# Will a baby pigeon survive without a Dad?



## Pige0nL0ver (Mar 4, 2010)

-PigeonTalk-

I have a pure white pigeon that has 1 egg that is about to hatch anytime soon and i'm scared the chick won't survive because i've heard others tell me that when the Chick hatches, The mother leaves the nest permanently and the Male takes care of the feeding etc...
The problem here is, The Male has never ever helped the female incubate the egg before, He attacked her before because the Male has two Mates/Partners/wives or whatever you wanna call them. haha  

The Female is on the egg day and night. About a week ago the female got up and flew over to the food plate to eat, while she was eating, i grabbed the male and placed him near the nest to see if he does anything, But sadly he just cooed for a few seconds then flew away. 

Will the chick survive without a Male? If no, What can i do to help this poor little chick? There are no pet shops around here that sell feeding syringes. 

Thank you. 
-Pige0nL0ver-


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Pige0nL0ver said:


> -PigeonTalk-
> 
> I have a pure white pigeon that has 1 egg that is about to hatch anytime soon and i'm scared the chick won't survive because i've heard others tell me that when the Chick hatches, The mother leaves the nest permanently and the Male takes care of the feeding etc...
> The problem here is, The Male has never ever helped the female incubate the egg before, He attacked her before because the Male has two Mates/Partners/wives or whatever you wanna call them. haha
> ...




Sounds like your male is mated to another, and mating with this hen also. 
When a pair hatch chicks, the female doesn't leave the nest. They both sit on the babies to keep them warm and both feed them. The hen will leave usually 2 or 3 weeks later to start another nest and lay more eggs, and at that point, the cock takes on the responsibility of feeding the babies.
In your case, he is already mated, and doesn't care about the eggs of the hen that he is fooling around with. He won't acknowledge them as being his, and won't help with them. She will be stuck raising them alone, which she may or may not do. It's a difficult job for one lone bird. I would change them out for fake eggs, and get her a mate of her own.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

does his other hen/mate have eggs too? if they are close to being layed within say 5 days you can put the egg under her and he will feed them if he is staying with that hen. the hen does feed as well as the cock bird at first..but when they get a few weeks old the cock does most of the feeding as the hen is thinking about laying more eggs. I would give this lone hen fake eggs if she lays again so you won't have to worry about it. as far as feeding goes you can use kaytee exact feeding formula with a baby bottle,

shown here in this link
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=613474&postcount=3


I would let the hen feed the baby at first to get the pigeon milk and keep an eye on him.. then you can start supplimenting this way with the baby bottle and of course make sure she keeps him warm..it is hard to say if she will leave the nest if he is not there to help or not..so just keep watch and do not let the new hatchling get cold. how many days has she been sitting the egg and do you know for sure it is fertile?


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## Pige0nL0ver (Mar 4, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> does his other hen/mate have eggs too? if they are close to being layed within say 5 days you can put the egg under her and he will feed them if he is staying with that hen. the hen does feed as well as the cock bird at first..but when they get a few weeks old the cock does most of the feeding as the hen is thinking about laying more eggs. I would give this lone hen fake eggs if she lays again so you won't have to worry about it. as far as feeding goes you can use kaytee exact feeding formula with a baby bottle,
> 
> shown here in this link
> http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=613474&postcount=3
> ...




The egg is fertile, I've used some light on it and there was a chick growing inside and she has been sitting on that egg for about 15 days now. 

and YES the other hen has eggs too, So there won't be a problem if i take the white pigeon's egg and place it under the other Hen? Thats a great idea since the cock is more focused on the brown pigeon instead of the white pigeon.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

the egg has about 3 or 4 or so more days to go..and yes you can put the egg under the other hen.. IF, She has layed her eggs within say 5 days of each other..their may be three babies hatched but I would say this single egg would fare better even if that is so.. when did his true mate lay her eggs do you remember?


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## Pige0nL0ver (Mar 4, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> the egg has about 3 or 4 or so more days to go..and yes you can put the egg under the other hen.. IF, She has layed her eggs within say 5 days of each other..their may be three babies hatched but I would say this single egg would fare better even if that is so.. when did his true mate lay her eggs do you remember?


The other hen laid her egg about 1 week ago. I hope that answers your question.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pige0nL0ver said:


> The other hen laid her egg about 1 week ago. I hope that answers your question.


ok, so that is not going to work as they may not have crop milk in yet as her eggs are much younger than this lone hen..so you can become dad.. keep check on the hatching and let her do her thing as far as feeding him for a few days and see if she does..check her allot in the next days to see if he hatches..if he does check to see if she stays..if she did for all this time Im thinking she just may be a good hen and feed her baby and keep him warm..but you never know.. do the bottle feeding method to suppliment if she is keeping him warm..if not take him in and do as the link said and only feed if the baby is warm to the touch as the food will not digest right if the baby is cool or too cold.


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## Pige0nL0ver (Mar 4, 2010)

spirit wings said:


> ok, so that is not going to work as they may not have crop milk in yet as her eggs are much younger than this lone hen..so you can become dad.. keep check on the hatching and let her do her thing as far as feeding him for a few days and see if she does..check her allot in the next days to see if he hatches..if he does check to see if she stays..if she did for all this time Im thinking she just may be a good hen and feed her baby and keep him warm..but you never know.. do the bottle feeding method to suppliment if she is keeping him warm..if not take him in and do as the link said and only feed if the baby is warm to the touch as the food will not digest right if the baby is cool or too cold.


Yes the Hen is on that egg day and night, She only gets off when she is hungry, Thirsty or just wants to poop. She never poops in the nest.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If it is this close to hatching, then just leave it with her and maybe she will take good care of it. If you put a small crock of seed and one of water in the nest box, she won't have to leave to get food and water. From here on, I would change out the eggs for fake ones, as raising babies alone is a rough job on a bird. Don't interfere unless she isn't taking care of the little one.


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## Pige0nL0ver (Mar 4, 2010)

Jay3 said:


> If it is this close to hatching, then just leave it with her and maybe she will take good care of it. If you put a small crock of seed and one of water in the nest box, she won't have to leave to get food and water. From here on, I would change out the eggs for fake ones, as raising babies alone is a rough job on a bird. Don't interfere unless she isn't taking care of the little one.


I really hope she does take care of the baby pigeon. I forgot to mention that she attacked the male when he got close to the nest. Is that normal?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pige0nL0ver said:


> I really hope she does take care of the baby pigeon. I forgot to mention that she attacked the male when he got close to the nest. Is that normal?


That is not real normal,but if he has been away from her for a spell then she forgot her long lost love affair..lol.. and now is in protect my baby mode. You can fill in on feedings as said and help her out..if you see the baby has an empty crop but is still warm you can suppliment him with your feedings just as if the cock bird was there..but I would wait for a 4 or 5 days.. that is if everything is going well with the hen... just have to wait and see and get prepaird.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

I have one Fantail cock that has 2 hens. He only helps 1 of them. The other hen has raised all her babies by herself successfully. She leaves just long enough to eat, then goes right back to her babies. She sticks with them until their old enough to leave the nest, and she claims that nest permanently......she doesn't leave it to start another nest. So I would just keep a close eye on her to make sure she's feeding and keeping babies warm.


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