# I'm incubating a Spotted Turtle dove egg!



## FlyingHigh (Nov 1, 2007)

Hello everyone..
I'm posting this thread to say that i'm new to this site and i wanted to say i only made it because i found a dove egg, and right now i'm incubating it in my bedroom. Right now its fine i can see the baby moving inside, and the baby is nearly the size of the whole egg! although the egg is small, its baout to hatch. And already the air cell is big! and i'm about 3-4 days away from it hatching!

So theres no special topic about why i'm posting this thread, but i just wanted to give you all my Warm Greeting, seeming i'm new and i hope to make some friends, and learn much more about new things about Doves/Pigeons.

Ps: There is no-need to post replies that say how to feed it and what is requierd, i have already made a friend who has told me everything. Just wanted to say a warm greeting  Bye Bird-Pals


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hello and thank you for sharing.

Since you know the scoop on incubation and feeding hatchlings, there is NO NEED then. 

I'm glad you have done all the homework, too many people don't....or think they know it all.. and it ends up to be quite a tragedy. Only those who have been there...know.


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## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

Welcome  Where about's in Australia are you located? Hope you can take some pictures of the little baby hatching -- just love seeing pictures; especially the little ones. Good luck with him/her and glad you've got someone helping you there too!


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

It'll be so exciting!  Just remember that new babies should be kept at about 85-90 degrees fahrenheit. If any lower, they can get slow crops, and any heigher can leave them dehydrated. It's not extremely strict, needing intensive monitoring, but just keep an eye on the temperature and offer a stable heat source (I think heat lamps clamped on aquariums are good). There's another idea for a brooder, too, actually, that I've used before... It involves two little containers, a submergeable aquarium heater, and some water. But I think heat lamps are a bit easier. If you want to learn about this more costly method, just PM me.

Anyway, good luck with the little one. When you see a moving shadow in the air cell, you'll know the little one is on its way. Very, very soon after they'll make the external pip...So just keep your eye on the humidity, mainly to make sure they don't drown in access humidity upon internally pipping.











A few days from hatching (I think 2-3; pigeons don't fill up their eggs as much as waterfowl do)









A few external pips.









Cutting around the air cell.









Done with cutting around the air cell.









About time to squeeze out.









Few days later, two babies.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Best of luck with the little dove. Hope to hear updates when it hatches.


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## FlyingHigh (Nov 1, 2007)

*Hello everyone*

Hi again all..
Umm yes i live in Victoria, and then in Geelong, thats a answer to someones questions 

Yes it's very close to hatch  the air cell is very large and the baby is nearly full grown inside, and don't worry, its stil alive i see it move all the time, hehe, he must be getting comftorbal to sleep 

Yes i will post pictures of my wittle princess/prince when she/he hatches i cant wait to say "Flic come on baby come on, time to get a feed!" awww so excited about the hatch, i'm going to watch it hatch alllll day!

Well feel free to post back, have fun all.


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## JGregg (Jul 28, 2003)

I hope you are able to raise the baby successfully, the process is a combination of luck and doing the right thing from that young.


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

This is actually a reply to your PM but it was too long to post there, so I'm going to post it here. xD 


This is my major suggestion that I _suggest_ you follow, being that it is an extremely memorable, exciting experience and also can be tough and needs a lot of hardcore planning & organization.

Go to Blogger

Sign up for a blog.

Every day after the baby is born, post an entry with this information:

*His weight before the first feed of the day and after the first feeding*

*Each feeding you give, the amount fed, and the time that it was fed*

*The overall amount of feedings you gave him that day*

*Behavior, what the poops are like, what the crop is like, etc*

Try to purchase/track down an electronic gram scale. They're accurate, easy to use, and aren't rickity like the non-electronic types, so the baby won't as easily fall off..They're usually close to the ground, too, and what I like to do is put a small tuberware container on a gram scale before I turn it on, then turn it on so it goes to 0 and put the baby in. Safe and easy, too!

It's so important to track his weight every day, his feedings & behavior.
Something I like to do, also, is to track down the consistency of the formula each day... So, for instance, when they're newborns you want to do 6-8 parts water and 1 part formula... That's very thin. You want to gradually increase this as they get older. Consistency is often almost as important as temperature...

If you blog everything you do every day, you'll remember your experience better, have a blog you can be proud of, and can track how Flic is doing and that way, can see if he has changed behaviorally or physically and address any problems before they become fatal.


As for my blogging experience... I did one for the ducks & geese I hatched (and ultimately, Moody)...

I wrote down how many times I turned and sprayed the eggs every day...I wrote down A LOT about my eggs at every stage of development... It was neat. I think it's really educational to take a look at. This summer I'm going to make a blog of incubating, hatching & raising a baby pigeon too... Which will also be informative. For that, I plan to take a picture and possibly a video every day. Along with daily weight, daily feedings (time, amount, consistency, temperature, etc), temperature reading in brooder, etc, etc. I think this is VERY beneficial as it allows you to track their behavior and stats and see how they're coming along.. It also allows you to track problems!

http://thefishwantyou.blogspot.com/

(Go to May & June to see incubation)


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

I'm Still New With Pigeons. But i Thougth It was Not So Safe To Hatch A Pigeon Egg and Then Hand Feed It. They Are Suppose To get the Pigeon Milk From There Mom and Dad. So Why Risk hatching A Baby Pigeon On Your Own If you Didn't Have To And Risk The baby Pigeon. 
Are Doves The Same There Mom and Dad Make The Milk For The frist few Feedings.


