Abandoned nest/eggs

[ariadnegrrrl]

Hello everyone, I'm new here but am so happy there is such a broad pigeon community.

Ok, here is the problem. I've been living in this apartment for some time now, I feed the flock that frequents my balcony, and a pair of pigeons already had a baby who is now a fledgeling that was born there.

But recently, Whitie (the female pigeon) had some sort of problem with her tailfeather area. It was all crooked, and she looked very weak. She was on the eggs that they recently laid, and in the past few days I haven't seen her at ALL. It's very sad because her mate that I call Greyfang is hanging around, but not sitting on the eggs.

At this point, I don't know where she is, it makes me terribly sad, and I've looked all around my building's perimeter to see if she had died somewhere, but can't find her.

My real question is, is there a way for me to save the eggs? Incubate/hatch them? They'd been sitting on the eggs for around a week and a bit, so they must be close to hatching.

Help, I really need advice!

[Pidgey]

Ariadnegrrrl,

Welcome to Pigeons.com and thank you for your concern!

Yes, it's possible to hatch eggs although if he hasn't been sitting on them, then it's probably already too late--depends on the weather.

However, it's VERY difficult to get the chicks through the first week if you're not a pigeon. There is equipment and food that you can buy and techniques that you can use but it's still very tough. They're designed to have that first "pigeon milk" and we can only get so close. People have done it, though.

Pidgey

[Reti]

We have a good link for hatching eggs, I think, but can't find it now.
How long has it been now since no one has been sitting on them? If too long they embryos might be dead already.
What you can do is candle the eggs, take them to a dark room and put a flashlight behind it, you might see if the embryos are still moving.
They should be about a week from hatching. Pigeon eggs hatch at about 18-19 days.

You will need to make an incubator for the eggs, something where you can put a heat source on. The temperature needs to be 98-100oF. Also put a little bowl of water in the incubator, the environment needs some humidity.
Mist the eggs with warm (not hot) water daily.
Turn the eggs at least 3-4 times a day a 1/4.
Don't turn the last couple of days.
The egg produces CO2 so you need to ventilate the incubator and cool one minute each day.

Now there is a chance that the poor mother being sick, that the embryos have also the disease and won't make it.
I am sorry for the poor hen and her mate being lonely now.

Good luck with the eggs.

Reti

[Skyeking]

Here is the link on incubating

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=4968

Treesa

[ariadnegrrrl]

Ok, well - it has now been 2 full days since I've seen the hen (Whitie)... Like I said, her mate is still hanging around our balcony, but he hasn't been sitting on the eggs since I last saw Whitie, so 2 days. I really do not have a clue what happened to her, whatever it was, it wasn't on my balcony, but it could have been anything. She was fine one day, then the next looked weak and sickish (kind of the crusty icky way we do when we have say, the flu...) the next, and her tailfeather and area was all broken looking, and the feathers were tilted...

Right now it's late, and dark, so I'll have to check the eggs in the morning. I put them in a box with some towels... thinking that would help for now... but maybe not.

I remember when their first baby was born here, I called him Hatchy, he is so cute, he was so teensy then! All he did was peep! I think he knows his mom is gone, because he looks a little sad these days, even though he's been doing social things with the rest of the flock...

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Ariadnegrrrl,

Yes, after two days of not being incubated by one of the parents, the eggs are likely lost now. You can still check in the morning but chances are, any growing embryos in the eggs would have perished by this point

It's hard to say what happend to the mom, she may have been sick and went off to die somewhere alone (most animals will do this when they know they are going to die), or she could have been a victim of a predator in her weakened state.

Sorry in any case of this end result.

[ariadnegrrrl]

Oh that is so sad, I wish there was something I could've done..

I'm one of those people that roots for the underdogs, people, and animals... most people hate pigeons and I've tried to offer them a loving area while I'm in this apartment, but I guess things just happen sometimes..

Oh well, thank you all so much for your advice. I will continue to feed the pigeons and befriend them.

~SaRaH~

[Reti]

Thank you for being a friend to the needy.
Our poor pigeons can need all the love and support they can get.

Reti

[ariadnegrrrl]

Well, I have always loved pigeons, I don't see how most people can find doves beautiful but call pigeons "rats with wings"... etc. Just goes to show how we can dehumanize creatures so we can do away with them when they become problematic for us... Pathetic really.

I plan to try and attract more pigeons when we move into our new apartment. Actually, it's only about 8 blocks from the one we're in now. I wonder if my flock would travel that far!

:P

[Reti]

just be careful not to attract too much attention by having too many pigeons visitng you balcony, then they might start roosting on other people's balconies and I don''t think they will appreciate that. It happened to me and to other members, that the management of the building hires a pest control company to get rid of the pigeons.
So, you better try to keep their mumbers down as much as posible and maybe you can find another area to feed them.

Reti