Should we clean out nest box?

[NewPigeonOwner]

Our baby pigeons are 1 week and a day old. Their nest is FULL of poop. We were thinking of taking them out, cleaning it out and putting new straw/sticks in there? Should we or do we leave them in their own poop until they can fly??? Also, mom/dad are leaving them unattended quite often. They are feeding them but not sitting on them anymore. Is this normal at a week old? TIA!

P.S. we put more straw near them so they wouldn’t get sprey (?) legs but their parents must have moved so they are on wood again.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I find once they can't really sit on top of them easily they usually don't sit on them often ; ) unless its a super hardcore dad! They should be fine especially in this weather, if it was in the winter then you'd probably need to intervene a little bit.

Between 1 & 2 weeks I'll usually just take some shavings in, pick up the babies and layer the shavings over the nest, maybe give them extra so the parents/babies can't kick it away, splay leg isn't fun to fix in pigeon : D

I know people and breeders who don't add to the nest but I like to for cleanliness of the babies and the smell, I personally feel like shavings on top of the old poop helps keep the smell down, and when they fledge and no longer use the nest I'll clean it out/throw it away : )

 

[biophiliac]

I will sometimes layer clean material over the poop and sometimes I will clean it all out and start fresh. I do not like my babies sitting in wet poop.

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

I find once they can't really sit on top of them easily they usually don't sit on them often ; ) unless its a super hardcore dad! They should be fine especially in this weather, if it was in the winter then you'd probably need to intervene a little bit.

Between 1 & 2 weeks I'll usually just take some shavings in, pick up the babies and layer the shavings over the nest, maybe give them extra so the parents/babies can't kick it away, splay leg isn't fun to fix in pigeon : D

I know people and breeders who don't add to the nest but I like to for cleanliness of the babies and the smell, I personally feel like shavings on top of the old poop helps keep the smell down, and when they fledge and no longer use the nest I'll clean it out/throw it away : )

Thank you! We just put fresh straw over the entire nest so at least we can’t see the poop anymore! When they get a little bigger, we can clean the whole thing out.

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

I will sometimes layer clean material over the poop and sometimes I will clean it all out and start fresh. I do not like my babies sitting in wet poop.

I didn’t like seeing them surrounded by poop either so we just covered the nest with fresh straw.

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

Much better, I think! I hope they have feathers on their feet like their mom does!

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

You should probably be able to see the little feathers coming in by now if they're gonna have muffs, what breeds are the parents? : D

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

You should probably be able to see the little feathers coming in by now if they're gonna have muffs, what breeds are the parents? : D

I’m nervous to handle them so can’t really tell yet. I have no idea what breed they are...we bought them off Craigslist and there wasn’t any discussion on breed...my husband just knew I wanted one with “muffs” (ha! That’s cute.) I’ll attach a pic of mom/dad. Mom has the muffs.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

One on the left looks like it could be a mix? (or one of the 200+ pigeon breeds haha) and the dad looks like a roller! Gorgeous pair, if I were to guess I'd say your babies are probably gonna be Ash Red/Gold/Lemon with some white on them, that's a gorgeous pair you have!! : D

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

One on the left looks like it could be a mix? (or one of the 200+ pigeon breeds haha) and the dad looks like a roller! Gorgeous pair, if I were to guess I'd say your babies are probably gonna be Ash Red/Gold/Lemon with some white on them, that's a gorgeous pair you have!! : D

Thank you! I can’t wait to see!