feelings about that at all.
But the way it’s framed, I’ve just plodded blithely along for the last near decade, changing nothing, and putting on a really good surprised pikachu face in public.
If that’s actually how things had gone, I really would be a monster who should never be allowed in contact with an animal.
The first outbreak I dealt with was Coccidia. A mild annoyance in otherwise healthy pigeons, but fatal on its own to ringneck doves.
Because the quarantine procedure that worked for new Ringneck Doves was inadequate for Pigons.
Ringneck Doves have a frankly piss poor immune system by comparison, and I could generally trust that if, after four weeks in insolated observation, a dove had not developed symptoms, that bird was safe to join the breeding flock.
That’s not how that works for pigeons.
Pigeons can carry and spread a great many pathogens subclinically that will immediately sicken a Ringneck.
So the quarantine procedure changed to include fecal and throat swabs, which were done both in house, and confirmed by the vet, so I could be sure I knew what I was looking at.
Four weeks total, with swabs on arrival, and pre release from quarantine.
That was insufficient to cover for Salmonella.
Another pigeon passed through quarantine with exit swabs all clean, bright eyed, and clean feathered.
And within 12 hours, the first dove fluffed up.
We lost as many birds as we did because the exotics vets I was seeing at the time only came to work on Tuesday and Thursday, and the first doves fell ill during Master’s week, when they were both on vacation.
None of the emergency vets would look at anything but dogs or cats.
Salmonella is fatal to Ringneck Doves within 48 hours of exposure.
Y'all do the math.
But salmonella (paratyphoid) and PMV both have vaccines available, which I immediately started keeping on hand and administering as recommended.
For birds I hatched, initial shots at 6 weeks, boosters at 9, then every 6 months for Paratyphoid and every year for PMV.
New adults get initial vaccines on arrival, and boosters 3 weeks later during their quarantine period.
I got out of Ringneck Doves for a few reasons, but most importantly:
I had a fucking heart attack!!!
Managing the cages was physically just… more than I could keep up with.
I tried to for a while. I got to a point where I could keep the loft and quarantine room pristine, but I physically couldn’t deal with that and all of the house.
So I had to pick a species, if not get out of them entirely.
Pigeons are more intelligent and personable, and I enjoyed working with them more.
Without the doves, who need to be caged in pairs as adults because they are very aggressively territorial, and for protection from pigeons who are big enough to hurt them in their attempts to court and drive, I wouldn’t need any cages at all.
And one less bill to pay for the license (which is required for doves, but not pigeons) would free up funds for feed and vet bills and such.
So I sent the remaining doves back to two other breeders I had been working with on color and feather texture projects, decided not to show anymore, and redesigned the loft around the pigeons and what I was sure I could physically manage.
Sand floor I could sift the poop out of.
Stackable plastic nest boxes I could just pick up and clean.
Mats on the shelves I could take out and hose.
I had a screening process that was intended to ensure that birds that shouldn’t be bred didn’t go to someone who wanted to breed, and went all the way to size, sex, and personality of the birds, to be as close to absolutely sure as possible that a match would really be a forever home.
I had a no questions asked return policy that included mates and children, that was intended to protect the birds I had produced and any potential offspring to keep them out of shelters.
And I had a wait list that had 15-20 people on it waiting for babies at any given time.
I had never had more than four or five peeps of the same age at any given time, and rescues didn’t come in super often.
I could physically keep up with the work, and was pretty sure I had set solid policies.
But some clients who had bought birds on non breeding contracts let them breed and asked me to take the babies.
Rescues got more frequent.
And when we switched the birds to Versele Laga, and fed them on the mesh (which is swapped out daily to keep sanitary) where they could get some elbow room and eat more comfortably, my breeding flock got a lot more productive!
And here’s where I really fucked up:
As peeps bred for the people on the wait list failed to pass the temperament bar, everything should have stopped.
Everything.
All breeding, all rescue intake.
Everything.
Until the non-keepers I had went home.
Period.
End of.
But I just tried again for a peep to match that person on my wait list.
