Gun Dog Forum

I was just telling Topher40 (Chris) last week that my pigeons weren't laying eggs and "Poof", when I went to clean the coop on Sunday, I saw one of my birds laid a clutch in a bare nesting bowl (I ran out of pine needles when I cleaned the coop last week). I'm pretty sure she laid them sometime late last week or this weekend when the temps weren't ultra-cold but was wondering if the eggs would be ok for a period of time without nesting material? I put some broam grass in right away and she had a nest built within a couple hours so I'm crossin' my fingers.......

Also, how long do they normally take to hatch if everything goes ok?

I have had them lay on the bare wood floor. I just left them there and she still hatched them.

I read about 18 19 days. Should be able to candle the egg at 7 days see how its doing.

-Randy

Mine lay them on the bare floor and empty nest bowls all of the time. They hatch and are fine.

Nesting material is always best.Insulation for one.If the eggs get too cold they won't hatch.Nesting material also helps the chicks when they're born to develope their leg muscles to help them stand and hold their weight.Sometimes if they're born and left on a smooth surface they'll get what's called Stradle Leg.Where their leg muscles don't develope because of sliding all the time on a smooth surface and not being able to stand.Hatching time is between 19-21 days.You can candle with a flashlite at 7 days(in the dark) or in the sunlight.If the light shines clear through,no chick.If there's a dark area,there's a little birdie in there.

YEah we just got our first two eggs after 4 days of having the pigeons, and noticed the female was sitting at night and there was no male sitting at day so after candling the eggs are no good. hopefully they will lay some more.

I thought touching the eggs would be a no-no.......

Is there any risk with the eggs being abandoned if I "candle" them??

Nebraska wrote:I thought touching the eggs would be a no-no.......

Is there any risk with the eggs being abandoned if I "candle" them??

Nope, that's just something that's been passed down to make kids leave nests alone. The attending parent will likely peck and/or wing flog you for disturbing its eggs but be happy to have them back when you're done.

(If it's the pair's first clutch, only one fertile egg is par.)

You might want to try these. http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/catalog/746.html

Straw, hay, wood chips, or shredded paper will work and is a lot cheaper.

Ezzy

I use straw and it works fine for me. When my pen is full of birds I always have 20 or so that lay on the ground and they do just fine. Like I told you before Nebraska, "Pigeons are tough to kill, give it time and you will have a hard time getting rid of them!" Good luck!

topher40 wrote:"Pigeons are tough to kill, give it time and you will have a hard time getting rid of them!"

Can't wait to have that problem!!

I use straw or hay. Don't use shredded paper as the poop turns it into paper poop mache and its tougher to clean up after. I have been throwing eggs away for the last month. I am going to start letting them hatch.
Don

Where do you all live that you are getting eggs this time of year? I can't wait for spring!

Live in Northern IL and have 6 little ones so far. First ones hatched the week before the 30 degree below temps.

Ezzy

Kansas, and it isnt that warm around here year round but I seem to get eggs!

donnie_19 wrote:paper poop mache

That's one of the funniest things Ive read all day!

BTW, the 2 eggs we have are ice cold and the female is not longer sitting on them and I candled them last night and they are no good. Do I just throw him out? I dont want them to bust and stink!

LoveMyGSPs wrote:

donnie_19 wrote:paper poop mache

That's one of the funniest things Ive read all day!

BTW, the 2 eggs we have are ice cold and the female is not longer sitting on them and I candled them last night and they are no good. Do I just throw him out? I dont want them to bust and stink!

Ice Cold, in Florida?? Now thats a laugh! Come to Kansas and welcome to the wind!! I regularly have frozen (literally) eggs, and have to pick up the chicken eggs shortly after laying or they crack and are worthless. Now thats ice cold.............

Just pitch the eggs in the weeds. They disappear quickly.

Eggs in the winter. Interesting. This is the first winter I have had pigeons and I am getting no eggs. I just assumed it was the cold South Dakota weather. I should get some nesting bowls and straw in the coop and see what happens.

I've got 12 birds and no eggs either, but I'm thinking maybe my coops too crowded. Going to build a bigger coop next year, but I still would've thought I would see an egg every now and again.

Pigeons lay when they get a certain amount of daylight. If you want them to lay early leave a light on in the coop for an hour or so after sunset. They all will start laying before long if they are mated.

Ezzy

It is pretty chilly for Florida. Today is a high of 44 with windchills in the 30s. Tonights low is 18 with windchills down to around 12. For a place where the average temp is over 75 degrees, this is COLD. Im going to pitch the eggs. I think the female was mated with a different male and then when their previous owner gave us 6 of them, she and her mate were seperated. But there are 3 males and 3 females so they will make due.

I have light bulb heaters for my water. Its on a timer that kicks the bulb on for a few hours at night to keep the water from freezing. They give off lots of light.

I pitched the eggs. I felt bad. But there wasnt anything in there. I threw them in the cow field behind the coop and of course they BOUNCED! lol So Im like great they are going to burst open and STINK. lol Hopefully we will get more eggs that actually have babies in them.

LoveMyGSPs wrote:I threw them in the cow field

Around here we have corn fields and cow pastures so I got a little chuckle when I read that because it made me think of the scene from Goodfellas where the Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro and Ray Liotta needed a knife to cut da deer's "paw" off 'cause it got stuck in da grill ..........great movie!!

LoveMyGSPs wrote:I pitched the eggs. I felt bad. But there wasnt anything in there. I threw them in the cow field behind the coop and of course they BOUNCED! lol So Im like great they are going to burst open and STINK. lol Hopefully we will get more eggs that actually have babies in them.

Geez i miss all the good stuff! The big bounce! Thats great. The cat will have them setting at the doorstep by morning lol

If your pigeons are already paired and breeding good they will lay through the winter. I have about half a dozen young ones right now. If it gets too cold like it has been here somtimes the birds will decide to not sit a egg and then it is no good. The light will help alot and your birds will lay and pair up if you turn the lights on like it is summer. I am starting to breed for racing and have lights on in my one breeding section for 19 hours a day. Those birds are breeding like it is summer but they have heat also. If you pick up a egg and it is cold, throw it out, it will never hatch. Plus if you let the bad egg sit in the nest the birds might not lay anouther for a while that has the possiability of being good. Pigeons can lay every ten days. So candling your eggs can really help produce more young if you don't see veins in the egg at 5 days after in was layed pitch it. Now remember it takes 1-2 days for the second egg to be laid so don't go from the first egg time and candle the second egg. Anouther reason for seeing alot of bad eggs or single hatches right now is because when it is too cold and the birds don't sit the first egg until the second one comes most the time. So when the first is laid it get too cold and dies.

I bought some colored bands from LCS when I was getting started and I'm going to put them on my young ones and the female that's laid eggs so far. These look like they'll be a little loose to me, will that be a problem? IIRC, topher40 said he just uses zip-ties - would I be better off ditching the banding "rings" and just use colored zip ties?

Also, what should I be doing to get the young ones used to going through the pigeon door and homing to my coop?

Loose is good. Only pigeon "bands" I've seen too loose were temporary z-ties I use on young birds in training and shooters that were left open enough for the back toe to get caught in. My bad, your store-bought bands will be fine.

I just open the trap late in the afternoon and let my birds come and go as they please, which is rarely long enough to get into trouble with roosting time pending. After the youngsters have learned to use the door and done so for a few days, I drop the trap's bobs while they're out, and the youngsters figure them out pretty quickly. Could probably count the number of birds that didn't on my thumbs, but those special cases were then helped out by more gradually dropping a bob or two at a time.