They are hatching right now

[Jenny]

Hi everyone,
My situation is different than everyone else's because I don't raise pigeons. I live in the city and a pigeon has a nest directly below my window on the fire escape. I've posted before about how I put out food and water for them and they've been eating it.

Anyway, I just looked out the window and the eggs are totally hatching. I got really nervous. Beings they are not my pigeons, should I just leave them alone? Or is there something I should or could do to help them right now? Will the parents try to bite me now if I put more food out (they've been very nice about it, but maybe now they wont be since the babies are being born?) If someone, maybe Carl, could just give me a few pointers on what I should do it would be great. I get the feeling I should just leave them totally alone, but if it would be helpful more me to put some special "baby pigeon mixture" of food out there, I'd be more than happy to do so. I'm nervous about this because I've become kind of attached to them and I want them to survive.

Thanks,
Jenny

[TAWhatley]

Hi Jenny!

How exciting .. new babies right there on your balcony! Mom and Pop Pigeon will do all the care taking needed by the babies.

Just keep providing fresh food and water for the parents, and when the babies are between 2 and 3 weeks old, start putting out some small seed for them such as finch, canary, or parakeet.

Enjoy (and take pictures for us if you can)!

Terry Whatley

[Jenny]

Hi,

Thank you so much. I felt like an expectant mother myself! I work from home (I'm a professional writer), and this is all so exciting, I can't concentrate on my work today!

The father just came back, and they switched shifts. I videotaped the babies, it's awesome, they are so tiny you can see thier veins! But I'm so afraid of the father (he's not nice), that I stopped videotaping because I thought he'd jump at me. I think I will go to the pet store today and get some real bird seed. To be honest, I've only been feeding them crushed peanuts because they seem to LOVE that. But I guess I should get something healthier. Thank you so much for the advice - this is such a great website!

Jenny

[raynjudy]

Hey, Jenny:

Way and totally cool!

The "pigeon milk" produced by both mom & dad is the ideal food for the babies a/k/a "squabbies". They're also referred to as "squeakers". You're about to learn why...

They go from embryo to full fledged pigeons in about a month. It amazes me still.

Keep watching, and you may even witness the first flying lesson!

If you have the chance, I highly recommend the film, OLDEST FEATHERED FRIEND. The link to preview/order it is here: http://www.paccomfilms.com/films/pigeons.html

PIGEONS FOREVER!!!

--Ray