Baby Died Trying To Hatch

[solly]

As i said yesterday on my thread "eggs" my egg was starting to hatch,there was a dark area.about 10 hours later it still looked tyhe same with a tiny hol.i phoned my uncle (i haven't gor a computer at home) and he said it wasn't looking good (he used to have racing pigeons)but there was nothing i could do as if i tried to help it it could bleed.Anyway this morning i went out and nothing had happened so i chiped away at the egg and the baby was dead.I put the baby in the nest because mum was getting really angry at me and tonight she is still siytting on the dead baby and infertile egg.I will remove the baby in the morning becausze i don't want to upset her tonight.Anyway please can you help me with these questions.Yesterday morning i did look at the egg and pick it up to see if i could hear cheeping,was this the wrong thing to do?Also when i took the chick out this moring it looked fine but there was some yolk in the egg with it,Is this normal?Also the mother is a dwarf birmingham roller and the father is a feral who looks like a racing pigeon who i found as a baby,is it okay for these to breed? as the last fertile egg got pushed from the nest and the baby was near its time but looked not very well formed.This is very heartbreaking as i hate to think what the parents are feeling and if they shouldn't be breeding i will swap the eggs for fakes next time.one more question,the shell of the egg seemed really tough as i was chiping at it with my nail,if they did breed again as soon as i see signs of hatching could i help out carefully,is there such a problem as shells being too thick?

[Feefo]

I can't answer any of your questions, I just wanted to tell you how very sorry I am!

Cynthia

[Trees Gray]

I'm sorry to hear the baby did not survive.

Has this happened before? How long was the egg incubated. The baby usually hatches about the 18th day of incubation.

If I were you I would swap the eggs out for dummy eggs until you can figure out what the problem is.

I doubt that the reason the baby died before hatching was because of the different breeds or because you picked it up. It is possible the baby was not able to hatch due to numerous reasons, one being that it was premature. The baby may have been too weak, and the shell contents might have dried out or other issues.

I would make sure the birds are getting a nutritonally complete diet, as well as that they are healthy. Perhaps a check up is in order.

[Reti]

I am very sorry you lost the baby.
Best to let them "rest" from having babies a few months and then try again.

Reti

[solly]

I don't really want to breed pigeons its just that gizmo laid so many infertile eggs last year before she had a mate that i thought i would let her breed once.I am not sure of the date the egg was laid but when i opened it it was moist inside and as i mentioned there was some yolk in it and i dont know if thats normal.Anyway if she lays again i will replace the eggs with dummys and maybe wait until spring and the better weather.The diet they are on consists of wild bird food and pigeon mix and grit which is available at all time.i have gotten into the habit of sprinkling peanuts around the aviary every morning when they are let out and out of my 4 pigeons the 2 who are breeding seem to eat most of them-is this wrong?