Should we clean out nest box?

[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

Just wanted to share an updated photo of the babies! They are mostly brown! How did my two white birds have babies with brown feathers? The mom has a tiny bit of brown but not this much. They are adorable...just not what we were expecting! Haha

 

[biophiliac]

Just wanted to share an updated photo of the babies! They are mostly brown! How did my two white birds have babies with brown feathers? The mom has a tiny bit of brown but not this much. They are adorable...just not what we were expecting! Haha

Super adorable!
Remember, white is not a color. All white birds carry a hidden base color - blue/black, ash red or brown. These babies appear more ash red to me than brown
And I see some feathers coming in on the leg visible in the photo. Parents have feathered legs? Edit - Oh yeah, mom does!

 

[NewPigeonOwner]

Super adorable!
Remember, white is not a color. All white birds carry a hidden base color - blue/black, ash red or brown. These babies appear more ash red to me than brown
And I see some feathers coming in on the leg visible in the photo. Parents have feathered legs? Edit - Oh yeah, mom does!

Yes! I’m so excited...one of them will have muffs like mom! I had no idea about the hidden base colors! Learn something new every day! Will she ever produce white feathered babies? I think we have another mated pair who might be laying eggs soon too. Busy nest building...although they did this before and no eggs. I wonder what their babies will look like! So fun.

 

[LamarshFish]

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.

Replying kind of late here. I think if you remove everything you do run the risk of problems. In this situation, what I have done that has worked great was simply to dig out as much of the loose poop as possible, and then place a coconut fiber nest pad in right on top of the nest material. So, I do not remove nest material, I just remove as much of the poop as practicable, and then just set the coconut fiber nest pad right in there, and put the squabs right on top. Pasting a link to the coconut fiber pad below FYI:

They come in 7" and 9"

https://foyspetsupplies.com/small-coconut-fiber-nest-pads-7-in-10-pack/

 

[Tebriel]

Beautiful babies and parents!! Definitely exciting to see how the young will turn out.

 

[biophiliac]

Beautiful babies and parents!! Definitely exciting to see how the young will turn out.

Welcome to BYC pigeon forum!

 

[Tebriel]

Welcome to BYC pigeon forum!

Thank you!