egg not hatched

[dingdongbells]

story is my father in laws pair of pigeons layed 2 eggs first 1 21 days ago 2nd 19 days ago. the pair of pigeons got off the eggs 2day. they haven hatched... the eggs r now cold. what should he do. the eggs look dark..

[jameswaller]

will the parents still sit on them./.or have they been touched,/.the eggs are layed 2 days apart/but then the parents rotate shifts to keep eggs warm-about-105*./,after the 2nd egg is layed-18 days of sitting the parents open them,-i would say they are ready to hatch-now-,if they have not abandoned the eggs,.there is a chemical reaction that takes place within the egg which prepares the lungs to breathe oxygen,.does this help??.sincerely james waller

[Charis]

Originally Posted by jameswaller

will the parents still sit on them./.or have they been touched,/.the eggs are layed 2 days apart/but then the parents rotate shifts to keep eggs warm-about-105*./,after the 2nd egg is layed-18 days of sitting the parents open them,-i would say they are ready to hatch-now-,if they have not abandoned the eggs,.there is a chemical reaction that takes place within the egg which prepares the lungs to breathe oxygen,.does this help??.sincerely james waller

James...the parents do not open the eggs. The chicks work very hard at getting out of the shell all on their own.

[PoppyFieldVet]

I am by no means an expert but when I was incubating an egg and it got close to its hatching date I candled it. There is a point in which the yolk is absorbed and the chick starts to pip and hatch. If you can and it was appropriate, I would candle them and see if yo can see the blood vessels pumping or whether it looks like its started being absorbed. You should be able to see some movement if they are still alive.
Unfortunately my egg never pipped-we took our incubator and egg on holiday(camping) and we broke down on the way so had to incubate it ourselves. About 18 hours after the hatching date had passed and after checking for movement etc we broke into the egg and found a little duckling.
Anyway, I would say if the parents arnt sitting on them for any length of time you could keep them warm and keep an eye on them.
You can't help them hatch as if you break the shell too early the chick will bleed to death as the shell will still be lined with blood vessels and wont have completely absorbed the yolk yet.
Hope that helps :S
XxX