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2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  peter 
#1 ·
Hello,
Can anyone tell me how to tell if my girl is egg bound? She is ready to lay her 8th set of eggs, but she's acting a bit funny this time. She usually flattens herself to the ground and twitches her wings but this time she is making jerking motions with her whole body, it's difficult to explain, but after witnessing so many 'deliveries' I know this is not normal for her. Any advice will be greatly appreciated
 
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#3 ·
Have not had any direct experience with an egg bound pigeon, but I have heard that lubrication using canola oil can facilitate the egg laying. Administer a small amount thru the beak.
You might call an avian vet for more specific information.
Good luck,
Carl
 
#5 ·
Hi Terri, I'm sorry to hear about Dinky's egg laying problem. If you are concerned and she exhibits this same behavior, you would do well to put her under a heat lamp. Administer some vegetable oil in her vent to facilitate easier passage of the egg. She should be kept at around 85 degrees until her egg passes. Sometimes it is necessary to take the hen to an avian vet. They will incubate her and administer a hormone shot to cause contractions, thus aiding in passing the egg. I have had to do this with a few of my birds.

Do not wait too long for a vet's assistance...two days of difficulty is too long. Eggs can break inside and blood poisoning will set in; then it is too late. Surgery will be necessary--a "C" section to be exact--along with antibiotics
to save Dinky.

Good luck to Dinky, and please keep us posted.

Best Wishes,

Judy

[This message has been edited by raynjudy (edited 03-11-2001).]
 
#6 ·
Judy
thanks for the info, I will add it to my pigeon file for future reference. Fortunatly, both eggs were laid with no further problems. Can you tell me if she will continue to lay eggs, without being in contact with a mate, at the same rate? (about every 4-6 weeks) I was under the impression after reading up on pigeons, that they only laid when mating. Dinky has been on housearrest (because of hawks) since December and she still lays regularly.

Thanks
 
#7 ·
Terri, Yes, she may well lay eggs for years.
It's pretty hard to switch of 200-million years of evolution. Poor baby! Letting her set the eggs for a while may slow down her ovulation. I'd be sure she gets plenty of calcium, vitamin and even hormone therapy, if she has trouble again. The "egg bound" situation can be very dangerous to her and the egg must not break inside her, or surgery will be necessary. Once the first egg is passed, the second one is usually no problem.

Good luck to you both,

Judy
 
#8 ·
critterlover2
I saw that you said that your bird is on its 8th pair of eggs is this in one year? Because if so it is extremely dangerous for the bird. Any type of pigeon whether a certian breed or a commie (common pigeons) should only be allowed to raise 3sets of eggs per year so that the babys and the parents will be strong.
A pigeon will not moult if sitting on eggs which is extremely important to there health.
The babys will not have recieved the right amounts of nutrients in the egg because the hen can only produce so much and thier eggs will be much weaker. that is proably the reason she is having so much trouble laying.
to get her to stop laying either replace her eggs with dummy eggs or the best methoud close up the nest boxes after breeding season (late summer).

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peter
 
#9 ·
Peter,

thanks for your post. Yes, she has laid 8 sets this year, none of them have been fertile. I do have dummy eggs that I replace hers with and I was told back in Sept., to let her set on these fake ones at least for 10 days to keep her from becoming eggbound. She has never found a mate, or at least come home with one. She has been on house arrest since November because of a pair of hawks that have made a nest across the road and had chased her twice, the second time almost had her. So the last 6 sets have been laid since she has been inside so a mate is positively out of the egg laying picture.

I did not think that hens would lay so often without having a mate, but as I read Judy's post, I suppose she will continue to lay at this rate. If it is unhealthy for her to lay so often, then would it be a good idea to remove the eggs altogether without replacing with fake ones?

your suggestions are much appreciated.

btw...Dinky is an only pigeon, we have no others and no others are within about a mile of our home, we have had her since she was 3 days old so this past year has been quite a learning experience for us. Anything we can learn to keep her healthy and happy.

Thanks so much
 
#13 ·
critterlover2
I would not just take out the eggs because she will procede to lay more and we don't want that. If you put the dummy eggs under after about twenty days she will quit sitting then you ca either close up the nest box or just leave the nest box. I would recomend getting a mate for her because female get very lonely even with you there and love to sit on her eggs. Make sure that her diet has lots of calcium in it.
I am sure that someone will sell or give you a mate.
What kind of bird is it?

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peter
 
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