The exact thing happen with my abandon hen. I believe where there is only one parent and only a limited amount of pigeon milk she chooses the most vibrant chick and neglects the second.
Yes, it was probably for the best. The survivor is really being fed just enough, imo. Growth is lagging a bit behind the 2 which are a day younger. It will be a pretty red so I hope he continues to do ok. Today mom laid another egg and the cock has been hovering around the nest box quite a bit. So far no aggression toward the chick. Now I'm wondering if mom will continue to feed him if she has new eggs to incubate, or if maybe dad will finally step up and feed his 3rd offspring.
Or worst case he kicks jr out prematurely?
Another coincident the squab my single parent hen raised was also of the same colouration.
Ok now guess what? The hen Doba laid another egg yesterday and Lonan the cock is sitting on it during the day! He did not help incubate the last ones. He still has 2 youngsters with his other hen Kiki (same age as his chick with Doba) that he is supposed to be feeding.
Oh well - maybe if I was letting them out to fly he wouldn't have the energy for such a complicated social life. LOL
There seems to exceptions to the rule no matter what you think will happen. Lonan seems to be living a double life.
He is a legend in his own mind...
Is Lonan possibly a closet NBA basketball player???
