# Balcony pigeon laid an egg during Snow Blizzard



## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

We just had a blizzard in New York, and the feral pigeon that normally hangs out on my balcony just laid her first egg during the storm.

There is no nest, and the egg is basically sitting on snow in a wooden box with top covered but side open. Hen is next to the egg but not sitting on it yet. Probably waiting for second egg.

Temps have been below freezing here and will probably stay this way for a while.

Can the eggs really hatch in these cold temps? Should I even bother replacing it with fake eggs? The egg will probably be covered in snow next time it snows.

I replaced eggs from this pair about 4-6 months ago.

Any thoughts?


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## Maclofts (Dec 14, 2014)

Maybe you should secure the nest area a bit more so it's "snow" proof and since it's freezing, you can bring the egg inside replacing it with a fake and when the second is payed, the put the real egg back and take the fake one out if you want to have babies... Maybe a pic could help to see what the circumstance are like


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## Maclofts (Dec 14, 2014)

I meant to say *laid LOL haha


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

I would wait till spring arrives and then let the pair raise any young. Shortage of food and the harsh climate won't be good for babies. I would replace the eggs with fakes and let the pair sit on them over and over again til spring.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Yup what Jass said, dont let them lay, it will be a struggle and the chicks will be at risk. Whats the sense of risking you having to save babies and the entire headache of weaning and worrying if they will be able to learn and find food. Its just not a smart idea. Feel bad for the hen, she is probably being forced to mate and lay by the male which I find to be dogs lol. They will pursue to reproduce at all costs. Just not fair in those conditions. I say pull the eggs and put fakes to give the hen a break. It is tough in this weather to find food. Im sure they can incubate and keep warm but if startled off nest for any reason you will have frozen babies. Even if they just fall out of nest in a tussle they will freeze, I would not want to have to deal with any of that.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

The hen laid the second egg on the other side of balcony. On a metal chair. I'll remove those eggs and replace with 2 wooden ones I got. I'll warm it up for them also. 

Here's a pic of the box.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

So I threw out the eggs and placed 2 wooden ones I used in the past. Few hours later, one of the fake eggs was moved to the middle of the balcony. So I figured, let me put it back again. And then short time later, one of the fake eggs was pushed out again. I guess they only want one? Or they don't like one of the fake eggs?


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

You did what needed to be done. I would place twigs near the site so that they make a nest themselves. Then the eggs won't roll out.
Let'em make a nest and then place second in the nest if the egg rolls out everytime you put it in there.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Update: 

The pair eventually pushed both wooden eggs out and they went back to work. About 4 or 5 days ago, she laid another new egg which I didn't do anything because I was waiting for the second. But by next day, the egg rolled or pushed out of the nest. I went to get it and saw it was cracked so I put a wooden one back at the nest. I then cut up a cardboard box, very thin and put it outside the nest.

Birds made a decent nest for the wooden egg, and she laid her second egg.

The temp got to 4F with a wind chill of -30F from Sunday night to Monday morning in New York and Hen was sitting on the eggs like a champ! Due to this, I'm not going to take the second egg. If it breaks like the others, it breaks, if they can do it, great. If baby is in trouble, I'll help, but mostly will let nature take its course. Out of all the set of eggs I took, they seem very determined for this set. They are more protected and now they have a nest made out of cardboard.

T-Bas


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Egg hatched yesterday, on schedule. And it's currently snowing heavy outside.

I threw some food near nest so mom can eat without getting up, but she quickly goes back to keep baby warm.

I got a quick pic when she got off. Now there is one wooden egg there, should I remove the wooden egg or wait till they push it out?

Anywhere I can get a battery operated nest bowl, there isn't an outlet on my balcony?

What other supplies should I get, just in case when bird is too big to sit on and its still freezing outside? I got the cage about 2x4, I got some medicine syringe from pharmacy. Petco is near by so I can grab a few things to have ready.

Thank you!


