My friend wants to know why his dove nest in a bit stinky

[210175]

my friend told me to put a post up for him saying his nest is a bit smelly. he says you dont notice the smell but if you sniff really hard it is a bit stinky. he's doves are on eggs and they are about 11 days in there incubation he says.?

He also wanted to ask another question
when he first noticed the eggs he moved the nest a bit to another side because there was rain coming in the crack, he said the mother stayed on the egg and he is really worried that the shaking could of killled the embryo at 1 day old but he is not even sure they started the incubation then. he worry when he moved the nest he might of shook the baby inside but the mother was on the eggs. ?

Im not sure myself how much shaking or jarring it takes to kill the eggs but i think it has to be a fair bit, does anyone know?

A fast reply would help so that i can call him, thanks


he worrys like me.

 

[Hokum Coco]

My advise to your buddy is to put up with the smell it is only 20 days. The nest is going to be a lot worse by the time the squabs are hatched.

It is all right to handle the eggs or squabs but do not change or tamper with the nesting material. It is alright to clean around the nest bowl.

You can candle the eggs at about 5 days to check for fertility if you like (there are plenty of links to guide you on the internet especially for chickens same process).

Leave the nesting material in tact until the squabs are able to exit the nest on their own accord and attack and beg for food from their parents.

I lost these squabs by my best homers this February by cleaning up the nesting area and putting them in a bowl.

They died of exposure. The very next day after this photo was taken. The parents abandon the nest.

Lesson learned!



If your buddy did not crack the shell the egg will be fine.

Here is a link to share with him to give him and idea of how quick they develop:

Here is what I use for my nesting bowls available at the Canadian Dollar Store about 10 inches in diameter and they do not tip when the birds enter or exit the nest. I fill with pine needles, pine shavings, or long grass (what ever is available).

 

[210175]

The egg is ferfectly in tact and he has a bowl with straw for them. About the size of your one and he said to say a very big thankyou, he said he was worried because he though the smell was a disease but he relises its the doves. he just was worried because when he moved the nest abit he thought it could couse damagee to the embyo inside.

but from what you say he does not have to worry.
thanks

and my pigeons are soon to have there eggs hatch in 1 week and 1 day.
yay

 

[Hokum Coco]

Happy for you 210175.
If this is the doves first clutch there is a good chance they may be infertile,
They sometimes have problems getting everything up and running and coordinated..
They always seem to get it right in round two you find.

 

[210175]

thanks hokum, my friend is really happy for your input and advise. he said they have had eggs before. Even when I first posted about my pigeons and when I jiggled the nest a bit to have a look at the eggs, I was scared that maybe the embryo would have died but it was only a little jiggle and the mother had stayed on them. Im not how much you need to shake an egg before it dies but I know it has to be a bit more than a jiggle.
you have really made me feel better about my pigeons and my friends doves.

So thankyou and I will keep you and everyone updated on what happens in 1 week. I cant wait to see my first ever pigeon squab. These are my first ever pigeons but it feels like I have known them forever.

 

[laughingdog]

If you feed chicken layer pellets from courting and breeding to weening squabs the only trouble you will have is so much poo from excess nutrients and stronger smell maybe. I've dropped pigeon eggs and caught them on shoe ect before sure they were scuttled, but pigeons unlike some other birds apparently can grow and hatch with air cell ect detached even. so don't worry about a little shaking as apparently just shells fragile , and why layer or good caged bird calcium grit needed maybe at times.

 

[210175]

Thanks, my silly dad shook the nest yesterday again because we were trying to clean under it. But i dont think i have to worry

thanks