# New Member....Please HELP!....Pet Pigeon/Egg



## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

Hello, I am new to this site and plan to frequent it often now that I've found it.....

I have a question that I hope you all may be able to answer...
My pigeon is about two years old. I believe she is a king flyer? She is all white and of large build. I have just noticed that she has laid an egg! What do I do??? Do I remove the egg? I use shreaded newspaper and she built a sort of nest. There is no male bird and she is alone. (I plan to change that as soon as possible) I need to know how to proceed....?.... I checked her out and she doesn't seem to have any more eggs in her. Also, I have a full lenth mirror in her cage/shelf ( she has free roam of the room ) Today she seems to be attacking the mirror by plucking at it really hard. Do I remove the mirror? Does she want it there? Also any thing you may answer in reguards to food would really help. As of now I feed her basically store bought seed....I also have a bowl of grit and fresh water availabe for her. I also give her balls of bread.

PLEASE HELP AS I LOVE MY BIRD VERY MUCH AND WANT HER TO BE OK!
 

Thank you all so very much,
Chad Wayne
[email protected]


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

She'll probably lay another egg about 44 hours after the first one. You can let her sit on them until she finally gets sick of it and that'll help her not to lay so many. There's no reason to panic, though.

Pidgey


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Welcome Chad and congratulations on the egg! Please don't remove it. Normally, hens lay a second egg about 44 hours after the first. Left alone, she will set on the eggs for about 20 days, then give up and ignore them. Since she is alone, the eggs are not fertile. (If they were, you might want to replace them with wooden or plastic dummies to prevent population increase.)

If the mirror is close to her nest, you might want to move it a little further away for her comfort level.

I'd wouldn't feed her any more bread - it's not healthy for them. The seeds are good. You might want to add some plain, unpopped popcorn and some peas for added nutrition.

One thing you may notice is that her poops will become much larger (and smellier), since she will be holding it while setting on the nest. Most hens prefer to poop as far from the nest as possible, so if you can let her get some distance, I'm sure she'll appreciate it!

Please let us know how things are progressing!


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## littlestar (May 11, 2005)

Welcome Chad. When my one females lays eggs I let her sit on them, and when she no longers stays on them I take them away. She also doesn't have a mate. When you can get a bag of pigeon feed or pigeon pellets. I like the pigeon pellets better. If you can cover the mirror up.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Hello Chad,Welcome to Pigeon Talk. It is always great to have a new member on board. It is late, but I am sure that later more members will on to respond. 

I am new to this egg thing too. I just had a pigeon that is mated lay two eggs, one day or so apart.

If there is no male to fertilize her, I suspect she views a human, possibly you, as her "mate" in her eyes. This is absolutely normal for a single pigeon of either sex to "fall in love" with their caregiver. 

I am sure you are aware, that she needs to be fertilized for the complete process to continue. 

You may want to provide her with some twigs, or shredded paper, just to make her feel good. In a few days, I believe you should replace it with a dummy egg similar in size if possible, and then after a couple of weeks, she should loose interest, and then remove it.

There might be another egg layed by tomorrow.

Egg laying is stressful, and her poops will probably be green and watery.

Regarding the mirror question...it worries me she might fly into it thinking she sees another pigeon, and hurt herself. Perhaps you can provide her with a small car vanity clip on type mirror.

LOOSE the balls of bread...lot of filler, too many calories, and just not nutritious for a bird, unless they are in survivor mode in the wild.Wild bird seed will do fine for now, but there are pigeon supply houses that you can order it.I like the Kaytee Supreme Dove-Paloma mix, as it is full of nutrients and has a well balanced variety of seeds a pigeon needs. I purchase mine at Pet-Co, but I am sure most national pet stores have it in stock. You can also provide her with lentils,slit green peas found in the bean section of your Supermarket at a very nominal cost, and yellow uncooked plain popcorn ( not cracked). As a treat, she would appreciate safflower seeds, also available at pet stores and places like Wal-Mart even stock it now...but go easy on them! 

Do you have the red grit?

Is the water dish deep?

Is the grit in a separate container?

Speaking of water...many of us provide our pigeons with AVC water a couple of times per week. It is good for their immune system. I use Bragg's apple cider vinegar "with the mother" in it. Health food stores sell it for under 3 bucks, and it goes a long way. As a supplement I mix a teaspoon and a half to a half gal. of water.


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## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

Thank you, Thank you!

Wow! I really appreciate your fast responce! Both of you!

I actually got her as a baby... She was found in a park on a main road just sitting on the ground, too small to fly and seemed vey scared, She was also covered in mites. Friends brought her to us because they knew we love animals. Our plan was to keep her long enough to get well and learn to fly...problem was that we quickly fell in love with her and decided to keep her. She has never been in a cage and has free roam of the house. We bird proofed it as best as possible. Of course the poop is a bit of a problem but one we can live with. We have since moved to another apartment and she is still with us. We were going to let her fly outside but were told that being all white this may not be a good idea. Also, because of the move we are afraid she will fly back to the old location. She was also found with a colored plastic ring on her leg so I assume she was a pet? We tried to find her owner but to no avail. Also, we have a pet squirrel who is unable to be released back into the wild. They actually get along to a point. She sleeps on a shelf up high and at night or when we can't watch her we have enclosed the shelf with screen. I am going to keep the squirrel away until we get rid of the egg. How long should we keep the egg? Will she miss it? Is the shreaded newspaper a good medium for her to rest on? She also seems to like the corn and sunflower seeds that our squirrel eats. I just fed her about 3/4 of a hot dog roll before you said it wasn't good for her. 

