Omg! My First Egg!!

[Deluhathol]

Well I finished building my loft on sunday and put my birds in with a little bit of hay for nesting, and I came home today and to my suprise AN EGG!! Ok so this is my first time working with pigeons and these are my first 2 birds, what do I do? How long do they usually take to hatch? How long before I can candle it to find out if its fertile? I have so many questions and am in complete shock any information would be greatly appreciated.

[batman23]

congrats! well from what i know it takes about 18 days for them to hatch! and from what i read on someone post here it would be good to candle them after a week because some young pigeons dont like their eggs to be touch. i hope that helps

[jameswaller]

this is funny,i,m still laughing/feel it,..congradulations,.parents will do all the work/.eggs are layed 2 days apart,parents open them at 18 days,.babies are squabs,.they are fully feathered and grown at 30 days,.then the miracle,the beatings start-and they are convinced life would be better else-where,/..you simply provide:.nest,food water,room temp.in a somewhat quiet area..especially away from other birds,./.after hatching i like to place crumble out for the parents to feed their young-un(crumble looks like grapenut cereal,can be purchased at farm grain feedery,made of corn and dissolves rather easily,also now you need to change nest at regular intervals..good luck,.sincerely james waller

[g0ldenb0y55]

Congrats! Mine just layed the first clutch of eggs also in my new loft. Very exciting stuff! Do you have any pictures? You can view mine on my profile in my photo albums. The second egg was layed within 48 hrs and the eggs hatch 19 days after the first egg is layed from what I've been told. Good luck and I hope that the eggs are fertile.

[Deluhathol]

I was thinking about trying to get a photo but then I started to get paranoid. I. Is it ok if she accidently moves the egg if i go in to try and get a picture? Im used to breading reptiles where you can kill an egg if it rolls more than 5^ Boy im going to be one of those over protective parents arnt I.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Deluhathol

I was thinking about trying to get a photo but then I started to get paranoid. I. Is it ok if she accidently moves the egg if i go in to try and get a picture? Im used to breading reptiles where you can kill an egg if it rolls more than 5^ Boy im going to be one of those over protective parents arnt I.

I would just let her be if it were me, she may be going to lay another as they usually lay two, so give them their space for awhile and if she hatches babeis perhaps you can get a pic when she gets up to drink and poop.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by Deluhathol

I was thinking about trying to get a photo but then I started to get paranoid. I. Is it ok if she accidently moves the egg if i go in to try and get a picture? Im used to breading reptiles where you can kill an egg if it rolls more than 5^ Boy im going to be one of those over protective parents arnt I.

Moving the egg and knocking the egg around is two different things. If you're birds are very protective, you're best bet is to just leave them alone. They CAN get very agressive and accidently break the egg.
Honestly....it's just an egg. They all look alike and we'd much rather see that new baby in a few weeks than the egg.

[james fillbrook]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

Moving the egg and knocking the egg around is two different things. If you're birds are very protective, you're best bet is to just leave them alone. They CAN get very agressive and accidently break the egg.
Honestly....it's just an egg. They all look alike and we'd much rather see that new baby in a few weeks than the egg.

well you can see both in a few weeks just the eggs are in half
good luck

[g0ldenb0y55]

I've had no problems taking pictures when the hen is sitting on the eggs. It's only when Frankie (the cock) is sitting on them that I have to leave them alone. He is very protective of the eggs! They are the perfect parents! I am truely happy with the way they take care of their eggs. From the moment the first egg was layed they have been on top of things, literally....LOL. I've taken all the pictures I need to take for now so the next time will be when the eggs hatch.

[Pegasus]

Avoid the touchy touchy feeling lol...

[g0ldenb0y55]

I agree with Pegasus with the no touching thing....I did not touch the eggs at all during the picture taking process. The hen kindly lifted her body up when I went in to take the snapshots...Frankie (the cock) would have slapped the camera out of my hands!