broken egg with live chick!!!!

[jak2002003]

Yesterday I noticed one of my pigeons eggs had a dint in the side like it was squashed by one of the parent birds with a toe nail.

They are well over hatch date by about a week. Just in case it was a chick hatching I left it in the nest with the other egg.

2 days later it is still the same. I decided to throw the eggs away. This pair has never hatched out any eggs and this is their 3rd try. I decided to look in the egg to see if there was any development...........

I only lifted off a part of the squashed area, and there was a hole and I could see part of a chick and then it started moving!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel really bad. I float tested the other egg and it is not rotten, but no movement.

I covered up the hold with a very small piece of sticky tape and put the egg back under the parents.

Do you think there is a chance it will still hatch OK? And the other egg? I can't understand why the eggs are not rotten, or why they are slow to develop. I am just going to leave them under the parents for now. How will I know if they are really bad because I don't want them to explode!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Where there is life there is hope. Odd that it would get that far beyond the hatch date however.

Could it be you miscalculated the hatch date?? It is usually about 20 days give or take.

They usually hatch a day apart.

 

[jak2002003]

It doing OK. I checked today and it has hatched. Its being brooded by its parents. I got a quick look at it and it is all dried off, with yellow down and looks fine. I think it was due to hatch soon, so I hope its big enough to survive.

The other egg shows no signs of hatching. I did the float test and it looks good.

Do pigeon eggs hatch on the same day or different days?

 

[larrylofts]

pigeons eggs hatch 17 to 21 days sometimes they start brooding egg one before the second is laid thus the difference in hatch dates also make sure birds have bath water and calcium for egg

 

[jak2002003]

Second chick hatched today!

They are both doing well, very alert and wiggly!

I think the one from the broken egg hatched 2 days early, but it seems to be OK, although its much smaller than the chick that hatched today.

I am so excited about them - they are my first pigeon chicks.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Glad to hear your squabs are doing well! I was supposed to have eggs hatch yesterday however nothing yet. I had six eggs laid by my birds and for what ever reason none seem to be hatching for me.

Squabs practically double in size in one day. You are going to be amazed at how fast they develop.

 

[laughingdog]

I dont know most of the facts or factors, but it sounds like your pigeon pair are not quite incubating their eggs, or you have a hen that got at by another cock bird this time maybe even. either way, once a pair successfully raises a pair of squeakers, they will do great after, and not want to stop raising constantly if they can.

one of my white racer hens laid an egg already, but it is little and odd shaped, so hoping she is just a young hen as she looks. though she is very broody over it and beat the tar out of me when i checked it.

 

[jak2002003]

Yes, I think they did not incubate the eggs properly. They are old dutch capuchine pigeons. Sometimes they can't see if the egg is not under them because of their 'scarf'. This is their 3 rd attempt to hatch out their eggs. The first time they pooped all over them so they did not hatch. The second time they only had one egg - which was infertile. This time the eggs went way way over the hatch data. I wrote down when they started to brood them. It was over a week off. It was the day I was going to throw the eggs away - luck I realised there was a chick in the damaged egg!

They are doing great. There is a big size difference between the premature hatched one and the 'normal' one. But it still look healthy and it is bigger now.

I will get some pics soon. The mum is black, and the dad is red. Any ideas what colour the chicks will grow into? They are yellow and fluffy at the moment.

Do I need to feed the parents any special food? Can they eat chick starter mash or layers pellets? At the moment they eat a seed mix for doves, have water and grit / minerals, and they can free fly every day in the afternoon for about 4 hours.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I sometimes switch to a meat grower when the parents are with squabs; However before you know it (if you let them) they will be on eggs again so you may want to mix some egg layer mash in as well in about 3 or 4 weeks.

If the skin is pink it is usually a sign of a white or light coloured bird. If the skin is dark it is a sign of dark pigment in the developing feathers. There is really know way of predicting the colour sometimes until the pin feathers form and begin to blossom.

Even when you have two parents that are snow white I have found life throws you surprises. Here are two examples of what I am saying.

In a perfect world these birds should all be snow white!.

 

[jak2002003]

I sometimes switch to a meat grower when the parents are with squabs; However before you know it (if you let them) they will be on eggs again so you may want to mix some egg layer mash in as well in about 3 or 4 weeks.

If the skin is pink it is usually a sign of a white or light coloured bird. If the skin is dark it is a sign of dark pigment in the developing feathers. There is really know way of predicting the colour sometimes until the pin feathers form and begin to blossom.

Even when you have two parents that are snow white I have found life throws you surprises. Here are two examples of what I am saying.

In a perfect world these birds should all be snow white!.

They are lovely. I like the one in the bottom photo the best - nice pattern.

My chicks are all yellow with pink skin and beaks, but I suspect they will change as they grown.