# What to do when one pigeon chick dies, what happens to the other one?



## Boballistic

Few weeks ago pigeons made a nest on my balcony and laid 2 eggs which hatched and today in the morning i see that one of em is not moving. I believe its dead. What do i do now? What happens to the other chick?

The other chick is bigger about the size of my fist, but its mother wont get in the nest with the dead pigeon chick. Do I remove it if I do won't the Pigeons abandon the chick that is still alive?


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## warriec

If its dead remove it otherwise the living one will catch an infection or so. dont worry, the parents will continue feeding.


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## Hambone

I agree , ( are you sure its dead ??? sometimes they are very still when resting ) if it is indeed dead , get it out of there . I wonder why it died ... does it look like it was killed or a natural death ? Maybe it was sick , in which case keep an eye on the remaining bird and see how its reacting . 

Thats too bad 

Hambone


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## Pisciottano

Hello Boballistic,
What about some updating on the surviving chick. I had the same experience on my bacony. I removed the dead baby, the survivor is now 5 weeks old and doing fine. His father is still feeding him but I supplement this feeding with some grain mixture. Would love to hear the outcome of yours. Gladys


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## Boballistic

Well I wasn't sure of what to do so I left the dead pigeon chick in the nest and see what happens. Now its mummified and crushed remains of the dead chick remains. I think the surviving chick also fed on the dead chick. 

Also currently the surviving chick looks full grown but it hasn't left the nest yet and its parent come time to time to feed it? I think. It flies around near the nest exploring the 5' x 4' balcony and poops everywhere. When my mom finds out shes probably going to kill me. 

Anyone knows when this guys going to be leaving soon?

btw the pigeon chick doesn't look like its parents. It has a elongated beak probably 2x bigger than its parents.


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## Jay3

Hello, my name is Jay, and I am raising 6 baby pigeons all at the same time. One of my patients,( I am a Home Health Aide), had an old porch torn down, and the poor pigeons with it. I have been raising them for 6 weeks now, and they are doing fine. I have learned a lot on this website, just from reading other peoples posts. I was surprised at the size of their beaks also. If you look at the big pigeons though, you will see the white part at the top of their beak. The top of the babies beaks will turn like this later on. Its their nostrils. Pigeons are supposed to leave the nest at around 35 days old is what I learned online. How old is your baby?


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## Maggie-NC

Boballistic, I'm glad to hear the baby is surviving. It shouldn't be too much longer before he leaves the nest. A baby pigeon's beak is large but it should begin to change to a normal sized beak as soon as it stops being fed by its parent.


Jay3, how wonderful that you were able to save those babies. You have really had your hands full. I'm glad to see you join and that the information you read onsite has helped you raise these babies.

Got any pictures - either of you???


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## maryjane

Thanks for keeping an eye on this baby, Boballistic. Sounds like he should be learning to fly soon. If you see this ever happen again, it really is best to remove the dead chick so it doesn't disease the other one. Sounds like we lucked out this time, which is good news.  Rest assured, the baby wasn't eating its dead sibling. Pigeons aren't carnivores, and the babies don't learn to eat on their own anyway until they're three weeks old or so. 

Jay, you should start a new thread about your babies, I know people would love to hear about them! And welcome to Pigeon Talk.


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