Found a pigeon egg on my balcony. Suggestions?

[pigeonegghelp]

I found a pigeon egg on my balcony, and the pigeon that took care of it has not returned. It's an albino pigeon (it's feathers are virtually all white) which made it very easy to spot out of the other pigeons. But it hasn't returned in a few days. A snowstorm was brewing up, so I decided to take in the egg and save it.

I placed the egg in a small container, wrapped with a cloth lightly soaked with water to keep the egg humid. I covered the container with loose saran wrap and placed it next to the radiator to keep it warm.

a few days have passed, and I rotate the egg a couple time a day. I haven't seen the albino pigeon return. Whenever a pigeon lands on my balcony, they are loud (The wing flapping always gets my attention).

But now I see new pigeons (Normal gray/darker plumage) on my balcony. I think they are just resting. It's not like I stare out the window nonstop, so I can't be %100 sure that the Albino pigeon hasn't returned.

What should I do? Place the egg back out onto the balcony, but since I started warming up the egg, would the sudden cold kill the egg? (It's pretty chilly out there) Also, what guarantee would I have that the new pigeons would take care of it?

Wait for the egg to hatch (It was out in the cold all day) and then place the baby pigeon out there in hopes that the other pigeons (they don't nest, they just come by everynow and again, to help the baby pigeon?

Thanks.

Chris

[Matt D.]

Welcome to Pigeons Talk. First, the white pigeon isn't albino it is just a white pigeon. Was there ever a second pigeon? If you put it back out, it will probably die. The other pigeons will not take care of that bird. If you do get it to hacth you will be Dad. If you go to our resource section here, you will find stickies on incubation and hand feeding from day 1.

[TAWhatley]

Hi Pigeonegghelp and welcome to Pigeon-Talk!

Thank you for your kindness and concern for this pigeon egg.

Sadly, you cannot just put the egg or the baby, assuming there is one, back out .. nobody will take care of the egg or the baby.

You need to candle the egg by taking it into a dark area like a closet and shine a flashlight through the egg. If you see spidery, reddish veins, then the egg is fertile and an embryo is developing. If you don't see anything like this, then it would be best for you to simply discard the egg. If you've got an embryo in there, then it would be helpful to know where you are located in case you need some help. It's very difficult to hatch and raise a newly hatched pigeon from scratch by yourself, and you would be needing some help.

Please do the candling and let us know what you see.

Terry

[pigeonegghelp]

Originally Posted by Matt D.

Welcome to Pigeons Talk. First, the white pigeon isn't albino it is just a white pigeon. Was there ever a second pigeon? If you put it back out, it will probably die. The other pigeons will not take care of that bird. If you do get it to hacth you will be Dad. If you go to our resource section here, you will find stickies on incubation and hand feeding from day 1.

I only saw the white pigeon, I didn't see any other pigeon that nested the egg. The other pigeons that come onto the balcony go nowhere near where the nest is (The nest is still out there). They just perch, poop and then fly away.

[pigeonegghelp]

Originally Posted by TAWhatley

Hi Pigeonegghelp and welcome to Pigeon-Talk!

Thank you for your kindness and concern for this pigeon egg.

Sadly, you cannot just put the egg or the baby, assuming there is one, back out .. nobody will take care of the egg or the baby.

You need to candle the egg by taking it into a dark area like a closet and shine a flashlight through the egg. If you see spidery, reddish veins, then the egg is fertile and an embryo is developing. If you don't see anything like this, then it would be best for you to simply discard the egg. If you've got an embryo in there, then it would be helpful to know where you are located in case you need some help. It's very difficult to hatch and raise a newly hatched pigeon from scratch by yourself, and you would be needing some help.

Please do the candling and let us know what you see.

Terry

I placed a light and all what I see is a yellow blob, it's right at the edge of the shell. I am placing the egg with the blob up so that it won't stick to the shell (I read about this).

How many days will go by before I should see anything? The yellow blob hasn't done anything the past couple days.

Also, is the radiator/cloth/water/saran wrap enough?

Thanks for the help!

[Matt D.]

You should be seeing viens by 5 days. If it is that far along, and you are using a dark enough room/ and a bright enought flashling; then I would dispose of the egg.

[pigeonegghelp]

Originally Posted by Matt D.

You should be seeing viens by 5 days. If it is that far along, and you are using a dark enough room/ and a bright enought flashling; then I would dispose of the egg.

Thanks. I don't want to touch the egg too much, but I will check it with my pocket flashlight nightly.

I turned all the lights off in my room and flashed the egg, that's how I saw that yellow glob.

I'll keep you updated.

[TAWhatley]

Hi Pigeonegghelp,

You should probably have a look at this thread in our Resources section:

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

Terry

[pigeonegghelp]

No development with the egg. I think it's safe to call it unfertilized and thus place it in the garbage.

Is it even worth leaving it for the full 18 days? I placed a flashlight next to the egg, no change at all.

[Vasp]

Pigeon eggs are pretty quick to show development... I would say, if there is no change at all, that it is an infertile egg.

[pigeonegghelp]

Originally Posted by Vasp

Pigeon eggs are pretty quick to show development... I would say, if there is no change at all, that it is an infertile egg.

I am curious about what's inside it.

I'm just wondering how much of a sin it would be if I cracked it open.

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by pigeonegghelp

I am curious about what's inside it.

I'm just wondering how much of a sin it would be if I cracked it open.

If it's not fertile .. no problem .. just try to be very, very sure there isn't an embryo developing. If there's an embryo, then it's a completely different story, and you would be killing a developing baby bird.

I suspect, however, that there isn't anything developing in this egg .. could be wrong .. so candle it again before you crack the egg.

Terry

[pigeonegghelp]

Originally Posted by TAWhatley

If it's not fertile .. no problem .. just try to be very, very sure there isn't an embryo developing. If there's an embryo, then it's a completely different story, and you would be killing a developing baby bird.

I suspect, however, that there isn't anything developing in this egg .. could be wrong .. so candle it again before you crack the egg.

Terry

I did this several times, where I turned all the lights off and held a little pocketlight at the egg. Nothing. No veins, no change, nothing. I routinely rotated the egg, I had it in a lightly water soaked rag to keep it hydrated, and near a heater.

Nothing.

I just want to crack it, more out of curiosity than anything, to see if it looks like a normal chicken egg.

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by pigeonegghelp

I did this several times, where I turned all the lights off and held a little pocketlight at the egg. Nothing. No veins, no change, nothing. I routinely rotated the egg, I had it in a lightly water soaked rag to keep it hydrated, and near a heater.

Nothing.

I just want to crack it, more out of curiosity than anything, to see if it looks like a normal chicken egg.

I think you are safe to go ahead and crack the egg at this point. It's going to look pretty much like a mini-chicken egg.

Terry