So I hatched a couple of chicks under a couple of foster pigeons. Now what?

Omaruz

In the Brooder
Apr 6, 2020
18
2
26
Egypt
I put two fertilized chicken eggs under my pigeons almost 3 weeks ago, and both of them hatched today.

Is it more humane to leave them under my pigeons or do I take them out? Will the pigeons harm them somehow if I leave them the chicks? Or will they raise them until they reach a specific size? I don't have a brooder (average temp is 23C where I live but I can provide some kind of heat; maybe socks with rice heated in a microwave? I can't go get an actual brooder because of the coronavirus).

I think if I take them away from the pigeons they will be really sad but I also don't wanna harm the chicks, but also pigeons offer a more reliable brooder than I can provide right now..

Please help. Thank you.
 
I've had pigeons hatch chicks in the past. While the pigeons will not hurt the chicks they won't be able to raise them either. Once the chicks start running around the pigeons will not know what to do. You need to take the chicks. A 20 watt bulb will work fine to keep the chicks warm in a box or something similar.
 
I don't have a brooder (average temp is 23C where I live but I can provide some kind of heat; maybe socks with rice heated in a microwave?
Heated rice bag might work...but can you get a cardboard box and a regular light bulb?

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm (~85°-90F/30-32C)on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.
 
Heated rice bag might work...but can you get a cardboard box and a regular light bulb?

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm (~85°-90F/30-32C)on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.
I got them a 40 watt incandescent red bulb, put it at 15-16cm height from the cardboard brooder I made with 31x21x12cm dimensions, 17C outside but it's quite warm inside though I don't know the exact room tempature.

They are currently at about a 3-4 cm distance from it, sleeping next to each other and rarely cheeping. I secured the lamp, put a thick round piece of glass I had around the bulb just in case, and nonflammable foil paper on the surrounding cardboard also just in case. Now the cardboard is not hot at all but what's scaring me is that the lamp's socket is plastic-ish and not ceramic, but I'm planning to change that tomorrow and I hope my safety precautions will do for now!! Thank you!!
 
Can you post a pic of this?
40W would not need a ceramic socket.
Wonder about the glass around the bulb tho, could be an issue by trapping heat.

Would the bit of foil around the glass + the glass itself be trapping heat and therefore can cause issues? (PS: It hangs on the glass well without the metal wire but I thought it heats it too much so I hanged it on an extra metal wire)
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