Too many babies!!!

[Lunadell]

Hi there, I’m fairly new to pigeons. This was my first year breeding Lahore. I have a pair of birds that will not stop laying! They have raised 12 babies this year! They have been laying since February. I live in Canada. I collected there first clutch not realizing that they would just keep laying more. I hatched and raised the first batch but I let them just do their thing after. They got into a pattern of laying eggs, hatching them, then before those chicks are feathered out they find a new nest, lay more eggs and wean the babies while they are incubating. Is this normal behaviour? How do you get them to stop? It will be too cold for the babies who haven’t feathered out soon. I don’t supplement light and it is starting to drop below freezing at night. I tried taking away nesting perches but they will nest on the floor. I have tried taking the females out and put them in a large dog crate. They still lay eggs and sit on them (though infertile).

 

[-Kiwi-]

You can remove the eggs they lay, they will keep laying them but there wont be any more babies.

 

[biophiliac]

Hi there, I’m fairly new to pigeons. This was my first year breeding Lahore. I have a pair of birds that will not stop laying! They have raised 12 babies this year! They have been laying since February. I live in Canada. I collected there first clutch not realizing that they would just keep laying more. I hatched and raised the first batch but I let them just do their thing after. They got into a pattern of laying eggs, hatching them, then before those chicks are feathered out they find a new nest, lay more eggs and wean the babies while they are incubating. Is this normal behaviour? How do you get them to stop? It will be too cold for the babies who haven’t feathered out soon. I don’t supplement light and it is starting to drop below freezing at night. I tried taking away nesting perches but they will nest on the floor. I have tried taking the females out and put them in a large dog crate. They still lay eggs and sit on them (though infertile).

The thing to do is replace the eggs with fake plastic or wood eggs to allow them to sit until they give up. Then when they finally lay new eggs repeat the swap with fakes. If you only remove the eggs, the hen will lay eggs much sooner, eventually depleting her body of calcium. Always allow hens access to free choice oyster shell crushed or another type of calcium supplement.
12 youngsters from one pair is quite a strain on them physically. My loft is small so I can empathize with your need to control the population. Best of luck!

 

[biophiliac]

It is certainly best to avoid breeding during winter cold as risk of death of the babies is higher.
And yes it is normal for pigeons to start incubating another clutch before weaning the previous one. They er extremely efficient breeders. Lol

 

[cavemanrich]

I can only suggest the fake eggs. They will still try, but no success..
There is a very extreme slim outside chance that the plastic ones will hatch.

Spoiler: Plastic egg results

JK

Luvto see some pix of your cuties and your loft setup.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[biophiliac]

I can only suggest the fake eggs. They will still try, but no success..
There is a very extreme slim outside chance that the plastic ones will hatch.

Spoiler: Plastic egg results

View attachment 2392471

JK

Luvto see some pix of your cuties and your loft setup.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Lunadell]

Hahaha! Funny cavemanrich!

I will try fake eggs. Thanks for the advice everyone. I didn’t realize pigeons were the rabbits of the bird world.