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## FlyingHigh (Nov 1, 2007)

*Greetings*

Well yes the mother does provide a special Milk for their young, but seeming i'm going to hand raise one my-self, i will have to take care and feed it very carefuly. Just yesterday i baught the milk formula, the milk formula is basicly the same as the mother Milk she feeds her babies, but the stuff i have now is called "Passwell: Hand Rearing Food" it has nutrients and vitamins in it which will be good for it.

I also bought a syringe type thing with a squishy part at the end for the baby's beak to slide into, and i only feed it 1hour after it hatches,(This is what i think) that when the baby hatches it is weak because its just been trying so hard to break out of the shell, so to let it cool down and catch its breath, i've been told to wait for an hour after hatch.

I'm going to care for this bird as if it were my own baby, and hopefuly it dosn't die, otherwise i won't be trying it again untill next Spring. The only thing i'm worried about now is if Flic might die within the hatch or 1 week while feeding it  Anyone cya all..

Love Bird-Girl


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## A_Smith (Aug 8, 2006)

http://lmcpigeon.wetpaint.com/page/photos The blog idea sounds fun. I did not do a blog, but did post a photo every day on a website. The website is for the combine I fly with. Posting information daily keeps you connected to the growth of your babys. It is amazing on just how fast they do go. Good luck with you egg, and we all here look forward to your updates.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

horsesgot6 said:


> I'm Still New With Pigeons. But i Thougth It was Not So Safe To Hatch A Pigeon Egg and Then Hand Feed It. They Are Suppose To get the Pigeon Milk From There Mom and Dad. So Why Risk hatching A Baby Pigeon On Your Own If you Didn't Have To And Risk The baby Pigeon.
> Are Doves The Same There Mom and Dad Make The Milk For The frist few Feedings.


Hi Jennifer

While the parents' crop milk is the very best thing for a baby, they can and do survive and grow very well without it. We have had to raise many, many babies from newborn with Exact and they grew up to be healthy, robust pigeons.

Dove parents also feed their babies crop milk.


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## horsesgot6 (May 30, 2007)

So Its Hatch It and Hand Feed It If Something Happens TO the Parent Birds. People Shouldn't Just Do It For Fun. I Mean I Read Here On Pigeon Talk About People Wanting To Hand Feed There Baby At 1 to 2 Weeks So It Will Be More Hand Tame. And What They Get Is Its A Big NO,No. And Safer To Let The Parents Take Care Of It If There around And Just Work It From The Nest. 
I just Think Putting This Here To Me Makes It Sound Like Its OK to Just Take A New Born Baby/Egg and Hatch/ Hand Feeding It Is Ok. Theres Alot Of Poeple That Are New To Pigeons And This Site That May Read This And try Meaning Just Take A Baby or egg And Try. This Would Be A Bad Massage To Send People. So What I'm Saying Is This Should Not Be Tryed By Any one With Little To No Inside to The pigeon World. Its Better To Let There Parents Raise Them. If You Want To Be able To Watch Them More Hatch And Rasie There Young Bring Your Pair Inside with A Nice Size Cage And do It That way. Now If You Should Find One with No Parent This Is Ok To Try. Just Don't Take It If Parents Are There.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Jennifer, you are absolutely right! No one should ever take a baby from its parents just to raise it to be more tame.....besides, that doesn't usually work anyhow. If a person doesn't know what they are doing they can also cause harm to a baby by feeding it.

All the babies I mentioned that we raised were abandoned for one reason or another. We had a unique situation a couple of years ago when we acquired about 12 eggs from an attic of an apartment house. Our own pigeons successfully hatched all of them and raised about 6 of them but we had to raise the rest because the fosters wouldn't care for them. Other babies we've raised came from other people whose parent pigeons would not or could not raise their babies. We have also received many that were just a day or so old that fell from a nest. Granted, they did have the time from hatching to the time we got them to get the crop milk. I can't say I saw any big difference in the development of any of them.


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

I've never heard of that hand feeding formula, but it should be okay...Just read the back of it and follow the directions. The formula should be very dilluted for the first while. I think Kaytee Exact, however, is still very good. As for the syringe thing, it WOULD be good, but the nipple method is probably the safest for newborns. Baby doves are tiny. For the first while, I'd stick with the nipple just to make sure the baby doesn't aspirate.

Sometimes an already developing egg is rejected or falls out of the nest and is not broken.. Our moral nature tells us to raise the baby. I think this is fine if you have knowledge, backup, and can support the baby.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

A_Smith said:


> http://lmcpigeon.wetpaint.com/page/photos The blog idea sounds fun. I did not do a blog, but did post a photo every day on a website. The website is for the combine I fly with. Posting information daily keeps you connected to the growth of your babys. It is amazing on just how fast they do go. Good luck with you egg, and we all here look forward to your updates.


That's a really good series of baby to grown up photos. Very handsome birds you have there! 

Terry


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## FlyingHigh (Nov 1, 2007)

Hi,
Yes well i just bought the syringe and the squishy nipple part at the end, and has a hole at the tip for its beak to slide into, so i think it will work. The box of the formula has instructions on feeding to new borns.

From Bird-Girl


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