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Lol awesome so cute, leave the wooden egg there for extra support and warmth for baby. Use an extension cord if needed. In future if you want to modify the nest they have just put a short peice of wood across the front to form a lip they will hop over it. Or kind of lift and tilt that carpeting up a bit so the egg rolls towards the parents, KEEP a CLOSE eye now that u have live young. If that bub even rolls out a few inches from the nest spot they wont feed nor recognize it. If you can take or give them some sticks or nesting material close by they will continually add to the nest and make it safer. Keep some on the balcony scattered around and usually they bring eachother a peice after every shift.

Also eventually remove that carpet as it will harbour pests and mites and that will be enough to kill any babies. Keep a close eye at @ 2 to 3 weeks old as the hen will lay again, at that stage, remove all old bedding and put fresh straw or bowl if you want them to keep breeding.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

The Baby Hen is about a week old now. (I'm guessing female)

There were some very cold nights which I assisted with a bunch of hand warmers all lined the inside of the box with them. 

There was one time she was out of the nest and I put her back in, baby seemed scared at first, but was calm shortly. She was warm. Few other times I went to check on her, and she wasn't an ice cube.

It seems to be a little used to me, I pet it and it closes her eyes. 

I notice that she seems to have weak legs, she can move, but with a struggle and dragging. Maybe one week is too soon to tell? Legs are not spread out, she seems to sit normal. She seems to be very fat, maybe the body is too big to move? 

There are lots of Adult birds around, and soon when parents start leaving the nest, I hope those birds don't pick on her. I did have this type of problem in the past.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

The legs are normal when that young they cannot stand yet. Good that you are keeping an eye and also ya, as long as it has that box or places near by to hide under when fledging, if it should be attacked then it can hide. Can you give us reg picture updates, fun to watch them grow.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

A quick good morning before leaving to work.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Hhahah SUPER cute  keep up the updates, I LOVE to see the bubs, if I could I would have a million of them, just to see what color comes out lol.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Just a lovely baby. 
First of all I should really appreciate the efforts you did for saving a life. I followed the post but had no knowledge of what to suggest in such chilling climate which I never faced in my location. I was praying for the baby to live .
Would love to see her growing up.
Lot of thanks on behalf of all birds' lovers. Keep up doing such great efforts for everyone, be it an animal or a person, a life is a life.
Hats off to you 

CBL: me too want to have several of them but you know my mother.lol


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Now the little one is about 2 weeks old now and the temps have been below freezing the past few days. 

I don't know if the baby is cold, but when I do feel it, she seems warm. Last night the Mom was sitting on the baby's head and body all exposed not covering her. She is too big to be sat on. I kinda scared the mom to move so she can adjust her position, she moved, baby went into the corner of the box, and mom returned and sat in front of her.

Also this baby never squeaks, doesn't squeak when I pick her up or pet her. She only squeaks when returning her to the nest. What's that about?


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Lovely kid...


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

*Tattle taleing lol*



Tbas said:


> Now the little one is about 2 weeks old now and the temps have been below freezing the past few days.
> 
> I don't know if the baby is cold, but when I do feel it, she seems warm. Last night the Mom was sitting on the baby's head and body all exposed not covering her. She is too big to be sat on. I kinda scared the mom to move so she can adjust her position, she moved, baby went into the corner of the box, and mom returned and sat in front of her.
> 
> Also this baby never squeaks, doesn't squeak when I pick her up or pet her. She only squeaks when returning her to the nest. What's that about?


I have a hen named Floppy, when I would take her from the nest at about 3 weeks old to show her the outside world, she would do this erratic running and floppy of her wings zigzaging back to her nest, run hide behind her dad and tell him all about the big bad witch who just snatched her lol. It was HILARIOUS to see her antics, so I named her floppy but should have named her snitch! It looked like she was SO excited to run back to dad, never mom but dad. They would discuss the situation and that would be the end of it. No joke it was so funny.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Updating with a new picture.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Wow..she is grey..growing feathers very fast 
Super likes


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Just 4 days ago, the little squab was wing slapping me and pecking my finger when trying to get it from her nest. But she's calm when I remove her.

