[samps]

i am expecting pigeons today or tomorrow. this morning after shoveling i checked on the eggs and the birds were not on them, which ive been noticing. but when i checked on them it seems the eggs have been pecked from the outside. do the parents do that? or is it garbage? should i be worried that they are colder than usual?

i think i am going to leave them for a few more days and them just get rid of them if they dont live. would that be the best idea.

they are my first eggs so i guess i will learn from my mistakes.


thanks for looking!!

 

[samps]

i just had another thought. could they be trying to even the male to female ratio in the loft?
thanks sam

 

[Lovebirds]

i just had another thought. could they be trying to even the male to female ratio in the loft?
thanks sam

The short answer to that is no. How many pairs of birds do you have? Could be that another bird got in their nest box and there was a fight. Hard to know without knowing your set up.
And no, the parents do not "peck" the eggs. So, the crack in indented INWARDS?

 

[samps]

i only have one pair, with two other females. the crack is inwards thats why i was wondering if the parents help them out.

 

[Lovebirds]

Well, then my best is guess is this.
Either the parent birds left the eggs because they hadn't hatched yet, OR, one of you other birds ran the parent bird off the nest and pecked at the egg. Probably more out of curiosity than anything else.
If the pair of birds had been setting on these eggs all along, then something made them leave them. They don't "help" the babies get out of the shell and they don't leave their eggs when they are about to hatch without a good reason.
Did you ever candle these eggs? Do you KNOW that they were supposed to hatch today or tomorrow?

 

[samps]

yes i candled them there is something in there and today is the 19th day

 

[wolfwood]

Renee would be the expert here but let me add a novice voice to this....

We had 2 eggs hatch just a week ago. The day before they were "scheduled" to hatch, we saw a hole in one of them ... and it was VERY COLD here. Because we were so close to the right date, I didn't want to disturb anything so I left it be. I had no idea if the hole was from pipping or if Birdzilla had destroyed this egg too, but figured it was either dead ... or would hatch. The next day, Egg #1 hatched but the egg with the hole laid there. That very afternoon, I caught sight of some movement from inside Egg #2 (saw it through that pesky little hole) - and we had another baby by the next morning.

I'd suggest you leave the egg with the hole in it and keep an eye out. You just may have a baby on the way.

 

[samps]

well i brought them inside to warm up. but from what you just said i dont think that was the best idea? should i put them back out?

 

[samps]

thanks for all the replies!!

 

[Lovebirds]

well i brought them inside to warm up. but from what you just said i dont think that was the best idea? should i put them back out?

Yes, put the egg back ASAP and leave it be.

 

[wolfwood]

well i brought them inside to warm up. but from what you just said i dont think that was the best idea? should i put them back out?

Hi samps. I don't know that the parents would sit on them now...they're pretty sensitive about change. However, IF they hatch I would do what I could to put them back with the parents (or others) as the babies will be much better off if raised by other pigeons. Besides, hand rearing the kids is quite a task.

Our very first 2 eggs froze when mom & dad moved off of them only 5 days before the hatch date. It's sad but it's the way of the natural world - for whatever reason, it happens. Trust me - there will be more (LOTS more)!

Where in NH are you?