do mom and dad need special food

[Jenni]

Hi,

We had a little surprise hatch over the weekend.
I had been really careful taking the eggs away and putting them in the fridge for a week before I gave them back, but one hatched !!! I know it had been in the fridge for a week because it had a date and an "X" on it.
Anyway, my question is, do the mom and dad need anything special while bringing up this baby?
Also, will the baby be able to be released? I have all of the adults because they were injured by cars and did not heal well enough to be released.
Will the baby be ok if released? Will it find a group to hang out with? Or do I have another little bird?
It is really cute
Thank you for the advise. I guess I will be hard boiling the eggs from now on, eh?

Thanks, Jenni

[~pigeonlover~]

it might not be safe to release the chick when it can fly.
jason

[elvis_911]

its strange how i've seen so many posts on injured birds, yet i have never had an injured bird, just sick

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:S

[dano7]

It's true that if you release that bird it is hard wired to know what a predator is but in this place and time it does not know the strategy to best avoid them. It would have to get lucky a few times and find a wilder flock - you could find a flock and take the now strong flying fledgling to them if you are serious about not keeping her. She needs to be fully weened prior to release. This is option 1.

If you release her at your place she will stay around until a hawk chases her; maybe she will come back later. She should be fully weened and know how to drink before being let out. If she becomes a fly out pet you need a way for her to come and go safely. A lot depends about the physical structure of your place - a lot of close in structure and trees is dangerous (hawks), while the ground floor is dangerous for terrestrial predators. This option 2is best if you have a high window perch with unobstructed view with a little trap door. This is a really cool chance for her to have it both ways.

The third cloice is you have a new aviary guest!

You could feed the parents a little more fat, protein, grit and vitamins - maybe some raw unsalted peanuts and safflower seeds while they are making pigeon milk which they make heavilly for the first 7 days and then it ends at day 12.

[Jenni]

Hello,

Thank you for the advise.
We actually have a lot of hawks around, so I think I will just keep her in with the others. I would be worried about letting her go around here. I'll be happier knowing she is safe. MAybe we'll build an addition to their coop so they have more room

Thank you for the advise on what to feed the parents, too. It is too cute how they take turns with the baby and sometimes both hang out with her.

The really wierd thing is that one of my other birds, Peg, was somewhat of an outcast for the longest time. She hung out by herself all the time. Now that the baby is here, Diesel and Lorry (the parents) let her hang out IN the nestbox with them. My 4th bird, Mac seems to be the outcast now. Very strange.

Anyhoo, thanks again,

Jenni

[John_D]

Jenni,

Maybe rather than putting the eggs in fridge or boiling, you could just exchange plastic eggs? Most pigeons do not realize the difference when you just slide a real one out and a fake one in beneath them.

Occasionally a real smart cookie seems to know the difference, but it does work most of the time

John

[Jenni]

Thanks for the idea about the fake egg.
What do you do with the real ones then? Just boil and throw away ?
Thanks

[birdlover000]

Do u put it in there right when you saw the egss? Or when did you do that? How did the embryo (?) survive?


david

[John_D]

Well, if you get the eggs pretty much soon as she has laid each - or both together right after the second egg - and replace them, you can just dump the real ones. They will be unformed at that stage.

John

[JGregg]

When the embryo is placed into a cold environment it goes into staisis, the heart even stops beating! This allows the baby in the egg to survive even if the parents do not sit on the egg for a day or two (provided that the embryo is not too developed). Some birds do no sit on their eggs while laying, and take to sitting on the nest after all of the eggs are laid. This ensures that all of the eggs will be at the same stage of development at the same time.

In the case of your baby be aware that there is the possibility of mental retardation due to a lack of oxygen, because it was in the fridge for so long. I sincerely hope this is not so.

[Jenni]

Hi,

Yes, I take them away as soon as they are laid and put them in the fridge. I put a date on them and then take one that has been in the fridge for at least a week and give it back to her to sit on.

Man, I hope the little one does not have any brain damage or anything. I feel horroble.

I will definately go with fake eggs from now on.

Thank you for all the info,
Jenni