Rocky

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Arrived (#A243074) together with another king pigeon (#A243072) at SF ACC on 11/13/07 as a stray. The other pigeon died of unknown causes.

I brought Rocky (so named because of all the defensive southpaw wing popping she did) home as a foster on 11/24. Took her to For the Birds on 11/29 for listlessness and she was treated with Cipro and Baytril and recovered well. She's a very small king (smallest I've seen) and even her feet are petite. Rocky was ignored by each of the other pigeons as they arrived as fosters. Her brief friendship with Sugar was lost when Sugar paired up with Stretch. Jesse ignored her (as did Hollywood, Amber, Baby, Louie and Big Man, etc.). I befriended Rocky and she's tame with me, especially if not in the company of other pigeons. She was the subject of a My Mutts 2/4 photo shoot and her poster is up in the Petfood Express on Market Street in SF.

I officially adopted her on 2/17/08 and planned to take her to Adoption Fairs and such with me as my "demo pigeon". Since then, she got hooked up with Tony Baby. They laid eggs the second week in March and stayed on them, though I switched their real eggs for dummy eggs, until 3/30. Both were very brave on the nest and would sit tight to protect their eggs even in the face of repeated attacks from the giant shop vac on cleaning day.

Tony Baby & Rocky finished sitting on their wooden eggs just about the same time that the aviary was ready and I started moving birds out there. In so doing, I discovered that Tony Baby was very ill. He'd lost a lot of weight and strength. For the Birds found him to be full of grit which, when tested for metal toxicity was found to be within tolerances. We don't know exactly why he stuffed himself full of grit nor what caused his illness. Rocky worried over him while he was in the hospital crate her but was left on her own when he was hospitalized at the vet for a week. She started playing house with another hen, Doll and they stayed together until Tony Baby was not only home but strong again. Then Tony Baby took up with Doll. Right now as I type this Rocky is sitting on my desk a little perturbed that I'm keeping her up past her bedtime. After Tony recovered, Rocky fell ill and was diagnosed with a bad case of canker. She has since been treated and recovered and I've been bringing her in with me once in awhile for some extra TLC.

12/08 UPDATE:

After all the loneliness and then the drama, Rocky met a great pigeon guy named Walter and they have been an incredibly happy, loyal and sweet couple ever since.

12/10 UPDATE: Rocky has been to many, many adoptions fairs and everyone that meets her is charmed by her grace and poise.

Rocky the rescued king pigeon has a forever home with me but there are many more just as beautiful and dear as she that need homes. Please visit www.MickaCoo.org or contact me at AdoptKings@gmail.com.