Moving a nest

[funnyfarm]

If I move a nest with 5 day old babies in it will the parents abandon the nest?
I only plan to move it about 5 feet so I can do a loft remodel

 

[Faith SL]

If it is Pigeons and not Doves you are asking about, moving the nest might not be a good thing to do with baby pigeons in it at this young of age... the parents could abandon their young, not realizing where their nest has been moved to. Pigeons become very attached to their established nesting and perching spots, as it is their own personal private territory and they will not likely be searching around elsewhere for very young babies of their own. If the nest with young has been moved out for too long, i.e. over a couple of hours and you try to put it back to it's original location, some parent pigeons who have mentally accepted their 'loss' of young and are eager to start a new nest could become severely confused and may even attack their own babies which were placed back in, seeing them as new intruders rather than their own young.

Not saying a nest can't be moved with 5 day old baby pigeons - I have successfully managed to move many nests with young and even day old pigeons in them before - but it takes a lot of patience, a lot of time, and a lot of accurate observation of how the parent's minds are working out the situation to make absolutely sure that they will calmly accept the situation and new territory and one again take full responsibility of caring for the young. If a nest absolutely has to be moved with very young baby pigeons in it, sometimes it is easier to hand feed and care for the young yourself than to work with certain parents who are more stubborn.

You are much better off moving the nest when the baby pigeons get old enough where they are growing out a lot of feathers and are starting to flap and exercise their wings - approximately when their tails grow out to at least two inches long. At this age, sometimes baby pigeons happen to fall out of their nests/nesting compartments anyways from exploring too far or falling over the side while trying to operate their new flying gear.

At this age the parents will sometimes search around for the young pigeons (especially near/on the floor) if they are not in their nest during feeding time, as the adults instinctively know that the youngsters at this age can sometimes become a little lost but still be hiding nearby. If you do move the nest when the baby pigeons are a little older and at this age, make absolutely sure you are not moving it into any other pigeon's territory (they could try to kill the young pigeons!), and watch the parents for a couple of days after the move but especially closely monitor them the first two hours of moving the nest to make sure they know where their young are and responsibly feed and protect their young.

I honestly have no idea how doves would respond to having a nest with young babies moved. I would guess they would simply not accept the move and not care for the babies, but another member who knows more about doves might be able to give you a better answer about this.

Good luck with them

Faith