Hi. New to doves with one about to hatch

[caesargirl]

How are the little ones this morning?

 

[appps]

How are the little ones this morning?

It seems to be getting.quieter each day rather than the other way round

I actually thought it was dead because I gave them their food then went and opened up the chooks and when I got back mum and dad were both off the nest which they have never done before and it was just lying there not moving.

I picked it up and it had a fairly decent half crop full so they have fed it and fed it better. I topped it up and it ate it but with less enthusiasm.

By the time I took it back mum was back on the nest. Is that normal at this age to start leaving them?

 

[caesargirl]

Honestly I'm not sure.... I've never dealt with parent pigeons.....@casportpony opinions?

 

[casportpony]

The fact that it's less lively is not a good sign. Can you bring it inside and feed it?

-Kathy

 

[appps]

I don't really have a good way to keep it warm. In a pinch I could set up a fish tank with a heat lamp so that will be my plan B I guess. I'm going to keep a good eye on them today that they don't get off again as it a pretty cool day today. I'm pretty much feeding all day now I think because other than that first morning feed it never seemed to have anything in its crop when I would check every 3 hours. I'm starting to wonder if it's not looking for the food. It wasn't peeping today either.

 

[appps]

I just checked on him. His crop has emptied quite a bit so guessing that's a good thing and mum is still on him.

I did notice a bit of poop in the nest so pulled that out and discovered the shavings that were under it were a bit damp. We had a huge storm here the day before yesterday but I'd thought they had stayed dry, maybe just all the moisture in the air was getting absorbed or there was a little dribble got in there. It brought up another point though, they were never expected to hatch anything so didn't really have it set up as a nest but rather as just a way to transport them when I'd put them in my bunny run of a day. So it originally had some fine eucalyptus mulch in it not straw. We added straw the other day but didn't want to disturb them too much so hadn't pulled all the eucimulch out. Wondering now if the oil in the mulch could be a problem for him so I moved them both backwards in it and have pulled the majority of it out from the front where they like to sit so they are just on straw where before they were tending to sit on the spots with the least straw and the most mulch.

 

[appps]

Hmm. Went to feed him at 10:30am and he had food in his crop. Just checked again at 12:30pm and same deal. Not a huge crop but enough it doesn't need topping up. I suspect they might be feeding him and he was looking perkier again with his head held up. I'll check again at 4:30. Fingers crossed they just needed to get over that first few days of learning how to do it properly.

This is going to sound stupid but I could swear he has grown since this morning too lol

Dad is also improving he managed to hang off my arm by his beak this time. Ouch

 

[Hokum Coco]

Hmm. Went to feed him at 10:30am and he had food in his crop. Just checked again at 12:30pm and same deal. Not a huge crop but enough it doesn't need topping up. I suspect they might be feeding him and he was looking perkier again with his head held up. I'll check again at 4:30

I think you are almost through the woods. It is normal for the squab to have an empty crop. Soon the parents will begin to feed the squab only twice a day. Letting the crop go empty stops the squab from becoming crop bound.

 

[appps]

I think you might be right. I've just checked again and it's fuller than it was so they must be feeding it. Yay . They must of just needed a bit of time to work out what they were doing being first time parents. Obviously that technique took a little practice

It looks much perkier too so I'm tentatively thinking we are going to be ok!

 

[caesargirl]

I think you might be right. I've just checked again and it's fuller than it was so they must be feeding it. Yay . They must of just needed a bit of time to work out what they were doing being first time parents. Obviously that technique took a little practice

It looks much perkier too so I'm tentatively thinking we are going to be ok!

Excellent news!!!