Which lead to more birds, more mess, physically harder to keep up with.
My own health got worse, which made everything harder.
So I hired help with cleaning on the days I physically couldn’t.
And I just went straight to hell when I lost my Assistance Bird.
Ankhou didn’t just alert me for anxiety attacks and blood sugar spikes.
He also regulated my mood, reminded me to eat, and went to get my husband if something was wrong that he couldn’t fix.
He was the whole reason I started the therapy project.
It took a very long time for me to recover, but during that time, the person I hired to help was called more frequently, and a new ventilation system was installed in the loft.
The outbreak we have been closed from since March turned out to be Candidia albicans.
But my part of Ga was on covid lock down at the time, so my vet was swamped, most vets weren’t taking new clients, and even the state vet was turning people away.
Getting those tests performed to figure out what we were treating took months.
Gram stain, then DNA screening on fecals for bacterial pathogens.
Necropsy on the last two birds to die, who I could only get in for euthanasia,
Second DNA screening for bacteria, DNA screening for fungi, DNA screening for viruses from the liver tissue.
That took until September.
When Candidia was confirmed, it was treated immediately, and we stayed on in case of virus lock down.
I documented the feces of symptomatic birds in quarantine every day before cleaning their hospital cages.
Laid out a stone path from my back door to the loft that could be hosed between passes.
Got the birds a new window unit AC so I could block access to the porch.
Got plastic disposable shoe covers that I put on my feet before entering the loft.
Threw out the mats and replaced them with shelf liners I could clean more easily in the sink.
Started fully replacing the sand at the beginning of every month.
The flock was confirmed clean in August, with some clarification confirmed in September.
No breeding or rescue work has resumed.
Nor will it, until we can fully rebuild the lofts, with floors I can pressure hose and nests I can take down and clean without disturbing any around them.
One for the breeding flock, a separate one for rescues and adoptables, and a third for quarantine.
In the meantime, I’m just taking care of the birds I have and adopting out the ones I don’t plan to keep.
When babies are a thing again, one peep per pair is all I’ll keep, and I will no longer be hatching on demand.
We will build the new lofts when we move and have space, which could take years, but pigeons can live to 20. I’m not in a rush.
The people who made that call out post they’re sharing around knew about all of that.
All of the changes to quarantine proceedures.
The changes to the screening process.
The new ventilation system.
The new AC.
All the redesigns to make tracking pathogens in less likely.
The plans not to do any further breeding until the new lofts can be built.
The specifics of the redesigns planned for the new lofts.
And what the breeding plans are once the new lofts are built.
They were part of my Loft Server, and actively participated in the discussions involving all that.
Way too long, since Nurray had heard anything from her pale crush.
Had he been a client, she would have checked in long ago, and guilt ate at her for that…
But… they hadn’t made anything official.
And his Luck might have a hand in preventing contact, if it wasn’t in his best interest.
If she wasn’t in his best interest…
Although…
If it did, it would probably have prevented him from crossing her pan in the first place…
Deciding that the worst thing he could do was tell her to fuck off in no uncertain terms, she made the decision to go visit Fortun’s massive seaside hive.
That little flutter pulled Nurray’s grin hard to the left with delighted relief, but the admission that he’d missed her just melted her pump.
“Anxieth pan bin a bastahd about tha time?” she hazarded a sympathetic guess, reaching to tenderly cup his cheek with the palm he wasn’t squeezing gently.
“Mine shur was about messagin’ agin.”
“Predy much.” He admitted, nuzzling her hand and starting to purr again. He wanted to return the face cupping gesture but his free arm was currently poked with a needle and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to move it.
“How long do I goda have dis ding in for?”
“At least till we get anothah bag ‘a fluids in yah.” She purred back with the warmest of gentle, sympathetic smiles.
“Lot more dang'rus f'you t'get dehydrated than me.”
Glancing up at the thin metal rod, she noted the almost empty bag and leaned out of his immediate line of sight to cover up with a robe and go get a replacement.
Hi, Tumblr, I'm Dani. ^v^ 