Broody Rock Dove Sitting on Serama Eggs

[MageofMist]

My rescue rock dove, Squabble, is sitting on two serama eggs from Dolly and Jeremy, and there's already development in one of the eggs! It has been 3 days so far and so there's between 16 to 18 days left.
I did try with a clutch of three eggs a week ago but none of the eggs developed, so super happy to see life in this clutch!

The egg doners:

 

[PioneerChicks]

This might turn out to be a problem. Let me see if I can explain.

There are two basic kinds of chicks, Precocial and Altricial. Precocial are able to walk as soon as they hatch (ground fowls like chickens, ducks, geese, quail, etc.) and Altricial means useless and blind at hatching (robins, raptors, pigeons, doves, most songbirds, etc.).

This means that the dove is going to try to shove food into the baby chicken's beak. This will not work and might hurt the chicken because they are meant to eat food on their own. Also, doves feed their babies a special kind of crop milk while chickens need to eat grains and bugs.

I'm not sure how well this would work out. Let's see if other's can give you some advice. Good luck!

 

[MageofMist]

This might turn out to be a problem. Let me see if I can explain.

There are two basic kinds of chicks, Precocial and Altricial. Precocial are able to walk as soon as they hatch (ground fowls like chickens, ducks, geese, quail, etc.) and Altricial means useless and blind at hatching (robins, raptors, pigeons, doves, most songbirds, etc.).

This means that the dove is going to try to shove food into the baby chicken's beak. This will not work and might hurt the chicken because they are meant to eat food on their own. Also, doves feed their babies a special kind of crop milk while chickens need to eat grains and bugs.

I'm not sure how well this would work out. Let's see if other's can give you some advice. Good luck!

I have heard of the risks on the dove potentially force feeding the chicks, but in all the cases I have read on pigeons hatching chicken eggs, no one has reported their surrogate parents killing the chicks via force feeding, the doves just follow the chicks around in bewilderment as the chick leaves the nest to locate food, and adapt to their odd little ones instead. Usually it is other pigeons and chickens that cause issues for the odd family.

I also have an incubator that I can fire up for if Squabble loses interest in the two eggs, and an old hamster cage that I can use as a brooder if needed.

 

[PioneerChicks]

I have heard of the risks on the dove potentially force feeding the chicks, but in all the cases I have read on pigeons hatching chicken eggs, no one has reported their surrogate parents killing the chicks via force feeding, the doves just follow the chicks around in bewilderment as the chick leaves the nest to locate food, and adapt to their odd little ones instead. Usually it is other pigeons and chickens that cause issues for the odd family.

I also have an incubator that I can fire up for if Squabble loses interest in the two eggs, and an old hamster cage that I can use as a brooder if needed.

Interesting, I can't wait to see how this goes!

 

[MageofMist]

Second egg is developing as well!

 

[MageofMist]

 

[MageofMist]

 

[MageofMist]

 

[MageofMist]

 

[MageofMist]