There are 2 birds visiting and trying to take over her nest. But the baby now has some hiding spots to get away from those 2 birds until Scarface Daddy comes by and rips the feathers out of the 2.

The Mom and Dad already have new eggs which I replaced with wooden ones. They made a nice cozy nest in a clean box I put out about 10 feet from the baby's nest. At least they don't have to kick baby out.

Scarface and Myself taught the baby how to peck on seeds, I see her pecking and sometimes getting lucky and getting them in. Water is still no go.

The little one roams around in the balcony now, like wobbling around all funny.

*Now the issue is that this weekend I'll be away for one week, this is the time the baby will learn how to fly and learn where to find food. But the food source is me, if the daddy is not fed, how is baby going to eat? *They will probably be forced to eat something bad outside and get sick.

I bought a water feeder, but the water doesn't come out much, hopefully they figure it out. 

I'm not able to get anyone to throw seeds out. I don't want neighbors to know I feed the pigeons. 

What if I put out like 10 pounds of seeds? Probably all Feral population will find it and finish it up in 2 days. I could hide the seeds like 10 different spots, but now this puts the baby in danger with pigeons roaming around. I have 5 days to figure something out. I'm not going to pay 100 bucks for a auto feeder. My concern is the baby, new pic attached.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Pigeons are built to fly and forage, if they don't they are not as they naturally should be, well muscled and can fly long distances to forage in the fields and woods. Handouts are nice but on a small scale and not on a regular basis, you will attract more and they get lazy and dependent . There are others who feed I'm sure in the city, pigeons usually make their rounds. Much better if they were foraging naturally but people won't stop. Also, if you move or things change you would have to have the time to stop feeding gradually , which is kinder, allot of folks don't think of that and die or have a health problem and the birds are cut off cold turkey, IMO, best not to start.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

The reality show continues......

So 2 days ago, the Mom got scared when I was on the balcony of a sudden movement, and didn't go back to her nest that whole night. The next morning, I guess she talked to Scarface about that spot, and then Scarface kicked the baby out of the old nest and started to call the mom there. Baby went to her hiding spot.

I put the baby back in the original nest, and the dad came back in a few minutes, gave one look and the baby started squeaking and running to the other side of balcony, so funny, like it was disciplining it. But I was on the other side of the balcony, so baby got stuck in the middle, so it just sat there started to squeak. But it gave way and came closer to me, it was more scared of the dad.

What I did next was take their nest with wooden eggs, and put it right next to the original nest, Scarface didn't think twice and went into his nest with wooden eggs. Baby went back to her original nest when daddy's shift was over. Baby got fed by daddy, and it seems normally. 

Scarface has been crazy lately, it's not letting any other birds eat for the past week. They get lucky when Scarface isn't looking, but most of the time they failed and get beaten up.

Baby has been walking and flapping her wings. I helped as much as I could. I sprayed her with bug spray avoiding eyes. Cleaned her wings with water, she was so scared at first, but when I put water on her, it seemed like she really liked it and got calm. 

Finally, I got someone to stop by once every 2-3 days and just dump a bunch of seeds out.

Updated pic of baby.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Well Im glad someone helped out. I hope that the baby does well and eventually will be confident to try some short flights. Keep the story coming, its nice to follow.


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Baby is now a pro pecking on seeds. But still squeaking at Scarface for more food in mornings and before sundown. 

She can jump off 3 feet down no issues.U think she will be flying by next week when I'm on vacation. Hopefully scarface does a good job keeping her near and not lost. 

She even joined daddy with some fighting sessions with other birds. That was funny to see.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

How is the baby now?


