My 3 days old baby pigeon died plz help

[Mjunaid]

One of my baby pigeon died after 3 days of hatching. The other baby is fine and fully active. I check up on my birds twice a day and when i noticed that its not moving at all i picked it up and put it on my hand to see what was going on and by that time it was too late but what i didn't understand is that its crop was full and it did not look weak, and my loft is super clean. So what could be the reason? maybe the mother stepped on him? because i move the mother pigeons twice a day also to see how the baby's are doing. And some time they get angry.so should i not touch or move the mother pigeons? Its my first time and i have about 5 pairs and they are all on eggs and this was the first clutch that hatched but im scared for the other ones. Plz help thank you.

 

[FluffyFeathers97]

@biophiliac

 

[Patriot1672]

I have had a lot of unreasonable deaths in my flock as well. I’m sure there’s a lot of factors that play into it, most of which we have no control of. Could’ve been anything from getting squished like you said or just an unhealthy egg.

 

[biophiliac]

I'm sorry you lost one of the babys. It's hard to know the cause as @Patriot1672 mentioned above. For now I would advise you to just wait and keep a close eye on the remaining squab and the other pairs. You say these are your first birds? You sound like the type of person who would research proper care, so I'm assuming you are doing all the basic, clean water, proper food and grit, etc.
WELCOME to BYC! It can help if you put your location in your profile to get you answers more appropriate to your climate.

 

[backyard pigeons]

I'm sorry you lost one of the babys. It's hard to know the cause as @Patriot1672 mentioned above. For now I would advise you to just wait and keep a close eye on the remaining squab and the other pairs. You say these are your first birds? You sound like the type of person who would research proper care, so I'm assuming you are doing all the basic, clean water, proper food and grit, etc.
WELCOME to BYC! It can help if you put your location in your profile to get you answers more appropriate to your climate.

Very well said!



@Patriot1672 are you providing grit?

 

[Mjunaid]

Very well said!



@Patriot1672 are you providing grit?

I'm from United states. State > Michigan. Also the weather was pretty decent, it was about 50 degrees whole week. The only thing i can think of is just parents stepped on it. but thanks for all the advice. I will monitor the other baby's and see what happens. Thanks again and if anything happens to other babies i will post it.

 

[Mjunaid]

@Patriot1672 are you providing grit?
[/QUOTE]

No i did not give them grit. I did not even know what it was. Just googled it now. Omg is it very important for the pigeons? and how often do you give them? and where can i buy it?

 

[biophiliac]

@Patriot1672 are you providing grit?

No i did not give them grit. I did not even know what it was. Just googled it now. Omg is it very important for the pigeons? and how often do you give them? and where can i buy it?
[/QUOTE]
Yes, pigeons need access to grit pretty much all of the time. Also, hens need crushed oyster shell or some other calcium for healthy egg shells. This is not a full substitute for other grit. There are many types of grit for pigeons, some are very fancy. If the birds are let out to loft fly they will likely find their own grit on the ground. You can also use the crushed granite grit which is sold for chickens. The grit mine like best is a red clay type that looks like crushed brick. It is for pigeons and sometimes flavored with anis oil which they love. If your local feed store doesn't stock it you can buy online at chewy. @Old_Strain_Lover recently posted a link to grit here, #9,601
It is a pretty active thread for pigeon lovers, join us there with some photos of your birds/loft if you can!

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

As others have said, it can happen for many reasons. I typically advise people (especially less experienced ones) to keep their hands out of the nest for the first few days after hatching. The babies are very fragile at that point, and the parents are usually pretty mad (wing slaps and biting) with any intrusions into their nest. It's very easy for some kind of accident to happen.