Unexpected nest

[taprock]

This is our first year with homers. My son joined a racing pigeon 4-h group and got his birds in June. Originally we didn't want to breed them but have since changed our mind. We thought we still had a few months to set up nests but were surprised by an egg. We put in a temporary nest of a dog dish in a milk crate and the pair have settled in with two eggs. However we aren't sure if this will be a problem after they hatch. They are not separated and just on the floor of the loft. Any suggestions on what we should do at this point? We only have a total of 7 birds currently, the loft is designed to hold 15.

 

[sourland]

Just keep an eye on the squabs when they start to leave the nest. If another pair have 'claimed' an area nearby they may scalp the squabs. When my roller squabs were well fledged I used to put them on the loft floor. All of the cocks would feed all of the young birds. In my experience homer cocks are not so kind, and I would have ended up with a bunch of injured young birds.

 

[LamarshFish]

The birds should build their own nests, all you should really need to provide is a nest bowl.

Once hatched, the young need traction inside the nest bowl such that they do not get splayed feet, and that is prevented by the nest the birds build using materials you should provide. Pine needles and/or straw work fine. I use tobacco stems since they are resistant to parasites.

 

[Hokum Coco]

They are not separated and just on the floor of the loft.

Tampering with the nest could result in the lost of your squabs. I would leave things as is until the squabs have started to fledge.

 

[taprock]

I put a piece of old t shirt in the bottom. It looks like the pair added a few pine shavings, feathers etc. to it.

Does a sitting pair still go on exercise flights daily?

 

[Hokum Coco]

Does a sitting pair still go on exercise flights daily?

You will find the ♂ pigeon does more than the ♀ bird. The lion share of the incubation is done by the ♀. She only leaves the nest for a few hours during the day to let the ♂ take over and only sometimes leaves the loft is my experience.