# fantail hen pigeon is not incubating both eggs.



## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

15 days ago, I purchased a pair of Indian fantail. Two days ago hen laid one egg and today afternoon the second. I was very excited. But I noticed six hours ago, she is sitting only on one egg and second is out of her though inside nest. Will she start incubating both from tomorrow or I should manually place it beneath her. I am worried why is she not incubating both??


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Is she young? Maybe she hasn't learned yet. I would just push the second egg under her. Do they have enough nesting material that it will stay there next to the other egg? If not, maybe you could just add a bit more straw to hold it in.


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## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

I am new to pigeons. I don't know how old is she. I have put a lot of nesting material on the other side of loft. She used some from it and made her nest. But I didn't want to disturb my pets by touching eggs. Anyway Thank you Jay3. I just pushed second egg under her. After few moments, she accepted it. I am happy now.

I have another question from senior members, The pair mated almost daily. But I guess they never succeeded in joining their cloacas due to their large tails (I had been trying to observe... lolz ). Two weeks after starting mating, they laid eggs. Now I am worried whether eggs are fertile or not??


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You can check them after about 5 days to see if there are any veins running through them. Hold the egg firmly so you don't drop it, and shine a flashlight through it. But be careful when you take the egg, as the bird may very well wing slap you to warn you away, and many eggs have been dropped that way. Or you can just wait and see if they hatch. Not much you can do about it if they aren't fertile, as you would still want them to be able to sit them for the 18 days or so, before trying again. Because if you just take the eggs away, she will only lay more right away, and if you were to keep doing that, she would become depleted of calcium, which would cause her many problems.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Hi Mudsi
The nest should be deep in the center and high at circumference just like birds have in the wild so that eggs remain in the center under parents. If your pair has build a good nest then its ok otherwise you can do some mending. They are your pets so they won't mind you touching their eggs. They won't abandon them.

Pigeon coupling just take a split second. Its just a cloacal peck at one time and that's all it takes to do the game. So it may seem like their cloacal don't touch and fantails have generous feathers but...you have eggs now on your hand so me assuming that they have been mating.

Eggs may also turn out to be infertile as its winters now.


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## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

Jay3 you are right, my pigeon flap feathers too much when i go near to them, so i am not going to check eggs for fertility until these hatch. 
My hen is hard worker, she incubates eggs herself most of the time. Cock anly helps at meal times.
By the way if the tail was a hurdle in fantail mating, this beautiful creature had become extinct today .


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Mudsi_pharmacist said:


> Jay3 you are right, my pigeon flap feathers too much when i go near to them, so i am not going to check eggs for fertility until these hatch.
> My hen is hard worker, she incubates eggs herself most of the time. Cock anly helps at meal times.
> *By the way if the tail was a hurdle in fantail mating, this beautiful creature had become instinct today .*


*
*


That's right. Some do sometimes have to trim the tails a little to help, but don't think it is usually a problem. I bet you have babies in there. Please let us know how it goes, with pics of course!


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## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

*protect pigeons and eggs in winter*

Hi brocky bieber

If mating takes place within a couple of seconds, then surely it has. Nest seems OK to me and is as u described. I will show you pictures tomorrow.

What should I do to protect them from cold weather?
As loft is outdoor and weather maybe as low as 12C in Lahore these days, I have tried to tightly cover it (from three sides) with plastic sheet. 

Jay3 has advised someone else in some other post not to try electric bulb inside loft (Safety risk). So what else I can do protect my future pets


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## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

Jay3 

u maybe right, I am not sure, but fortunately seller had plucked some tail feathers of my hen (blessing in disguise actually) because these were damaged as he told me. So it favored my hen in mating ... might be ....

I will show you pictures of my setup later... if hatched then of new birds also 

I am desperate to see pipers in my loft....


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I remember that other post. I had said that the light being on for 24 hours a day wasn't good, and that the heat lamps can shatter and cause a fire. People have had barns burn down because of them. Also, some of them are made with teflon now, and that is toxic to birds.I use reptile heaters that don't throw any light, just warmth. They are safer as long as they are covered so that the birds can't burn themselves. I sometimes have those over perches to give them a warm place. But now I heat my loft anyway with an oil filled radiator heater, to keep it above freezing. I like to spend time with my birds, and am not going to do that in freezing temps. Besides, I couldn't stand to see them all puffed up and freezing all winter. LOL.

I think an enclosure open on all sides is hard to keep warm in the cold weather. A loft with solid walls is much easier.


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## Mudsi_pharmacist (Nov 15, 2013)

Dear senior members,

I am new to keeping pigeons and I had only a pair of Fantail Ringtail, 5-7 days ago they laid eggs

Please help me, today morning a CAT attacked and took away my COCK pigeon 

Hen pigeon is still incubating eggs (I checked both eggs are showing viens when candled)

What can I do now ?? Can Hen pigeon alone complete incubation?? should I buy a new cock pigeon otherwise??


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

She MAY finish incubating them and take care of them herself, but it is not likely. If she hatches them you will probably need to help or take over handfeeding them. A new cockbird will be needed if you want to continue breeding fantails, but do not introduce him until the hen has decided to abandon the nest. Putting him in there with her will only drive her off the nest and he will not help at all with incubation or feeding the young. He may even hurt the babies.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Mudsi_pharmacist said:


> Hi brocky bieber
> 
> What should I do to protect them from cold weather?
> As loft is outdoor and weather maybe as low as 12C in Lahore these days, I have tried to tightly cover it (from three sides) with plastic sheet.
> ...


My loft is made up of brick walls but I have one big net wire door and a window that let the air flow. In day i open it up and at night I cover the door and the window with a cotton cloth or cloth from which gunny bags are made which allows the pigeons to breathe and keep the cold off. I have squabs in the loft they also are holding good.
I think you should cover all the sides up with thick plastic sheets(tarpaal) except one- the front side. Keep that side open at day and cover it with gunny bag like cloth/cotton cloth (not any synthetic cloth).
In intense winters , cover up all the sides of the loft with plastic sheets ,just keep a little vent to breathe


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Mudsi_pharmacist said:


> Dear senior members,
> 
> I am new to keeping pigeons and I had only a pair of Fantail Ringtail, 5-7 days ago they laid eggs
> 
> ...


Hi Mudsi,
OMG,thats a terrible news. Sorry for your lost pigeon. How you let that happen?
Ok. its you who need to decide what should be done.
If eggs are only 5-7 days old then throw them away. Its winters already. A lone hen won't be able to raise two squabs.
I have had lone hens with eggs,in summers I let them raise one egg at a time and hens do it happily.
But hen have to sit on eggs 24/7,she may not feed herself properly if she's really broody and her body may not be able to take stress. Raising squabs will also put her body under stress
So throw the eggs away and get your hen a new mate...
Or
You can let her raise one squab...
Or
If you really want her to continue incubating eggs then let her continue but when the squabs grow then you will have to hand feed the squabs partially bcuz hen won't be able to meet the demands of two babies and actually its the cock bird that do most of the work of feeding babies when babies are 15 days old..
If you decide to keep the eggs then don't introduce any new cock in her coop. The cock could harras her. She will defend her nest and in scuffle the eggs/squabs could get broken/hurt.


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## joevalli (Mar 19, 2015)

my fantails lay eggs and incubating for 20+ days but its not hatching. its for the 3rd time happening this to me. worried so much help me guys


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You need to start a new thread to get help with this. I'll PM you how to do that.


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