The pigeons won't sit!

[tacothechicken]

Ok so Soup and Wallace are failing me again! I think their internal clocks are screwy cause once more they've up and ditched the nest at day 10 rather than sitting till hatch! Both eggs were fertile but one seemingly failed around day 4 and the other is still alive. Left the did in the nest along with a fake while the viable one is in the incubator due to hatch around the 15th if it makes it that long. Ive left fake eggs in our 2nd pairs nest as well to see if I can get them sitting too. Should the baby hatch I'll be attempting a 'cuckoo' operation and hope they take the baby from day one place in their nest, as I'll be going out of town in February and can't afford to have an imprinted baby, or that extra work for now. Anyone have really good foster breed recommendations? My homers were great parents but would only adopt babies if they paired up with a recently widowed bird that had remaining chicks. Other than that they'd chase them out. If anyone has recommendations for a breed that's good at taking on orphans or abandoned eggs let me know!

 

[sourland]

Is there any possibility that the cock from the second pair is driving them from the nest ? Birmingham rollers are the best 'parent' birds that I have ever had.

 

[tacothechicken]

@sourland nope the cages are 2/4 and stacked on top of each other, they only interact when out for freeflights which they haven't had recently. Also rollers are so cute, I could get me some rollers what about fantails? Or satinets?

 

[NatJ]

Ok so Soup and Wallace are failing me again! I think their internal clocks are screwy cause once more they've up and ditched the nest at day 10 rather than sitting till hatch!...Anyone have really good foster breed recommendations?

I don't know much about pigeons, but I have to ask: is there a reason you want babies from this particular pair?

If you just want them to be happy, you could swap their eggs for fakes each time they lay, and let them sit until they're tired of it. There would be no baby pigeons to care for, and no half-incubated eggs (maybe eat the real eggs, while they're fresh.)

 

[tacothechicken]

@NatJ there's no particular reason to be honest, other than wanting to slowly start up a flock since Figuritas are so hard to find now in days, and the assurance that yes I don't need to worry about this pair accidentally hatching out a chick and leaving it to die or somesuch if I went out of town(I think they'll adopt babies though under certain conditions.) And yes after this I'll just be feeding the eggs to my lizard every time they lay rather than assume they'll do the job properly. My 2nd pair doesn't want to lay in winter which is just fine as well. But I do cover things like feed and housing costs with breeding babies pretty regularly, wether chicks, ducklings, or pigeons (and pigeon feed is EXPENSIVE now) either way I'll probably just bar them from hatching now and get a foster pair for when my 2 pair of birds are busy with their own babies once it warms up. I just think that I'd like to be able to hatch out as many babies as possible as long as the conditions are good, but the pair in question always stops incubation halfway in for no reason! I had homers who id have to stock with fake eggs all winter as the 40mph wind storms in winter would create too much chill and either kill babies or the eggs would literally freeze and explode should the parents not immediately swap out. So in the end Soup and Wallace shall be my snuggly pigeon pets as always and I plan to get a 3rd pair who I figure I'll give their laid eggs to for incubation and fostering. But until then my lizard will be getting eggs for treats

 

[backyard pigeons]

Ok so Soup and Wallace are failing me again! I think their internal clocks are screwy cause once more they've up and ditched the nest at day 10 rather than sitting till hatch! Both eggs were fertile but one seemingly failed around day 4 and the other is still alive. Left the did in the nest along with a fake while the viable one is in the incubator due to hatch around the 15th if it makes it that long. Ive left fake eggs in our 2nd pairs nest as well to see if I can get them sitting too. Should the baby hatch I'll be attempting a 'cuckoo' operation and hope they take the baby from day one place in their nest, as I'll be going out of town in February and can't afford to have an imprinted baby, or that extra work for now. Anyone have really good foster breed recommendations? My homers were great parents but would only adopt babies if they paired up with a recently widowed bird that had remaining chicks. Other than that they'd chase them out. If anyone has recommendations for a breed that's good at taking on orphans or abandoned eggs let me know!

I don't know for sure, but I don't think pigeons can count days by time. If I remember correctly, these birds are inside? Is this correct? If so, you switching on and off the light might be messing up how they count days. After it goes dark, and is light again it's a new day. so they are cunfused.

As for foster parents, I would recommend figs, but, that is your pair. I personally don't like foster parents. I think it's crucial to have the biological parents to feed the squabs.

and pigeon feed is EXPENSIVE

yes it is! But it doesn't have to be. Mix in extra grains into your already existing feed. Wheat is the #1 best grain for pigeons. Add a bunch of that, and some (quite a bit) pigeon crumbles. this is the best mix for raising squabs, I think. Wheat is about $10 a bag. I mix 25 pounds of wheat into 50 of my pigeon mix. Pigeon pellets are cheaper than pigeon grains, so mix probably 25 pounds of that into it as well. (this is assuming you feed a grain mixture) this should cut your cost down by about 50%, and last you a whole bunch longer.

 

[tacothechicken]

@backyard pigeons that's actually a very good suggestion I didn't consider the lighting to be honest! Also thanks for the feed suggestion. My birds are on grain right now but I know a single store in our county that stocks pellets (I may try and have my nearest one special order it) and I can get wheat. I'll open my blinds so the light is coming through naturally rather than the light from my lamps and try to time when to let the room go dark. Wallace actually got back on the nest around noon today but I've replaced them with fakes just incase. Also I've not been letting them free fly while nesting in case it throws them off, but maybe that would be better so they don't get totally bored when sitting and have something more to do than sleep and bath and play with toys in the cage itself.Good idea or no? My cage actually didn't lock this morning post feeding and I almost had a heart attack when I found Soup waddling down the hallway 30 min later

 

[backyard pigeons]

I think it would be good to let them free fly. Though maybe contained to one room, so they don't get lost. Just know the risk of indoor pigeons with the dust and all.

 

[trahana]

If you really want eggs from that pair, switch the eggs with the pair that sits! They will hatch the eggs and raise them.
My own mixed pidges have no issues sitting, or taking care of the babies, even if I handle the kid(s) on a daily basis. It sounds like you have some iffy parents, who don't know how to keep track of the days to hatch. How new are they to parenting? If this is their first nest it might be just that, pigeons get better with age.

 

[jak2002003]

Agree with 'trahana', let them lay their eggs, then put the eggs under another pair to hatch.

If you hatch out the chick in an incubator you are likely going to end up having to pigeons to raise it, because they have to be at the right stage in their breeding cycle to accept and feed squabs.

Also, in the future, please don't take out the eggs to feed to you lizard. If you do this they will keep laying and the hen will become sick and maybe die from the stain of all that calcium going out of her body to make the egg shells. It's better to replace the eggs with fake, and let them sit on them until they get bored.