Pigeon flew away :-(

[aseelforsale]

With all my luck starting keeping pigeons i thought i was on the road to recovery.. Until today!
I had a pair (when the male decided to up an leave! ) now i jus have a female all alone not knowing her mate is gone whilst she is on the eggs!
I have only acquired them for a week and i had trimmed the feathers as i didnt want them to be locked up all day. Unlucky for me i hadn't realised the male could still fly pretty well as i left the primary feathers uncut (four on each side!
? They have been out in my garden so they know what it looks like and also the male has been collecting twigs for the neat before he decided to leave!
What i want to ask is what are the chances of the male coming back and will the hen hatch the eggs?
P.s he flew away at 16:00 and it gets dark at 21:00 (u.k)

 

[Hokum Coco]

It all depends on how good the blood line is of your homer.

I for example bought a real good adult cock white homer 100 miles away. Who had never free flown from the loft (according to the fancier).

I got the bird in January 2012 and had raised 3 batches of squabs with him by May 2012.

I was going to release him on mothers day to free fly from the loft. Unfortunately he escaped the first weak of May and was back to his original loft before night fall.

I told the fancier to keep him that I would not imprison him for life (He would have never stayed in my loft).

I have some homers who would die trying to get home rather than stay in a foreign loft.

If you buy good adult homing stock who have flown from their loft your only have one choice keep them prisoner for the rest of their lives.

You definitely made a mistake by clipping his wings.

A good adult homer should raise 3 batches of eggs with their mate before you should even think of letting them free fly. Even then you see what happen to me.

Young birds are an entirely different kettle of fish.

Your homer will now NOT ground to your loft if he makes it back to his point of purchase and you are able to retrieve him.

I personally think the odds are stacked in your favour that he may still come back to your loft.

Especially if this was his first experience in nesting.

I would give him at least 2 days before I would go to plan "B".

Unless the eggs are real close to hatching I would scuttle the eggs.

Maybe put them in with another nesting pigeon who is due to hatch within days of the same time frame..

Good Luck aseelforsale!

Do not give up hope just yet.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

With homers, it is best to keep them as prisoners unless they are young enough to break to the loft. I usually do not buy homers I plan to fly from people over 2 months old.

 

[aseelforsale]

The guy i bought them from had told me he had not flown the pair and had just used them for breeding. They are birds from 2012 and this is the first time they have laid eggs in my ownership. I had trimmed the feathers but they are such strong birds he could still fly :-( this was his first time flying i hope he comes back otherwise the eggs will get spoilt as i dont think the hen can do it by herself? Or i hope someone will find and return him (in a perfect world)

 

[Hokum Coco]

I just reread your post and I am thinking your male has most likely fallen predator and if he is still alive he will be back.

Another possibility is someone could be holding him captive in your immediate area.

The reason I say this is that he never flew to his original loft on his first release from my understanding.

If homers are not going to stay clipping their wings is of no use in my view.

Clipping homer wings is a lesson I learned the same way!

It is a heartbreaking way to learn a lesson is all I have to say!

 

[jak2002003]

If he is still alive I think he will come back, because he has been building the nest and knows there are his eggs and mate there.

He may have got killed because he could not fly very well.

Try not to worry too much... if he is alive, he may decide to spend the night out.......but should be back the next day. He will come back when he is hungry.

The hen can incubate and rear the chicks on her own with little problem.....especially as she is used to raising chicks herself in her last home. You can help her by removing one egg, so she only has one chick to raise, or you can simply help her by giving extra food to the growing chicks (only if they seem to be lacking food).

I have had pigeons go away for several days, and they eventually returned. I will keep my fingers crossed for you!!

 

[aseelforsale]

Maybe i have not been clear in my recent post so i will explain more.
The pigeons have had 3 owners originally the place they were bought up and sold as squeekers and second the person who had them captive and used them as breeding and third me.
I had them for a week kept them locked up for two days . So that they knew where to get water and food. I had clipped the feathers but the male i left out some as i thought he would have difficult mounting the hen with no feathers.
They would come out into the garden and do there thing i.e forage mate and look around. They started building a nest and the hen had laid a egg (dont know how many) its been three days since that has happened so the male has been coming out and getting his materials for his nest.
Whilst he was looking for materials my chickens made a alarm call so i went outside to see what it was (it was nothing) as i went outside the male got spooked and jumped onto the roof. He waited a bit and took off. Where i live i don't have much predators as i live near the city the only thing would be someone would keep him and not notify me :-( . Aslong as the female is ok i guess its ok? Dont they take turns to sit on the egg though?

 

[Hokum Coco]

All depends on how close the eggs are to hatching. Also how good a mother your bird is. Unless your eggs are within a week from hatching I think the odds are against you.

 

[aseelforsale]

I doubt il get any chicks then ..sad times..
i went to go check for the male no signs looks like he aint coming back. Thanks for your help anyway

 

[laughingdog]

Just put a half coffee cup out tied in each front corner of cage, one with layer pellets, one with water. keep water full, and food half full, you should have to top off or refill two to four times a day maybe one young are feathering (keeping food and water up makes parents confident they can raise both young so don't neglect or abandon ect i guess, but worked for me). she can raise two young at time just fine, as had single hens that were ready to lay when got and raise squeakers on own and then lay another egg that was fertile and raise it. layer is extremely easy for them to digest and rich nutrition for her and babies.