# Question about single hens laying



## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Everyone, 


My young female (sooned to be named hopefully  ) laid a clutch of eggs this past week. She laid her first single egg about 1.5 months ago. My question is, how often do single hen pigeons lay eggs on their own? Is it about once a month, every couple of months? 

My old hen, Henny can go for months and months without laying eggs on her own and seems to only lay when she mates with Eggbert. This past winter, Henny went for a good 5 months without laying any eggs at all. 

Thanks for any input,


----------



## birdlover000 (Aug 17, 2003)

I thought pigeons that where by them selves didn't lay eggs. This is what I heard....is she by herself?


----------



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hey Brad! Beats me! I had FanFan for years thinking she was a he .. Castor came on the scene and eggs appeared .. they weren't even together but could see one another. Putting them together resulted in the beautiful FanTastic .. after several failed attempts. Stinky (aka Catherine The Great) was also here for years without an egg .. she lays occasionally but with no regularity .. she would love to be Traveler's girl but he won't go for it .. grumpy old man syndrome I think. Others who have come in as rescue/rehab birds lay eggs like crazy .. so .. I guess I don't have a clue!

Terry


----------



## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

TAWhatley said:


> I had FanFan for years thinking she was a he .. Castor came on the scene and eggs appeared .. they weren't even together but could see one another.
> Terry



Hi Terry, 

This is very weird but interesting! Perhaps a hen when she's receptive, upon seeing a receptive male, can autonomously trigger egg production. Even though I've heard of female pigeons/birds laying eggs without a mate, I don't think I've ever seen it with my own birds. 

I know for certain that the youngsters aren't mating so she is laying on her own now. Going by what you have mentioned, I'm wondering if my young hen is being triggered into laying because she's so taken with Eggbert even though she can only see him. Maybe there is more to this than we think and perhaps environmental stimuli play some part in when and how often they will lay without a mate.

I was expecting her to lay somewhat regularly being single, perhaps once a month or ever few months. And it's odd how you mention that wild pigeons brought to you will lay often on their own. I've searched the net for this information but I can't find anything about this specific topic.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Terry


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

According to the avian vet Dr. Speer, (from what Snowbird has told me) if a hen even thinks about mating, even though there is no actual physical contact between the birds, they will lay. The hippocampus and the hormonal system are in communication, and can automatically give orders to the ovary.

I have seen where hens and males are seperate in a coop (Satinettes and Fan tails) and the hens have kept laying and laying. But I have also seen homing pigeons seperated and after a time they do stop laying.

Treesa


----------



## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

My Angel was a single pet bird for about seven-eight months. She started laying eggs at five months, every moth and she sat on them for three weeks. Well, she thought of me as her mate, I guess that's why she went into egg production.
I have another unmated female now, who laid one egg on the couch, but never sat on it. Guess it wan an "accident"
I guess it depends on the individual female, some are more hormonal some less.
I read somewhere recently that pigeon females do not lay eggs unless they have a mate, but I have seen from many rescues not to be true.

Reti


----------



## Keys & Eyegone (May 9, 2004)

This is very interesting.
I have a female (at least I think-act like tho), Zara, and she has never laid an egg and she's 1 year and 2 months old. 
She has no contact with males so maybe that's why she's not laying.  
Who knows what's going on, eh?  
Hilary Dawn


----------



## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Thanks Reti and Treesa for sharing your insight on this issue as well. Seems like there is definitely no pattern, rhyme or reason for how often or even if they will lay eggs on their own. 

Just hope my young hen isn't going to be ones of those ones that lays all the time, regularly. I would prefer if she didn't so not to use up all her energy laying all the time. Guess time will tell...she sure is a dedicated little girl. Sits on her eggs day and night.


----------



## PapaPigeon (Dec 22, 2004)

*Hmmm*

Going off this, I've been wondering about this for a little while. Okay, In human females, when they are around each other alot, their "cycles" start to co-inside. This is akward-HAHA. I was wondering if the same is true for pigeons. Do they start to lay at the same time? I had a pair of hens that would almost always lay at the same time, it was really weird.


----------



## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Matt,

I'm not sure but I think there may be some truth to this. Recently my two pairs laid at nearly the same time as well. I have no knowledge of this but I found it odd how my two pairs laid at approx. the same time. 

Going by the responses in this thread, anything seems possible


----------



## rdonell (Apr 27, 2005)

Human females cycle every 28 days but what thay didnt tell me before I got married was it lasts 27 days.


----------



## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

PapaPigeon said:


> Do they start to lay at the same time?


My three pair do tend to cycle together. Perhaps there is survival value in a batch of youngsters growing up together. Occasionally, a sick bird will fall out of cycle and things are more chaotic until they are back in alignment. It appears that the activity of a courting couple encourages a setting pair to start over. In a larger flock, this might be less likely to happen.


----------

