Babies hatched too soon!

[pigeonpoo]

I floated two eggs under a pair of my birds for a friend but, they have hatched three days sooner than he told me they would! This means that the parents can't feed them the crop milk. I have another pair that hatched the same day so I keep swapping the babies over and they are all getting fed. It's only for a few days till the first pair of parents get their crop milk. My question is, how often should I keep swapping the babies over? Will they go all night without being swapped?

[Grim]

How do you know they don't have any pigeon milk. Them hatching early shouldn't matter. The hatching of the babies is what stimulates production of pigeon milk from what I know.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by pigeonpoo

I floated two eggs under a pair of my birds for a friend but, they have hatched three days sooner than he told me they would! This means that the parents can't feed them the crop milk. I have another pair that hatched the same day so I keep swapping the babies over and they are all getting fed. It's only for a few days till the first pair of parents get their crop milk. My question is, how often should I keep swapping the babies over? Will they go all night without being swapped?

They don't need to be switched. The parents or foster parents should be able to feed them just fine. They have crop milk. If you keep switching the babies, you might upset both sets of parents. Just leave the babies where they are. They will be fine. I've had a pair of birds that had been on eggs for only 11 days that raised a foster baby for me. Not an ideal situation, but it worked.

[pigeonpoo]

Oh, I thought that the crop milk didn't come until the 18th day! The little ones crops were empty when I swapped them.
I agree about upsetting the babies - the parents seem to becoming more aggressive towards me each time I swap. I'll leave them be and keep a watch on the crops.

Thanks Renee and Grim.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by pigeonpoo

Oh, I thought that the crop milk didn't come until the 18th day! The little ones crops were empty when I swapped them.
I agree about upsetting the babies - the parents seem to becoming more aggressive towards me each time I swap. I'll leave them be and keep a watch on the crops.

Thanks Renee and Grim.

Let us know how it goes. I think they'll be fine. If they don't feed the babies for some reason, and I don't know what that would be, it's not because they don't have crop milk. Their crop milk starts forming somewhere around 10 days or so into incubation and it get thicker for the next few days until the babies hatch.

[pigeonpoo]

One thing about pigeons - you never stop learning something new!!
Of course I'll let you know how these babies go on. I'll take a photo when they are older. The mum and dad are in for a surprise when the feathers grow - my loft has only pure white birds, these two babies are, I think, blue bars.

Another question...Does anyone know when the egg fertilised? My friend lost his best cock to a peregrine falcon. A few days later, the hen laid and both eggs were full. She had been locked in a box so could not have been tread by any other cock.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by pigeonpoo

One thing about pigeons - you never stop learning something new!!
Of course I'll let you know how these babies go on. I'll take a photo when they are older. The mum and dad are in for a surprise when the feathers grow - my loft has only pure white birds, these two babies are, I think, blue bars.

Another question...Does anyone know when the egg fertilised? My friend lost his best cock to a peregrine falcon. A few days later, the hen laid and both eggs were full. She had been locked in a box so could not have been tread by any other cock.

If I remember correctly without going and looking, the pair must mate within a 24 hour period before the egg is laid for it to be fertile. How many days after the cock was taken did she lay her eggs? I might have this wrong. I'll have a look in my book later unless someone else knows for sure.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

If I remember correctly without going and looking, the pair must mate within a 24 hour period before the egg is laid for it to be fertile.

I thought I read somewhere it was more like only a few hours, but I guess pigeons are like humans... lots of "practice" is "fun"...

[jbangelfish]

Something like two or 3 days before the egg is laid. The membrane and shell have to form after that.

I don't have an exact time but observing pigeons breeding has always led to eggs within two or three days or so. Seeing this happen so many times has led me to this conclusion.

Bill

[pigeonpoo]

Just to let you know, it's working!! I was up at the crack of dawn this morning to check these babies, their crops were bulging - almost as big as their lower abdomens. Phew! Thanks for the help.

I'll be back re the lone hen!

[warriec]

In a wonderful old article here i learnt that you can switch gets up to 5 days apart

[DEEJAY7950]

Correct me if I'm wrong but (but as i understand it) while the egg must be fertilized during it's trip down the tube in a 24 hour period, I understand that a males sperm stays viable for up to 14 days, that is why when you breed a certain female to a male(and want a true purebred mating) you first must isolate this female for two weeks to rid her of any previous mates sperm!