How Can You Raise a Homing Pigeon From an Egg

[Mackbirds21]

Hi I work at a dairy farm and found a pigeon nest and there were 2 eggs so I took one and I would like to Raise it as a house pet inside in a regular bird cage. I would like to know if any body could tell me how I can do this? Right now I have it under a warm lite and I can tell it is fertile when I hold it upto the lite. THANK YOU FOR THE HELP

[justin4pcd]

That is really really really sad and sick.
You don't just take an egg and expect everything to go smoothly.
Your gonna get alot of comments saying what you did was wrong.
And the experts on here will tell you that you cant get it to hatch without the humidity and turning it needs.
And then also for like the first week of its life you will need to feed it like every two hours.
Sad man.
Really sad.

[Trees Gray]

That is VERY UNETHICAL, and I'm going to advise you to put the egg back in that nest before the parents become wise to it. That is very cruel and the lite may destroy that embryo.

1st of all, we already advised you about allowing parents to raise their babies, it is most critical to their well being.

2cnd, what makes you think it is okay to take an egg from a feral pigeon, they are just the same as your domestic pigeons, their babies have the same needs. They deserve the same treatment as our domestic homers.

3rd, you left one single egg, and the babies thrive with each others company from warmth and stability. You have no idea how these two help each other in the nest.

We already spent alot of time telling you why pigeons should be left to be raised by the parents, you can still make a pet out of them when handling your babies.

[John_D]

Pigeons were never intended to be 'pets', however...

Sometimes people may take in an orphan and raise it rather than see it die, and it becomes tame and lives with the finder. Sometimes people will adopt a bird which would probably not make it 'outside' through illness or injury, maybe from another member here or a shelter.

But, it is never ethical just to take a pigeon or an egg for one's own dubious benefit.

John

[Hillybean]

John,
thank you for adding the however...to your post.



Mackbird,
I have also followed up on your posts and it seems that you want a pet companion pigeon.....

There are a lot of things to take in to consideration...

Pet pigeons, are STILL pigeons...they just don't know the things that they need to know to make it on their own (feral pets). The purebreed pets, people move them into the house to be closer to them or adopt them from someone that has a loft, but wants the bird to have more than that.

When you get into pet pigeons, you end up taking on a load. A happy load, but a load non the less.

Plus, I think in some cases...the birds would be better off in a loft. As a matter of fact, most people with "pet" pigeons end up building a loft and moving the birds into...just to make their life better. This is coming from a member, WITH pet pigeons.

PLEASE let the parents raise the baby...handle it while it is young and it will be a pet pigeon...

If your not going to take anyones advice, then stop posting things. Members are getting tired of posting the same thing and repeating themselves.

Have a nice day,
Hilly

[maryjane]

Please do put the egg back. In all likelihood the egg will probably not hatch, but if it does, and even if you do have time every two hours to feed it for the first week (including all night), and the time to feed it every four hours after that, and teach it to eat seeds. . .chances are it will be in ill health since it was not given the chance to be raised by its parents.

I have hand-raised about ten babies, and not one of the ten was as healthy and well-grown as they would have been if raised by their parents. These babies I HAD to hand raise as they were rejected or injured. Two of them did NOT make it, even though I had hand-raising experience at that point.

Even if you know exactly what you're doing, it is still an iffy thing to do.

You may feel attacked with these responses and I honestly don't think anyone means that at all. We are just concerned for the welfare of the baby, and trying to save you the heartache of raising a sick, undernourished, or otherwise unhealthy baby. It's just really hard to do right! And like I said, even when you do it right, they still aren't quite the same as if a parent raised them.

Please do an active search for a pet pigeon you can adopt. You don't have to start out with a baby for it to be tame. Many adult pigeons, even if not tame, will quickly become tame. . .just as fast as a baby would in a lot of instances.

[justin4pcd]

YEah!
If you want a pet pigeon. Just buy a fantail or another breed that is easy to tame.
Or another species of bird. Budgies,Cockateils?
There is a whole range.

[rallow]

What you did was not the best thing, however now that it’s done it would seem that your are morally obligated to do your best for your charge.

I raised my pet pigeon The Dinkster from an egg that otherwise would have been destroyed as a population control measure. I had the help however of my female pigeon Lucy who I had rescued from our courtyard as a squab 2 years prior. (May God rest her soul.) Though Lucy was devoted when it came to sitting on the egg, once it hatched she wanted nothing to do with the chick, and I had to raise him by hand. This video pretty much tells the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmMn8Zs0r-k

Once your bird hatches just keep him/her warm and feed him Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula.
http://www.kaytee.com/products/compa...id=1&pid=47511

Once he’s grown you should keep him in a cage the size of a parrot cage, but let him out each day as often as you can, for as long as you can. Leave the cage door opened so that he can return for food and water. If you handle it right you will notice that after he gets use to it he will regard the cage as home, and most times will not protest when you put him in it.

That’s all I have for you for now. If you have anymore questions just ask.

[Mackbirds21]

Thank you rallow oh and by the way TO ALL YOU FUKEN JERKS IM ONLY 15 A HOLES, I DID HAND FEED IT WITH KAYTEE EXACT AND IT IS NOW 15 DAYS OLD AND I TOUGHT IT TO EAT SEEDS AND DRINK WATER GOD DAMN SETTLE DOWN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by Mackbirds21

Thank you rallow oh and by the way TO ALL YOU FUKEN JERKS IM ONLY 15 A HOLES, I DID HAND FEED IT WITH KAYTEE EXACT AND IT IS NOW 15 DAYS OLD AND I TOUGHT IT TO EAT SEEDS AND DRINK WATER GOD DAMN SETTLE DOWN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!

Hey young person! Watch your language here! I'm glad your bird is OK .. but you're not .. you are on moderation! You also need to quit the all caps and learn to spell.

Terry

[maryjane]

Take a deep breath. As I said in my earlier post,

You may feel attacked with these responses and I honestly don't think anyone means that at all. We are just concerned for the welfare of the baby, and trying to save you the heartache of raising a sick, undernourished, or otherwise unhealthy baby. It's just really hard to do right! And like I said, even when you do it right, they still aren't quite the same as if a parent raised them.

Most members here have had pigeons for many years and have a lot of experience with them, including raising babies. You asked for advice and the advice you were given was in the best interest of the baby.

Your age doesn't matter, at least no one thinks "oh this is just a young kid"; we have many members your age or younger who are just as good at caring for pigeons as our older members. But for the sake of our youngest members and those who are offended by your language, keep it clean ok? I'm glad the baby is doing well against the odds. People are always happy to help here, but it's always going to be in the best interest of the bird itself, so you have to remember that and take a step back to see why they're saying it. And you can't get defensive or feel offended.

[justin4pcd]

Ahaha. I have another story to your language and your anger.LMAO
I don't believe what you said..It probably didnt survive and you just feel bad.?
I dont know. Maybe.
anyway *clap* *clap* if your tellin the truth

[TheGame]

How about you post some pics of the bird then...

You shoulda just found a local breeder around or near you. Im pretty sure they wouldn't of mind giving you some of their young birds to start out with.

[John_D]

Am I missing something?

On September 26 he has a fertile egg

On October 3 he has a bird 15 days old

Err....

John

[justin4pcd]

Bah my guess was right. ;]