New to pidgeons and faced with an unexpected suprise.

[Evalaina]

We only recieved a number of pidgeons recently off a friend, fourteen in total, as they were moving from a house to a flat and couldn't keep them. Accomodation had been made, and they seemed rather happy. Shortly after they started pairing off, and voila, today I discover that we have two little babies.
The mother and father are both looking after tham responsibly, but the weather is turning cold and it's rather wet. Should we bring them inside and look after them, or leave them out with their parents?
Any help with care and anything like that would be welcomed with open arms.

(the proud parents)

[KIPPY]

Cool looking pigeons. What's the shelter like? are they in a loft? They should stay with their parents
If your not wanting more pigeons you may want to invest in some wooden eggs. There wonderful!

[Evalaina]

Thanks. At the moment, they're in a very large cage which is covered on three sides, and with a nice solid roof. Along the back wall there's a shelf on which they roost on, and some nest boxes, as well as a few perches. But for some reason, these two decided to nest on the ground.
Wooden eggs would be a good idea, I think.

[KIPPY]

But for some reason, these two decided to nest on the ground.

Yikes! that can't be good. I hope someone here knows who has had the experince. I would get them off the ground just not sure how the parents would take it.

I wonder if you put the nest in the nest box

the back wall there's a shelf on which they roost on

Maybe she accidently laid the first egg on the ground and thought what the heck.

I check my baskets every night, no surprises here.

[KIPPY]

So when you say flat do you live in a apartment like on the 3rd floor or are the pigeons actually on the ground (dirt/grass)?

[Evalaina]

Originally Posted by KIPPY

So when you say flat do you live in a apartment like on the 3rd floor or are the pigeons actually on the ground (dirt/grass)?

We live in a house, with a rather large back yard. The cage is raised off the floor by, say, half a foot, and has a solid floor.

[LokotaLoft]

whatever you do dont move these babys now , as long as all is secure with them they will be fine ,but if you move them now they may abandon them and thats not something you want ... being on the floor for pigeons is nothing new and they shoul;d be fine just make sure they have plenty of food and the pigeons will take care of the rest its only when you have a problem like they arent taking care of them then is the only time you will need to take some action but for the most part pigeons know exactly what they are doing... so please dont move them now just keep an eye on them and if the parent are covering them they should be ok .

[KIPPY]

so please dont move them now just keep an eye on them and if the parent are covering them they should be ok .

I wasn't sure about leaving them on the ground because of ants and critters.

[Evalaina]

Thank you very much for your support and advice. I'm not going to touch them, because them being abandoned was mainly the reason for me posting here. I hand raised budgerigars, and I knew it could happen, so I didn't want to do anything without some advice behind it.

[LokotaLoft]

where are you located , just curious now still wouldnt move them myself thou , birds really dont like change at all and if they are taking care of them I see no reason to mess with whats going on with where they are at and since you also said they have a solid floor that in itself tells me they will be ok ...if ants were around they would have already gotten to them as eggs in my opinion ..oh and as long as the place where they are at is dry thats also important too

[Evalaina]

I'm in Sydney, Australia. A little bit of a stretch, but this is the best resource I had found by far, so I had to join.

[UncleBuck]

I agree with LokotaLoft, Please do not move the babies. I have some fancy nest boxes in my lofts and yet I still have two pairs of birds who insist on laying and rearing on the floor.
I did try to move babies once and they were abandoned by the parents. I do not know if you have ever seen wild pigeons where they nest. They will build their nest in some pretty precarious places and raise a few clutches there. (If the had a department of pigeon services, like they do for children, a lot of these wild pigeon squabs would be taken away from their parents!)
Wonderful looking birds.
As a by-note: Have you been affected by the fires we see here on the news in the US? Darn shame about them, all those people losing their homes and all he critters getting burnt up.