Bobber’s Pigeon Sanctuary

11/03/2025

Just working out the finishing touches on the bird room. ChatGPT understands the assignment. 🥂

to

11/02/2025

Our flock has been on edge with health concerns for Ms.
Byron, Donnie, Pete, Escaliante, and Funnel Cake. I think we've made it through the worst of it and everyone is on their way to healing.

I promised to deliver some updates back in September when I was (and still am) in over my head. We are happy to say we took in numerous rescues this summer, however, that now puts us at capacity. We took in 12 pigeons initially, five of which were single males. There was too much Alpha energy going on in aviary, so to balance this, we contacted our friends at Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue to adopt seven of their females who would be ready for an aviary life.

This video is from 9/6/2025, when the seven new females were introduced to their forever flock, Flock Bobber. ♥️

Please keep our sanctuary in mind this holiday season. We now have 69 precious birds to care for. This year alone, we've spent over $5,000 on veterinary care. Food runs $300 a month. There are plenty of other costs I could talk about, but our main hope is that we can generate some donations toward our medical fund. If we could recoup some of the $5000 we've already invested this year, it will give us a fighting chance at being ready for the next medical crisis in 2026.

Without donations from our community flock members, expenses come out of my personal pocket. This year has been challenging, particularly because I am four years into dealing with some mysterious chronic illness problems. All of my money goes to human/ animal healthcare these days 😂. There have been several times this year when I had to choose between paying a personal medical bill or a bird's vet bill. It's a balance. There are birds that I would like to take to a vet, but because their symptoms are mild/moderate I do the best to manage from home. It's when we hit a severe crisis that I turn to veterinary care.

I mention this because I want to remind our donors how valuable every dollar they donate is. Your dollar could be what determines whether or not one of our birds can receive veterinary care.

Each bird in our flock is a valuable ambassador for mental health awareness. The birds and their stories of surviving the impossible, serve as inspiration to the children I work with in therapy, who have also survived the impossible things.



PayPal.me/flockBobber

https://gofund.me/b0850bdf

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11/02/2025

Our flock has been on edge with health concerns for Ms.
Byron, Donnie, Pete, Escaliante, and Funnel Cake. I think we've made it through the worst of it and everyone is on their way to healing.

I promised to deliver some updates back in September when I was (and still am) in over my head. We are happy to say we took in numerous rescues this summer, however, that now puts us at capacity. We took in 12 pigeons initially, five of which were single males. There was too much Alpha energy going on in aviary, so to balance this, we contacted our friends at Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue to adopt seven of their females who would be ready for an aviary life.

This video is from 9/6/2025, when the seven new females were introduced to their forever flock, Flock Bobber. ♥️

Please keep our sanctuary in mind this holiday season. We now have 69 precious birds to care for. This year alone, we've spent over $5,000 on veterinary care. Food runs $300 a month. There are plenty of other costs I could talk about, but our main hope is that we can generate some donations toward our medical fund. If we could recoup some of the $5000 we've already invested this year, it will give us a fighting chance at being ready for the next medical crisis in 2026.

Without donations from our community flock members, expenses come out of my personal pocket. This year has been challenging, particularly because I am four years into dealing with some mysterious chronic illness problems. All of my money goes to human/ animal healthcare these days 😂. There have been several times this year when I had to choose between paying a personal medical bill or a bird's vet bill. It's a balance. There are birds that I would like to take to a vet, but because their symptoms are mild/moderate I do the best to manage from home. It's when we hit a severe crisis that I turn to veterinary care.

I mention this because I want to remind our donors how valuable every dollar they donate is. Your dollar could be what determines whether or not one of our birds can receive veterinary care.

Each bird in our flock is a valuable ambassador for mental health awareness. The birds and their stories of surviving the impossible, serve as inspiration to the children I work with in therapy, who have also survived the impossible things.



PayPal.me/flockBobber

https://gofund.me/b0850bdf

10/30/2025

Ms. Byron came home from surgery today.

For her full story:
https://gofund.me/b0850bdf

10/29/2025

Ms. Byron made it through surgery. Thank you to everyone for your prayers. She is going to stay hospitalized for the next two days to be monitored.

The mass that was removed was 70g!! This is why everyone was calling her “big back”. The large mass in the picture is a tumor of some sort. I’m hoping it’s benign. It seems that it was localized, and the vet did not see any other indications of tumors on other organs. So as far as prognosis, that’s very good news. If it was localized, it’s possible that she can make a full recovery and hopefully it won’t return.

