young pigeons parent killed

[47sgs]

Last night a great horned owl got in my pigeon coop and killed the parent sitting on two young birds,both of which are just starting to get feathers. I know they've been there a couple weeks. I assumed the other parent would take care of these two, but I haven't seen an adult bird around these babies all day. Any suggestions? Do they need to be kept warm once they reach this size? Shouldn't the other parent be taking care of them? Should I step in and do anything, or leave them alone? Thanks.

[KIPPY]

How old are they?

[pigeonpoo]

Normally if one parent is killed, the other will take over the care of the young but, if both parents were in the loft when the owl got in and attacked, the remaining one will probably be too traumatised to feed it's young. Be careful not to let any of your birds out for several days or you will struggle to get them back into the loft, they will be too scared to enter.
You will need to take over the feeding of the babies.

[Trees Gray]

Hello and Welcome to pigeon Talk,

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of one parent bird.

Normally the other parent will take over the duties, but as mentioned they may not. If you don't have another couple to take on the surrogate parenting role, you should get prepared to feed them and have everything on hand, just in case.

Also, how did the owl get inside? If you have a bob trap that is open, you need to put a door over it to protect your birds from predators.

[47sgs]

I don't know how old these babies are. They're at least a couple weeks. They're probably about 5 inches long, and have pin feathers most everywhere except under their wings.
The owl got in because there were still a couple birds out late that night and I wanted them to be able to come back inthat night or first thing in the morning. Usually there is a cover over the gate.

[47sgs]

I was out at the coop this morning. I left the babies alone over night. I was watching from a distance,and one of my original birds was near the babies whenever another bird got near. Later, it looked like it was feeding them, so I think I'll just leave them alone, and periodically check on the babies to make sure they are looking healthy. Thanks for the help.

[Lovebirds]

If the parent that's left will continue to take care of them, of course, that's the best thing. I hope it will work out.

[pigeonpoo]

If you can check the crops, just on dusk, they should be nicely full. Leave food and water 24/7 close by the babies, it will make it easier on the single parent and also the babies can watch and will sooner pick up the idea of self feeding.

[Birdmom4ever]

As long as they have full crops at dusk and look healthy, things should be fine. Is it mom who is left or dad?

[47sgs]

Dad is the parent that is left. I'll check them this evening

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by 47sgs

Dad is the parent that is left. I'll check them this evening

That's good. I've had to take the hen away from her babies a couple of times and leave the Dad to raise them. They always did just fine. Some racing fanciers do this all the time. You should be ok.

[Birdmom4ever]

This is a plus, since dad usually takes over most of the feeding when the chicks are about two weeks of age while mom lays new eggs. Although I have had hens that did an admirable job of feeding older youngsters when dad went missing or, as in the case of a certain Nun cock, turned out to be a deadbeat.