Eggs are hatching!

[Thepigeonguy]

so I went to feed my pigeons and one of the eggs is hatching! I’m really excited because I haven’t gotten any babies from these birds yet. The other egg probably won’t hatch as I believe it’s day 20 for it bus still hoping . Normally I wouldn’t want winter babies but we had a really warm, snow melting streak... and the birds got busy. Then it got cold again so I thought well they can try...
here’s the baby

 

[Hokum Coco]

I found the 2nd egg rolled out of the nest.

Now you know why pigeon fanciers use nest bowls. In my case I use this 10" dog bowl I can pick up at the Dollar Store.

 

[LamarshFish]

One of my little guys has a full blown Donald Trump hair doo!

 

[Thepigeonguy]

Btw I did not mean to attach those files. And those are turkish takla, of the mardin variety. So super rare and expensive. Which means not a ton of information about them.

 

[Hokum Coco]

The other egg probably won’t hatch

I am happy for you backyard buddy. Do not loose hope yet on the other egg I have had eggs hatch as late as day 23.

 

[Thepigeonguy]

Turkish takla. And I’m really excited to fly the babie(s) because I’m do NOT want to lose the parents. Thanks for the encouragement hokum coco, I’m hoping the cold might be a factor.

 

[Hokum Coco]

does providing a nest bowl encourage adult birds to lay?

I do not know the answer to that question. Some times the parents will lay outside the bowl. I always put the eggs inside the bowl. It gives the best results.

 

[Thepigeonguy]

So it would appear that everything is well. Is the pale yellow near his(or her) throat the milk in the crop? This is day 3.

 

[Hokum Coco]

This is day 3.

You can see it growing each day. It's eyes are either open by now or just on the verge of opening. Thank you for sharing. It will develop even faster as an only child. I can tell it has excellent parents.

No nest bowl only a single hatch.

 

[purslanegarden]

That's so sad, knowing that the 2nd egg was pretty much viable also but now lost.

Yes the part of the baby that you mentioned, is its crop area.

I'm also new to pigeons and I'll learn as I go, but I think the stories we have heard about avoiding to touch eggs, babies, etc in case the parents abandon them... I'm not sure how true that is.

Many people have had to relocate eggs and babies, and the pigeon parents still take them (as in the case, for example, when the eggs was newly laid and it needed to be moved to a better spot).

I ended up using a kind of nest box design that is typical for chickens, so there was no chance the egg can roll out. I have also found that the material doesn't seem to be as important as the parents sitting on the egg to give it the right temperature. For example, I've seen pictures of nests made of sticks only, straw only, or even on the floor of a newspapered-up cage -- all babies hatching just fine. (Well in the case of the newspaper, there was a little bit of stuff near where the parents sit so that the egg doesn't just roll everywhere).

I was also worried about cold temperatures for the naked babies, but I think as long as the parents are attentive, that should be helpful for the baby. Well, I forgot that I had 2 of them, and their proximity helped keep each other warm, too. But I'm sure in your case, the parents will be even more attentive to keeping the single one warm.