Can female pigeon sit eggs alone?

[endermom]

My son received a pair of pigeons a few months back as a birthday gift. (he had been begging us for over a year for them). Not knowing much about pigeons and not wanting to start with anything expensive, we got a pair from a guy down the road who had a hundred of the little guys. They were a beautiful pair, but not what you would call tame, and I've been working to get them to have a little trust in me.

A few days ago, we moved them into a bigger coop that we had because they needed more room, but it has a top that I have to open to get in. Every other day, the pair of pigeons would run to to the other side when I opened it, but this morning the male must have been waiting for it, because as soon as I opened the top, he flew straight up and right out of the coop to parts unknown, leaving his girlfriend all alone.

Needless to say my son is beside himself, and I'm feeling terribly guilty. To make matters worse, when we came out tonight to close up our chicken coop, we saw that the female pigeon had gone and laid an egg. After doing some reading, I see that the female can be expected to lay a 2nd egg, and that the male and female pigeons will sit the nest together. With the male having "flown the coop", is there any chance for the female to sit the egg alone? My son is all excited about the prospect of a baby or two, and after my research tonight I'm guessing that this is highly unlikely. Any thoughts?

 

[Hoss1975]

She will more than likely abandon the the nest after a week or 10 days,but there is a possibility she would sit the full 18 and hatch them.Did you contact the guy you got the birds from?More than likely the male returned to his loft.

 

[4HillsSumatras]

What breed were they? If they were homers, he probly flew to the guy you bought him from.
I had a pica cock get lose. 2 days later a guy called saying he had caught him.
Hope you find him.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Dedicated moms will continue sitting on the eggs by themselves sometimes, but it's stressful on her as she has to spend all her time (other than food and water breaks) on the nest. Usually the eggs do not hatch or she abandons them early on. Especially in your case where the male is gone from the very start.

 

[larrylofts]

If The Man You Got The Birds From Is Right Down The Road You Probley Find The Male Back At His Old Home. If The Pen You Have To Keep Them In Is Off The Ground You Could Trim One Side Of The Wings Where They Could Not Fly As Fast And Good . Help Tame Them Down By Feeding Once Aday And Try Holding The Feed In Your Open Hand

 

[ridinglizzard]

Twice now a male has gone missing from my coop right after the eggs hatch. Both times the babies survived by being fed from just the mom. I haven't had experience with one parent going missing while the pair is still setting though.

 

[magicpigeon]

Quote:
I've had a "sub" step in to help an incubating mother after the father was eaten by a cat on day 3?