Is there any more advice that you may be able to provide? How about a mate at some point? Would she like that? Is keeping her in a house cruel? She really seems to love me but doesn't really take to my wife. She does this weird thing with her beak. If I put a closed fist up to her she inserts her beak in between my fingers and leaves it there.We all get a kick out of that. I did cover the mirror for know and she did calm down. 

Thanks again, Chad


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## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

Hello Victor, Thank you!
The grit I give her is from PetCo and it is grey... Where do I get the red from? Yes, I keep it in a small little bowl on her shelf. I also provide her a six inch water bowl about two inches deep. Every once in a while she goes and sits in my greyhounds water bowl. When we see this we usually give her a bigger bowl to bathe in. Sometimes she just sits in her small water bowl. What was that about the water? The one with "mother" in it? Tomorrow we will go get her the stuff you reccommend. Are the peas meant to be given as a treat with her seed? The popcorn only once in awhile? Thanks and I really look forward to chatting with you all! Chad


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## littlestar (May 11, 2005)

Chad, It's not cruel to keep her inside, I keep my pigeons inside. Most likely your pigeon was a pet. I have one pigeon that wants nothing to do with anyone in the house except me. When I'm holding her and someone tries to touch her, she will like growl and peck at them really hard. Mine will put their beaks between my fingers too, and also preen my hand. Down the road you could try her with male pigeon. If you don't want babies make sure you have fake eggs to replace her eggs with. Good idea keeping the squirrel away from her right now because they do like to steal eggs from nests. You can keep them their until she no longer wants to sit on them, it's usually around two weeks.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

"Hooked on pigeons" is what one of my grown kids says about me .They are easy to grow on you and are wonderful pets, as you can attest to that I am sure. We started out with one that we rescued in 2004, and now have 6 (with 2 young uns on the way) AND we too have a beautiful squirrel that my wife rescued and is now unreleasable. She is a sweetheart too.The peas and lentils can be give along with the regular seed in small quantities, but pigeons all have different eating habits Chad, and she might reject them. Three of my 6 pet pigeons love the stuff, the other 3 ignore it. Popcorn is a good winter food to give pigeons, but if your is indoors, she MIGHT reject it, but I doubt it.As far as the sunflower seeds, make sure they are the small kind, and not the ones with the white stripe. I tend to avoid them, as I have read too many stories of them getting lodged in their crop. I treat mine to raw unsalted shelled sunflower seeds, but they too have lots of calories, so only a few a day. Mine could eat the stuff all day if they had it their way. Check the grocery nut isle or health food store. They are also available on line cheaper than the store Chad.Getting late, time to hit the rack.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

phillychad said:


> I actually got her as a baby... She was found in a park on a main road just sitting on the ground, too small to fly and seemed vey scared, We were going to let her fly outside but were told that being all white this may not be a good idea. Also, because of the move we are afraid she will fly back to the old location. She was also found with a colored plastic ring on her leg so I assume she was a pet? How long should we keep the egg? Will she miss it? Is the shreaded newspaper a good medium for her to rest on? How about a mate at some point? Would she like that? Is keeping her in a house cruel? She really seems to love me but doesn't really take to my wife. She does this weird thing with her beak. If I put a closed fist up to her she inserts her beak in between my fingers and leaves it there.Thanks again, Chad



Hi Chad, 

This pigeon... being raised from a youngster has bonded to you and may even consider you her mate. The band on her leg does indicate that she was a pet of someone's, but how that person came to find her in a park like that, is anyone's guess. She was too young when found to know where she came from and wouldn't have flown back to her old home, wherever that was. She seems to be happy indoors and this is a safe place for her to be

She will lay another egg in approx. 40 hours or so and I would recommend either replacing them with plastic ones or hard boiling these (one at a time) and replacing them for her to sit on. She will sit on them for about 3 weeks, maybe a month and then she will abandon them. It's best to allow them to sit on their eggs for a couple of reasons. First, it stops them from laying all the time and second, it gives them something to do which is completely natural and instinctive for them. 

When she puts her beak in between your fingers, she's trying to get fed My hand raised ones do this too, and it's either a throw back from their hand rearing days, but it's also an action that female pigeons do with their mates. The female places her beak into her mates' bill to receive a little regurgitated seeds and this usually the precursor to mating.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

phillychad said:


> Is there any more advice that you may be able to provide? How about a mate at some point? Would she like that? Is keeping her in a house cruel? She really seems to love me but doesn't really take to my wife. She does this weird thing with her beak. If I put a closed fist up to her she inserts her beak in between my fingers and leaves it there.We all get a kick out of that. I did cover the mirror for know and she did calm down.
> Chad


Hi Chad,

Welcome to Pigeon Talk,

Thank you for taking this pigeon under your "wing" so to speak.

