Nesting and eggs?

[rb43]

How do you tell if an egg is fertile or not? Should the parents be sitting on the egg most of the time? what does it mean if they stop spending very much time sitting on the egg?

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by rb43

How do you tell if an egg is fertile or not? Should the parents be sitting on the egg most of the time? what does it mean if they stop spending very much time sitting on the egg?

When was the egg layed?
How old is the couple?
Has the second egg been layed yet?

You can candle it at about 5 days of brooding and see if it is fertile, but if they are not spending most of their time on the egg, it will not hatch. Usually you will see the hen or male sitting on it, they don't leave their eggs at all.

If the first egg has been layed they may not be attentive, that is normal, they will sit near the egg, but serious brooding doesn't start sometimes until the second egg has been layed.

If both eggs have been layed and they are not spending "quality" time with them, then they are a young couple, and may have lost interest, or are not quite sure yet, of what to do. The egg can be fertile, with no embryo inside, if no incubation has occured. Cell division doesn't begin until incubation if the eg is fertile.

[rb43]

The first egg fell and broke, the hen did not lay it in a nest, so i moved them into a breeding cage. the second egg was layed on Dec. 18th. the hen has a 00 band and the male has a 03 band. I just got the pair on the 13th of Dec.
thanks

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by rb43

The first egg fell and broke, the hen did not lay it in a nest, so i moved them into a breeding cage. the second egg was layed on Dec. 18th. the hen has a 00 band and the male has a 03 band. I just got the pair on the 13th of Dec.
thanks

If the egg hasn't been given quality time just remove it.

The birds are old enough, they just need time to settle in, as they are newcomers into your coop and they probably do not feel secure right now. They are not going to want to hatch nay eggs if they are not secure in their environment.

Let them adjust to their new coop and pick a cubby out, and before you know it the courtship will begin again, and they will settle into a nest box of their choosing.

How long have they been a pair?

Make sure to give them a good variety of pigeon seed, with at least 11 to 15% protein.

[rb43]

Ok, this is really weird. I removed the egg like you suggested on the 26th of Dec. and now its the 28th of Dec and she just laid another egg. they have been paired up since the 13th of Dec. but she laid eggs on the 17th and 18th. Is this normal? I will watch closely for the second egg and too see if they sit on these eggs.

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by rb43

Ok, this is really weird. I removed the egg like you suggested on the 26th of Dec. and now its the 28th of Dec and she just laid another egg. they have been paired up since the 13th of Dec. but she laid eggs on the 17th and 18th. Is this normal? I will watch closely for the second egg and too see if they sit on these eggs.

It usually takes between 5 to 10 ten days for eggs to be layed when courtship begins. It is possible for her to lay again on the 28th (another clutch ) if courtship commenced after they lost interest in the first batch.

[rb43]

OK, she has been sitting on the egg and very teritorial, but no second egg, is this normal to have only one egg?

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi there,

Yes, sometimes young hens or old hens will only lay one egg. Try candling them as Treesa mentioned. Hold the eggs up to a bright flashlight in a dark room and look for veins, spider webbing outwards and there will be a little dark red blob in the middle which is the fetus.

[rb43]

Well, I found the second egg. It was stuck to the hen hidden in her feathers. it had been cracked and undeveloped so i cut it loose and through it away. does this happen often? i keep the area clean, i guess you cant really control the nest very easily.

[Jiggs]

If you look on www.pixalbums.net go to pigeons and Alaska's page has a good picture of what a fertilized egg should look like

[Pigeonpal2002]

Originally Posted by rb43

Well, I found the second egg. It was stuck to the hen hidden in her feathers. it had been cracked and undeveloped so i cut it loose and through it away. does this happen often? i keep the area clean, i guess you cant really control the nest very easily.

Not sure what is going on here but this sounds like a soft shelled egg. This can happen when the birds are not getting enough or are unable to absorb calcium properly. Make sure your bird is getting a good grit containing calcium like oyster shell grit. You can also provide calcium in liquid form, such as calcium gluconate and put in the water. This can be purchased from most of the pigeon supply stores. As well, a good vitamin supplement containing vit D is important for the proper absorption of calcium to take place, otherwise they can consume all the calcium in the world but it will do little to help with bones and egg production.

[rb43]

well, the egg that was left finally hatched. good news for two days, then it was dead laying in the nest, i walked by and could see half of the baby just laying there. with its mouth partly open and hits head laying on its side in the nesting material. the parents were so protective of it it was hard to get the baby chick out to look at it. it defenitely was not moving and nothing appeared to be wrong, but it was not alive.

[Trees Gray]

I'm so sorry to hear about the baby, can you tell why it died?

[Pikachu23739]

Originally Posted by rb43

How do you tell if an egg is fertile or not? Should the parents be sitting on the egg most of the time? what does it mean if they stop spending very much time sitting on the egg?

it probably means that the egg is not fertile my mom will know if it is fertil or not

[alaska]

Hi,
Here is a direct link to the picture Jiggs referred to that shows what a few day old fertilised egg looks like:
http://www.pixalbums.net/post.php?si...x=rubysegg.jpg
Regards
Alaska