Two questions today...

[seismic wonder2]

1. After a year of loosing one bird at a time from predators, raptors, and a lung infection that took two weeks to mail down and erraticate, I'm down to two perfect white pigeons (mated pair). They produce chicks easily... BUT they only survive a week to 10 days after hatching.
I have disinfected the loft, food dish, water bubbler, the birds, I even put them on a 6day PCN injection course. I've checked them over multiple times and they are healthy, but still, the squabs die just before some feathers start coming in... What the heck is the problem!?!?!?!!

2. I'm looking for som pure white pigeons. Preferably young ones, near San Diego.

 

[sourland]

What are you feeding, and do you provide grit or vitamin supplementation? With my birds, at about day 10 to 14 the parents start preparing for another round of young. Once the first egg is laid the hen no longer sits on and keeps the squabs warm. At that point in time it becomes the job of the cock to feed and brood the young. Are you sure that the cock is doing his job? Could the young be getting chilled or is it possible that he stops feeding them to concentrate on the new nest?

 

[Hokum Coco]

@ seismic:
Quote: Sourland is right on in all his statements.
This is what I use when squabs start getting too big for the parents to incubate (Styrofoam cooler).
In a perfect world you should NOT be raising squabs until mid to late February (at least in my temperate zone). I should talk I have 2 pairs of bird that each have one squab now (they lost one each to cold) They nested in an area that was hard for me to excess.
It might also be a poor genetic pairing.


Took these pictures this morning Jan 10, 2013. Jack & Frostie (aka Jackie) are now 13 & 14 days old. Doing well in their Styrofoam nest box. I seem to be getting a lot of brown in some of the offspring of my White Doves??

 

[seismic wonder2]

They free fly during the day and I lock them up at night.
I feed a grain mixture + shells + grit, and spinach and or lettuce some times an apple.
When they have squab I grind the grain in the blender so it's easy to digest

 

[Hokum Coco]

My pigeons get a treat from time to time but mostly get by on egg layer pellets, a bit of extra corn, and fresh water daily of course.
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[sourland]

They free fly during the day and I lock them up at night.
I feed a grain mixture + shells + grit, and spinach and or lettuce some times an apple.
When they have squab I grind the grain in the blender so it's easy to digest

Next round of young, why not just let them feed the non ground up grains. Pigeons start out pumping 'pigeon milk', then a mixture of pigeon milk and grain, and then whole grains. I'm just grasping at things that may be the problem. As Hokum Coco says layer pellets with grain supplementation is also good. Many people switch their flocks to a pelleted ration when they are raising squabs.

 

[Curtiejlee]

Switch them to an equal mixture of wheat and layer pellets with cracked corn as a supplement. Why give them injection courses? That seems a bit over the top!