She is "in love" with you and therefore responding with eggs. Keep the eggs or get some dummy eggs for her to lay on, this is crucial to her health.
She needs time to replensish her calcium reserves, and should not be laying one after the other, as this can cause possible egg related issues down the road, and you don't want to go there.

I have a pet pigeon, named Mieke, who I've temporarily housed indoors as she has an injury and she has fallen in love with me. She does the same thing with her beak. She dances everytime I walk by her also. I don't pet her on her back anymore because that seems to stimulate eggs production. Pet her around her neck and head, but not her back, it works.

Yes, you might want to get her a mate, it will keep her from being lonely when you are not home. She probably would enjoy the company. She will definitely lay eggs then, and fertile ones. If that is a problem you can get another hen. Hens make good friends if both are not of an aggresive nature.


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## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

Thank you! not too many people are owned by a pet squirrel! It's great to know that there is someone else out there.... Chad


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## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

*Still one more question...*

Thank you so much! Everbody, for being so helpful. Well it's been a few days now and yes there is another egg. My question is.... how do I find "dummy eggs" exactly how do I go about "hard boiling" them? Same as regular ones? Thanks again and I would like to check back often as I really would like to get some more birds as time goes on and it seems that you all might be able to help....... Chad


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

phillychad said:


> Thank you so much! Everbody, for being so helpful. Well it's been a few days now and yes there is another egg. My question is.... how do I find "dummy eggs" exactly how do I go about "hard boiling" them? Same as regular ones? Thanks again and I would like to check back often as I really would like to get some more birds as time goes on and it seems that you all might be able to help....... Chad


Yes, you hard boil the eggs just like chicken eggs though it doesn't take quite as long as the pigeon eggs are much smaller. You can find "dummy" eggs at a local craft store or can purchase them through just about any of the on-line pigeon supply houses.

Terry


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Welcome to the forum.  Sounds like you have a pij who is definitely in love with you, as many of us do.  About the red grit, I usually get it from our local feed store, but if you don't have one nearby, I would check at other pet shops or it can be ordered online as well.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Chad, 

Glad you are enjoying your pet pigeon and that you found this site to help you 
understand your experience  .
There's a great resource section here that you can browse through by clicking on this link:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

And included in the links on the Resource page is this link to the many Pigeon
Supply Houses around the country:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9455

Happy browsing!

fp


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## phillychad (Jan 24, 2007)

*craft store dummy eggs...*

Ok, we bought dummy eggs from the craft store, they are wooden and in two halfs. I guess I just glue them together right? Problem is that they dont line up, there is a seem. Does that matter and should I paint them? Would it be better just to hard boil them? Will taking the eggs make her mad when we go to hard boil them? Do it one at a time? 

For right now I do not have the room for another bird. We really want to get her a friend one day soon. How does one go about getting babys? One day it is my dream to have a coop on top of a house with lots and lots of pigeons! Some people think I'm crazy, but my wife and I love them. Living here in the city of Philadelphia we get to see many. 

The other day we were at a local park in the city feeding some wild pigeons when a cop walked up to us and made us stop. He said that in the city it's illegal to feed squirrels and pigeons. He told us he could issues us a $300 fine. He said if he saw us doing it again that he would have to write us a ticket! Do you belive that!?! I told him that if indeed that happend I would accept the ticket but then contact every news station and paper in the city. He laughed and walked off...told us when we were ready to become one of those "animal idiots" to meet him back here with more bread and peanuts and he would be happy to "help" us....... jerk!

Anyway, thanks again for all your help Chad


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## littlestar (May 11, 2005)

Chad, I have the same eggs from the craft store. Mine didn't line like they should of. I glued them together, then sanded the part that stuck out, but make sure it's smoothed with no ruff parts. I didn't paint mine and my pigeons didn't seem to care, they sat on them. Of course mine will sit on big plastic Easter eggs, I guess they didn't care as long as they have an egg to sit on .


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

phillychad said:


> Ok, we bought dummy eggs from the craft store, they are wooden and in two halfs. I guess I just glue them together right? Problem is that they dont line up, there is a seem. Does that matter and should I paint them? Would it be better just to hard boil them? Will taking the eggs make her mad when we go to hard boil them? Do it one at a time? Chad


Chad, I think the dummy eggs are needed when you are replacing fertilized eggs with dummies to prevent babies from being hatched.

In your case, you know that the eggs aren't fertile, so you could probably just let her sit on her eggs till she gets tired of it without replacing with dummies.

In any case, others will be along to advise you.....good luck.

Linda


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Some of my eggs have a seam round the middle, it doesn't bother the pigeons at all. 

Seeing as you have already bought the wooden eggs, I would go ahead and replace the infertile eggs. There is always a chance that, if you leave the real eggs, one might break and the hen would end up in a smelly mess with it stuck to her feathers!


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

We went to the mall a few days ago and found a novelty store that sold unusual gift ideas and we came across a basket of pigeon sized eggs for about 3 bucks a piece. They had white ones and pastel colors. We bought a couple of white ones.


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