# Surprised me!



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Ivan (ringneck dove) and his girlfriend, Genevieve (mixed feral/king pigeon) laid eggs for the third time about two weeks ago. I've only successfully hatched one pair of hybrids so far, and pretty much by accident when I first had a different dove/pij couple many years ago. They lived for almost a year before I lost them to a sudden illness, the only one I've ever had in the flock, thank goodness). BUT _these_ eggs I took from Ivan and Gen and gave to the watchful Mrs. Bird and Julian, who have successfully hatched their own two babies and are extremely diligent and protective parents. Ivan and Gen kept looking for their eggs, so I slipped in an old egg that had been laying in the middle of the aviary since the day before (figured someone laid it while sitting on a perch). 

Here's the good part.

I go out today and Ivan and Genevieve are both sitting in their basket together, which I've never seen before. A little while later I notice a broken egg shell down in the bottom of their cage, and peeked under Gen (risking death by wingslap from Ivan, small but mighty) and lo and behold, that "old" egg had hatched into a tiny baby pigeon! So this time around they seem to be taking it very seriously, both of them wanting to sit on it or at least near it (Genevieve is about twice Ivan's size so she is winning at the moment ). And I have a real tricky oops baby. Good thing I have the new aviary too.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

HOW FUN, MJ!! You know we are suckers for those "OOPS" stories and yours is quite a winner!!

We look forward to pictures, of course!! We KNOW that you will keep us updated!    

Love, Hugs & Scritches!

Shi & Squeaks


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Maryjane, 


Oh yes, "Pics"..!

And Congratulations..!


Phil
l v


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Congratulations on your unusual oops baby, Maryjane! I can't wait to see pictures as the little one grows up. I've heard of dove/pigeon hybrids but I've never actually seen one. Best of luck with the little guy. I hope Ivan won't stop feeding him too soon. Doves fledge a good two weeks earlier than pigeons, but I'm sure you know this. Hopefully Genevieve will be a good mom; sounds like she's off to a good start.

-Cathy


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

LOVE those OOPS babies...especially the unusual ones! Thanks for sharing.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Ah Maryjane, a little blessing delivered to you. I'll bet Ivan is going to be flexing his muscles when he sees "his offspring" and how big it is - maybe he won't realize it is a full fledged pigeon.

How long do you think the hybrid eggs will take to hatch? That's going to be pretty interesting to see.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Thanks everyone!  Again, today, Ivan and Gen are both in the basket, watching very carefully everything around them. They seem determined to do it right this time! It will be interesting when the baby grows larger than Ivan but he is still feeding it.  The hybrid eggs that Ivan and Gen laid themselves, I put with Mrs. Bird to hatch, as she has such a great record. The egg Ivan and Genevieve have is a regular pigeon egg so should be quite comical. Gen is a pretty large girl so I'm sure she can compensate if Ivan is a bit small down the line to feed the baby.  

I also moved some of the youngsters to the new aviary today, along with little beakless/mateless Bernadette (hopefully one of the youngsters will grow up and fall in love with her, as no one has yet). The best part is I moved my other set of doves ("NotIvan" and his mate who doesn't have a name yet) into the aviary and for the first time they got to really fly around. Some of you may remember earlier this year I took a male dove from a friend's mom, where he was in a tiny cage with his parents, and his dad picked on him constantly. I put him into a large cage in the tent, got him a little girlfriend dove, and they have been quite content in there. Well, today, I put them into the new aviary and they flew and flew. NotIvan kept going up to higher and higher perches, then they spent the rest of the afternoon together high up on a perch in the sun, which they haven't had a chance to do before (sit in the sun, I mean). I have some pictures and will upload them later. I'm going to hold off on taking pictures of the new baby, as I don't want to upset Ivan and Gen. But all is going very well!!


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## TheSnipes (Apr 9, 2007)

I just had the most fun looking at all your pictures! That basket spinning thing is hilarious!!!


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

WHAT FULL HANDS YOU HAVE, MJ!!  

Loved your pictures...QUITE a wide assortment of feathered ones!  

A chicken wanting to "bury" herself! Who would have thunk??  

Wishing EVERYONE just the very best with loads of hugs and scritches!!  

Shi & Squeaks


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## bevslape (Jul 22, 2005)

It looks like a bird paradise! Nice pictures of your happy birds.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Maryjane, I enjoyed looking at all the pictures. They look happy and healthy. I really like the tent.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Oh, I was confused--thought the new baby was the hybrid.  But I _have_ heard of dove/pigeon hybrids. 

I loved the pictures of all your birds, Maryjane. I never would have thought of a pigeon tent, but it looks like it works quite well as an aviary. That's quite a flock you have there. Is Sophie all or part Modena? I imagine that's where she got that cute little butt.  And your little Satinette is adorable.

Lovely indoor birds, too. Reminds me of our house because we have lots of cage birds too, some of which were rescues. 

Congratulations on the new aviary. Keep the pictures coming!


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