I won’t be spending the money to send it in to determine what type of tumor it is, because if it’s malignant there really aren’t any practical options for treatment. So I’m just going to hope that it was benign.

There was also some lash egg material removed, which was being blocked by the tumor. Now that that is out, she has a chance at recovering from her infection.

Based on the situation, it’s not in Ms. Byron’s best interest to continue laying eggs… she will likely continue to have complications. So, her uterus was removed. The ovaries were not removed, because that carries a high risk of bleeding out. This is going to be helpful in preventing her from having a typical hormone cycle, however, it will not completely prevent her ovaries from trying to drop egg follicles.
(I may be getting some of this terminology wrong, but I’m doing my best to recite this all from my recollection of my conversation with the vet).

Ms. Byron received another hormone implant to suppress her reproductive organs and prevent any possible eggs from forming. We will likely see how she does when the implant expires, in 2-3 months. If she tries to lay another egg at that time, it sounds like something that can be relatively straightforward to address. Then, if she does continue to try and lay eggs, I will keep her on the hormone implants, which will have to be implanted about every 2 to 3 months.

Ms. Byron comes home Thursday. She isn’t completely out of the woods. She isn’t eating on her own, however, she is handling tube feedings OK. I think we are getting close to the worst and riskiest part of this being over soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for your prayers and support. Without God, and without your prayers, this would not have been possible. I’m feeling like our flock is just so incredibly blessed. I’m so grateful for Dr. Angela at Cedar Creek vet clinic for performing such a thorough and successful surgery.

Now that we are through the worst of it, I would like to humbly ask for any donations that you can afford to spare. I haven’t received a total bill for the surgery yet, but I was quoted between $1,000- $2,000+. This is a bill that’s going to hit hard, but it’s money well spent in that it saved a life and improved her quality of life.

More updates to come in the next couple days.

PayPal.me/flockBobber

https://gofund.me/b0850bdf

10/29/2025

Never in my life have I set up a Christmas tree. Ever since Ms. Byron fell ill this summer, I’ve been worried about her prognosis. Although it’s been guarded, I’ve had this image of her sitting by our Christmas tree this winter. I’ve held onto that image as if that meant I could hold onto her life.

Today while she was in surgery, I decided to set our Christmas tree up for the first time. So that when she comes home, she has a proper holiday to spend with her flock.

I also love that all of my ornaments, aside from the disco balls, were made and given to me by children. ♥️

10/29/2025

10:45am
Ms. Byron is out of surgery and recovering. Thank you everyone so much for all of your prayers and for keeping us in your thoughts. ♥️

10/29/2025

Ms. Byron received two injections of oxytocin, per veterinary orders, on Monday evening. The idea was that this was intended to help her pass additional lash egg material, and to prevent another case of egg yolk peritonitis. Ms. Byron passed small pieces of lash egg throughout the rest of the week, but a second egg never came. By the weekend, there was significant amounts of blood in her stool (first 2 photos below).

We returned to our veterinarian yesterday, 10/27/25. It was advised to perform surgery the following day. Ms. Byron spent the remainder of her day resting while I worked. When we got home in the evening, Bobber was very happy to see her. We made our evening extra special, just in case it would be her last.

Please consider making a small tax deductible contribution to our medical fund, because the bills keep coming.

Thank you and please keep us in
your prayers. ♥️



PayPal.me/FlockBobber

https://gofund.me/b0850bd

10/28/2025

Just dropped Ms. Byron at the vet for surgery. I will give more details on the technicality of what’s going on later, but all I can really think about right now is praying that she survives this. I feel scared, but I know in God all things are possible, therefore I won’t fear. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Our vet who was going to perform the surgery, went into labor last night, and I’m praying for her and her baby too. So the other vet will be performing the surgery. I’m sure she will do a wonderful job, it’s just that I had quite a history with the other vet in labor. She performed some miracles on my birds, like Fraction and Monroe.

So please, please pray for beloved Ms. Byron, and pray that God stays with both her and our vet during the next 24hrs especially. Thank you for your love and prayers.

