help with new fancy pigeons...

[gumbii]

a friend sold me a gorgeous pair of egyptian swifts... at his house, they were running around all happy together, and the cock was chasing the hen to get back into the nest... he said that they were going to lay son...

so i took them home, hooked them up, but they don't like their nest i guess...

so she laid two eggs on the floor, and the quails ate them... sucks... i have them in a breeder style cage for them... i have one egg stored that she layed two days ago... is it still good...? i took out a black nun and tumbler because they didn't let them sit in any nest... but still, they don't seem to be happy... will this just pass..? or what do i have to do now..?


another newb question.. LOL... are they seasonal birds like ducks...? like, do they give year round like my chickens, or just in the spring or so...?

thx for reading... i'll get pics later, i promise...

 

[kswaterfowl]

Pigeons will lay and rear babies pretty much year round, although many pigeon breeders only let their birds do this when the weather is warm. But I know of a few that breed year round as well. When the cock keeps pecking the hen and pecking, its called DRIVING. They will choose a nest and drive the hens to it. The hen will lay one egg and then a day or so later, lay the other egg. She will sit on the eggs for the PM shift and the cock birds normally sit on the eggs for the AM shift. Its very interesting to watch, and if you have a bunch of pigeons that you don't know the exact sex of each bird, you can normally watch them when they are sitting and tell which bird is the cock and which is the hen. In all the time we bred Indian Fantails, they were quite easy to tell the sexes just by how the birds looked and behaved. But with Old German Owls, it was a little more difficult, but I was normally able to pick out the males from females when they started to court and display before they paired and started laying, that way I was able to repair birds for better breeding arrangements. Typically I believe if you have the first egg, you can expect the second one within a 24-72 hour window. Good luck with your pigeons. I really enjoyed them, but alas, too many projects not enough space, so we are currently pigeon-less.
K&S

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Pigeons need time to pick out their nest box and build the actual nest with materials. She was ready to lay when you got her, but she had no where to lay them. Moving is stressful on them. So put some nesting material in there and let them start over fresh.

 

[gumbii]

Quote:
cool... i didn't know all of that... thanks... i used to fly rollers and never got into the breeding...

Quote:
she already layed two eggs... i have the first egg, and the second egg the quails ate i guess... they aren't as hard as other eggs... it was very thin shelled... should i be concerned about calcium..? the breeder i got them from only fed them chicken scratch... witch is i guess cracked corn... i'm giving them game bird feed... and i'm about to get them a bag of nutriblend green from purina...

also... on the nest boxes, i put a cardboard cup thing, and my petshop sold me some nesting material... i didn't know they built the nest, i just put the nesting material on top of it... LOL... so do i need to get more of that nesting material..? it was a paper envelope with like dried stuff... like curly stuff... i don't know... i was just going to throw some hay in there like the chickens... LOL... so what else can i throw in there and where...?

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

Some like to build nest and some don't. Offer sall amounts of stiff grasses or straw or hay. They need to have acess to oyster shell for calcium. If she didn't lay the first egg in a nest I would put it under another pigeon and let them hatch and raise it. Let the swifts get yused to their new place and pick a new nest. They will lay again when they are more settled.

 

[gumbii]

Quote:
thank you so much...

what about pigeon grit..? i think the game bird mix has a ton of oyster shell already... i can see it... but i'll get more just in case... like i said, the guy before would only feed them scratch, and they breed like crazy... i think the egg is a goner, and i'm going to candle it to see if it's porous like i do to my chickens...

and i don't have other pigeons... i only have the pair of swifts, a black nun, and a tumbler... i think the tumbler and nun are paired up... but when i had all four in the breeding cage (it's pretty bit) they would fight for the nest... the nun sat in the nest all happy... he's a he... but the tumbler wasn't having it... so i took them out, and right now they're cooped up with my OEGB's... they don't fight or anything... and they are a lot bigger than my OEGB's so they don't get near them...

i just want to be able to breed the pair of swifts... they're so gorgeous... never thought i would own such a gorgeous pair of birds... LOL, i need to get pics too... i promised them, i'll take some tomorrow...


thanks for the replies...

oh, and can i use dry alfalfa..?