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Came back from vacation and everything seemed to be normal. Baby was flying around and hanging out. I went over to it, picked it up to say hello, it seemed calm. I put it back down, it walked around and flew away. It was gone for 2 days, at least what I think. I see her a little bit in the mornings, it follows the other birds what ever they do, if they are picking up seeds, she follows. She still squeaks at dad, but he ignores and runs away from her lol. Only bird that Scarface runs away from lol.

I see other birds flying and chasing it, pecking at the baby. But they do this to any young bird. These birds have a hard start in life. I saw another bird, looked like it just learned how to fly, it was so dirty, feathers are messed up, and of course other birds are pecking at it too.

Baby no longer sleeps on the balcony, probably because it's afraid that I will pick it up to say hello. But I'm sure it is near by.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

It seems like she has grown up with full feathers and soon she will be hardly found on the balcony but she will always remember your favor done in snowstorm for her. You did a great job


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

So "Lulu" found a roosting spot on top of a ladder on my balcony. Scarface wanted that spot but I made it clear to him that this was for the baby. 

When I come home from work, and Lulu hears my voice, I hear her start squeaking near the window. She knows my voice, and I was told she wasn't squeaking at all until I walked in the house. She no longer squeaks at Scarface.

When I go out on the Balcony, she flies away and then looks at me in a distance squeaking. She has been drinking water, even saw her splashing in there. She also did a few wing slaps to other birds.

At nighttime, when she is roosting, I go out and hang out with her, I pet her neck, back, crop and I THINK she seems to like it. She squeaks when I'm leaving saying good bye, so maybe she does like being petted? 

I would like to spray her for parasites, wondering if I should spray my hands and then rub it on her? Don't want to spook her.

Looks like this Bird "Lulu" is my responsibility.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

So sweet....and congratulations on being a responsible guardian 
Lovely lively story of Lulu...you made it. 
I thought she will leave the place as usually kids do and parents occupy the space but Lulu actually know your imporatance and she can't afford to loose you...you are more than a parent to her.you rock 


P.S I actually dont use any powder for parasites coz mine are in house and safe from them.some other might tell you how to use.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If you have a spray, then just pick her up and spray it into her feathers, particularly under the wings, tail and her belly. Just don't spray it near her face. Putting it on your hands first, won't get it under the feathers as well.


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## Miss-Sassypants (Sep 25, 2010)

God Bless you Tbas!! This is such a lovely thread! You give hope to humanity! Thank you so much for being so passionate and caring to these little creatures.

Please continue to update - I'm a huge fan of Lulu!!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Really darling little guy! Thank you so much for helping them!


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Lulu's squeak is gone, it now sounds like a low honk. 

I visit Lulu when sun goes down at her roosting spot. I pet her and she pecks at me, I pet her again, and she just gives in and lets me pet her. During the day I can't even get anywhere near her, but at night time, she doesn't fly away or move and comes back the next day to roost same spot on my balcony. My guess is, me annoying her sometimes at night doesn't bother her too much. lol

Just this week, I started to see new babies come to my balcony for food, can't believe how much bigger Lulu is now compared to these babies.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Well growing up kid


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## Miss-Sassypants (Sep 25, 2010)

How come Lulu has a band on her leg? Did you tag her? I thought she is a feral?


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Miss-Sassypants said:


> How come Lulu has a band on her leg? Did you tag her? I thought she is a feral?


It's a plain color clip on so I know who she is.


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## sport14692 (Jan 3, 2011)

This is so cool


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## Tbas (Jun 12, 2014)

Lulu is almost 1 year old. Heres a pic this morning of her enjoying the snow storm thats happening in New York.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

What a lovely bird! Lulu looks well and happy. Thank you so much for rescuing her!


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## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

cute thread!!! and Lulu is beautiful and all grown up!! congrats!!


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

That's great. She is born and brought up in such storms, she is used to it all, so playing with it. 
Thanks for sharing her pic. She is a sweetheart and you did great for her.


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