10/28/2025

Ms. Byron started her day at the vet, and spent the rest of the day at work with me. We are finally home and Bobber clearly missed his wife. Ms. Byron is going into surgery tomorrow. Please pray for her. ♥️

10/26/2025

10/24/2025

I’m cleaning out a bunch of moving boxes from 2018, and I came across a leftover party bag from Bobber’s first gotcha day party in 2016. I think he did good on his party bags!

I feel like I was pulled into a vortex or parallel universe when I purchased this home in 2018. All my friends were getting husbands and having babies, and I wanted a project for the next chapter of my life. Well… I definitely got that project.

I love how old and broken down my home is, because it was built in 1900 and it’s still standing. I’m not as old, but I can relate. I’ve lived a lifetime these past seven years. From day one, I had a contracting nightmare. I used my entire salary every month to cover a new mortgage as well as rent at my apartment. Due to the contracting nightmare, I was unable to move into my home for several months. In February 2019, I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and it was a blessing. It was the help I needed to get back on track. And I’m proud to say I haven’t had any financial problems since then. I remember at the time, my ex judged me for it and told me I was the type of person who would always have money problems and be filing for bankruptcy. But I knew who I was and what kind of person I continue to be.

I was fortunate to have purchased my home when I did, and file for bankruptcy when I did. Because then 2020 came and we all had Covid and it’s fallout to deal with. 2020 was actually a pretty good year for me. I started really establishing my roots here, getting into gardening, and teaching myself how to build an aviary. Initially I tried to hire the project out, but I couldn’t find anyone that would follow through. So I did it myself, and that was a blessing too, because I learned how much I enjoy creating things with my hands and being among nature.

In 2020, I left a stable job of 10 years, with a pension, to take a chance running my own business as a mental health therapist. I loved leaving all the bureaucracy behind, and have never doubted my choice. Not even when I started getting sick in 2022. I forged ahead. I continued aviary construction and taking in sick and injured pigeons, nursing them back to health and giving them the promise of a better future. I studied up on foundations and nonprofits, officially establishing Bobber’s Pigeon Sanctuary, 501c3 in 2022. I continued showing up as a therapist, genuinely caring for my clients, and existing with them in some of their darkest times. I did it alone, with the support of the birds and nature around me, and with my therapist.

I was drinking a lot, and I was pushing myself too hard, and I was too isolated. It started to take a real toll. My only sister got married and had a baby in 2022, and I could not show up for them the way I wanted to, because my body was giving out. I was trying to keep myself, my clients, and my birds alive. In 2023 I was hospitalized for anaphylaxis. We never figured out the cause, and that’s the only time I’ve ever experienced anaphylaxis. I spent the next 3 years on a crusade in the medical world, getting shuffled around to numerous specialists, waiting several months to be seen, and spending a small fortune.

Winter 2024, I tried going to 3 different ERs on different occassions, and was always sent home- without labwork, without medication, and without answers. I felt obligated to take 2 months off work, because my body physically couldn’t handle simple tasks. When you run your own business, you don’t get sick time, and you still have to pay for your health insurance every month. But I was blessed, because I had enough in my bank account to cover the short reprieve.

When I came back to work in 2025, I had to rebuild my clientele. I was now allergic to alcohol, not the ideal time to get sober. I was now allergic to the sun, so I had to consider the garden and outdoors a loss. It took every bit of strength in myself to do the bare minimum of feeding and cleaning for the birds. I couldn’t date, because I was covered in rashes. I was constantly physically uncomfortable because of the rashes and I had to deal with the world seeing me covered in them.

It’s been a season of loss. Losing my identity and purpose hitting me the hardest, and coping with it alone- aside from the compassion of the pigeons and my therapist. My parents, as old as they are, did what they could to help. And the gesture meant more than what they actually could offer.

And yet I remain blessed. I’m able to work and show up for my clients. I’m able to keep a roof over my head, and over the heads of 69 pigeons. I wrote a children’s book, starring Bobber of course, release date 11/4/25 on Amazon. My dad has been helping me build an addition onto my home, to properly accommodate the indoor birds with special needs. The idea is that this will reduce dust and help my overall healing. I’m currently detoxing from high levels of mycotoxins. And I’m continuing to work with doctors to determine which autoimmune disorders are affecting me, likely psoriatic arthritis and a mixed connective tissue disorder like scleroderma or lupus.

I’ve mostly done it alone, but I still like to think that

Whatever almost died inside of me is waking back up. Bobber’s Pigeon Sanctuary is about to welcome a new season. And if you can relate, welcome to Flock Bobber.