Brooder temp for baby pigeons?

[the_finch_family]

Hi, I'm preparing to handraise 2 pigeons, and the last piece of information that I haven't been able to verify through multiple sources is a brooder temp chart for babies 5 days +

The chicks will be 5 and 6 days old in two days, which is when I'm planning on starting the handfeeding.

I'm experienced with corvids, various small birds like sparrows, thrushes, and especially finches who I will be feeding the second batch of for the season. Trying to finally cross pigeons off my list.

Brooder temp is pretty straightforward for all of the birds I've raised, but I'm not finding much of anything on pigeons specifically. One source I found talking about pigeons mentioned room temperature at as little as 10 days old, and it just doesn't sound right to me.

Would it be right to assume the brooder temp will follow similar guidelines to what I'm used to?
For example, hatching temp for the first day, 31-34°C until roughly day 5, 29-30°C for pin feathers, 25°C for mostly feathered, room temp for fully feathered?

 

[Qwerty3159]

I think your temps are correct, I wouldn’t go above 85F by day 5. The squabs are so heavily bodied in comparison to pretty much any other baby birds I can think of, that they generate a truly remarkable amount of body heat just by being well fed.
For what it’s worth, by day 15 the parents are not keeping the babies warm at all during the day, even if it’s rather chilly out, and return only to feed them. I’ve raised pigeons outside when it was 90F and 30F and the parents’ behavior was the same, which suggest to me that the squabs are quite efficient at regulating their temperature once they make it through the critical first few days. Depending on the pigeon the hen might cover the squabs at night for a longer period of time, but by about day 15 I would say they’re more than capable of keeping themselves comfortable at room temperatures so long as they’re properly fed. They should be mostly feathered (or feathers at least progressed past the quill stage) by then, bare patches under the wings and such will be the last to grow in but this is more than enough for them to have a stable temperature.

 

[the_finch_family]

I think your temps are correct, I wouldn’t go above 85F by day 5. The squabs are so heavily bodied in comparison to pretty much any other baby birds I can think of, that they generate a truly remarkable amount of body heat just by being well fed.
For what it’s worth, by day 15 the parents are not keeping the babies warm at all during the day, even if it’s rather chilly out, and return only to feed them. I’ve raised pigeons outside when it was 90F and 30F and the parents’ behavior was the same, which suggest to me that the squabs are quite efficient at regulating their temperature once they make it through the critical first few days. Depending on the pigeon the hen might cover the squabs at night for a longer period of time, but by about day 15 I would say they’re more than capable of keeping themselves comfortable at room temperatures so long as they’re properly fed. They should be mostly feathered (or feathers at least progressed past the quill stage) by then, bare patches under the wings and such will be the last to grow in but this is more than enough for them to have a stable temperature.

Thank you so much for this response!
This honestly makes a lot of sense. First time I'm having baby pigeons, and goodness they are CHUNKY.
I'll put that in my notes and they should be good to go once I get everything ready for them

 

[cavemanrich]

Just out of curiosity,,, why are you hand feeding these pigeons??? I see your location,,,, so know that it is winter still. Are these rescues??

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[the_finch_family]

Just out of curiosity,,, why are you hand feeding these pigeons??? I see your location,,,, so know that it is winter still. Are these rescues??

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

These two are actually my indoor pigeons' kids! First baby pigeons I've ever raised. Honestly, the main reason is that I need the experience for the future. I'm normally working on wildlife resques, but have branched out more to domestic species.

There's a small flock of feral pigeons in my town that aren't doing so well, so I've started to take care of them myself last year. They just went through their parasite treatment recently, have been banded and next I'll be building a loft for them to have a safe space to go. As of now, they tend to eat with my ducks and geese and some even sleep on top of them when it's especially cold.

I'm sure there will be situations where it'll be beneficial to know how to handraise some of their babies, so I'd rather be prepared for anything.

Btw here are the little ones now! 17 and 18 days old, doing fantastic. Though, for some reason it's taking the black one a weird amount of time to sprout his head feathers. Currently it looks like he will have a bit of a mahawk going on until they come in.
I'm not too worried though.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Nice! Are they eating solid food now? They should be able to, you may have to simulate pecking at the seeds with your fingers but they pick up on it fast.

I suspect that the slow feathering might be some mild malnutrition, so my thoughts are the sooner the better for them to be on adult pigeon food

 

[the_finch_family]

Nice! Are they eating solid food now? They should be able to, you may have to simulate pecking at the seeds with your fingers but they pick up on it fast.

I suspect that the slow feathering might be some mild malnutrition, so my thoughts are the sooner the better for them to be on adult pigeon food

They've actually been on a mix of recovery formula and soaked pigeon seed mix that my adult pigeons eat. I honestly doubt it's malnutrition, unless I'm missing something?
They get about 30% recovery formula for the protein content, the rest is, as I said, soaked seed with added grit.

Also, that's so early! I didn't think they'd be eating on their own so soon. Based on my notes, they'd be introduced to solid foods at 21 days old.
I will definitely give them a dish with some sprouted and soaked seed and see if they try to pick at it at all with some motivation.
Thank you so much!

 

[my spoiled chickens]

Hi, I'm preparing to handraise 2 pigeons, and the last piece of information that I haven't been able to verify through multiple sources is a brooder temp chart for babies 5 days +

The chicks will be 5 and 6 days old in two days, which is when I'm planning on starting the handfeeding.

I'm experienced with corvids, various small birds like sparrows, thrushes, and especially finches who I will be feeding the second batch of for the season. Trying to finally cross pigeons off my list.

Brooder temp is pretty straightforward for all of the birds I've raised, but I'm not finding much of anything on pigeons specifically. One source I found talking about pigeons mentioned room temperature at as little as 10 days old, and it just doesn't sound right to me.

Would it be right to assume the brooder temp will follow similar guidelines to what I'm used to?
For example, hatching temp for the first day, 31-34°C until roughly day 5, 29-30°C for pin feathers, 25°C for mostly feathered, room temp for fully feathered?

raising corvids sounds sooooo cool I love crows,ravens,and magpies!