 

[puredelite]

Pine needles make a good nesting material as the smell helps to repell pigeon mites and flies. I usually put pine shavings in the bottom of my nest boxes and pine straw on top of it. Alfalfa would work too.

 

[gumbii]

awesome... gotta go to the park and get some pine needles when the rain goes away...


wait...



i think my neighbor still has their xmas tree outside... LOL... ghetto...

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
thank you so much...

what about pigeon grit..? i think the game bird mix has a ton of oyster shell already... i can see it... but i'll get more just in case... like i said, the guy before would only feed them scratch, and they breed like crazy... i think the egg is a goner, and i'm going to candle it to see if it's porous like i do to my chickens...

and i don't have other pigeons... i only have the pair of swifts, a black nun, and a tumbler... i think the tumbler and nun are paired up... but when i had all four in the breeding cage (it's pretty bit) they would fight for the nest... the nun sat in the nest all happy... he's a he... but the tumbler wasn't having it... so i took them out, and right now they're cooped up with my OEGB's... they don't fight or anything... and they are a lot bigger than my OEGB's so they don't get near them...

i just want to be able to breed the pair of swifts... they're so gorgeous... never thought i would own such a gorgeous pair of birds... LOL, i need to get pics too... i promised them, i'll take some tomorrow...


thanks for the replies...

oh, and can i use dry alfalfa..?

The guy fed them scratch because pigeons and doves are primarily seed-eaters. You can get pigeon grit for them, it has lots of vitamins and minerals they need along with the grit and oyster shells. I use red grit for my doves.

I wouldn't worry about the egg you have collected, she will start a new nest when she's ready. I too found a few pigeon eggs on the floor of their pen but didn't notice anyone interested in hatching. Now 1 of my pairs has a brand-new baby and the other egg...I'm hoping the other egg hatches too!

ETA: I give mine hay to make their nests with. Another good thing to use for nesting material is tobacco stems, you can order those from any pigeon supply place. The tobacco stems help keep the nest free of mites and lice.

 

[gumbii]

Quote:
thank you so much...

what about pigeon grit..? i think the game bird mix has a ton of oyster shell already... i can see it... but i'll get more just in case... like i said, the guy before would only feed them scratch, and they breed like crazy... i think the egg is a goner, and i'm going to candle it to see if it's porous like i do to my chickens...

and i don't have other pigeons... i only have the pair of swifts, a black nun, and a tumbler... i think the tumbler and nun are paired up... but when i had all four in the breeding cage (it's pretty bit) they would fight for the nest... the nun sat in the nest all happy... he's a he... but the tumbler wasn't having it... so i took them out, and right now they're cooped up with my OEGB's... they don't fight or anything... and they are a lot bigger than my OEGB's so they don't get near them...

i just want to be able to breed the pair of swifts... they're so gorgeous... never thought i would own such a gorgeous pair of birds... LOL, i need to get pics too... i promised them, i'll take some tomorrow...


thanks for the replies...

oh, and can i use dry alfalfa..?

The guy fed them scratch because pigeons and doves are primarily seed-eaters. You can get pigeon grit for them, it has lots of vitamins and minerals they need along with the grit and oyster shells. I use red grit for my doves.

I wouldn't worry about the egg you have collected, she will start a new nest when she's ready. I too found a few pigeon eggs on the floor of their pen but didn't notice anyone interested in hatching. Now 1 of my pairs has a brand-new baby and the other egg...I'm hoping the other egg hatches too!

ETA: I give mine hay to make their nests with. Another good thing to use for nesting material is tobacco stems, you can order those from any pigeon supply place. The tobacco stems help keep the nest free of mites and lice.

cool... so now i just sit here and wait right...? gonna throw in some straw, pine needles and alfalfa in the cage floor, and in the nest boxes... too bad it's pouring like crazy over here...

the camecock mix i'm giving them is all seeds... i see peas, lentils, cracked corn, oyster shell, some kind of grit... i think it's good... but i'm still gonna get the pellets and do a 50/50 mix of it... i should get the ingredients and see if you guys think it's cool, but i'm fat and lazy right now... stupid rain... LOL... but i will keep you guys posted...