# Can a male pigeon raise babies alone?



## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

Hey! I’m new here and really need help... this morning I went to check on my pigeons and the female was on the floor, dead... it has been a very rough day... she was my first pigeon I found her has a baby and raised her by hand... there are two babies in the nest and the male is still feeding them... will he be able to take care of them alone? I’m so worried...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

All depends on the male. He can, but may not and you may need to hand feed them. How old are the babies? I would be concerned about why the female died. Something caused it. She may have had something that spread to the others. Did you notice any symptoms before she died? Are they your only birds, and where are they kept? Just in case, I would get all that I needed ready to feed if needed.


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## heeler (Nov 19, 2013)

I think he can - IF - he wants too. Now my reasoning, 
I have a pair and the cock was just a maniac in the breeders loft. Fighting in every friggin box thinking he needed every box in the loft and this resulted in chicks being pushed out of nests and dying!!!!! So with his hen on eggs I just couldn't tolerate him anymore. I removed him from the breeders loft.......long story short, his hen hatched and cared for them all by herself from hatching to fledging and now they are in the race loft and working towards race season. So -IF- he wants to he can.
Tim


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

I have a big vivarium in my backyard, it’s about... 5m by 1,5m, so it’s fairly big. I only had that pair inside because I try to always set them free. This pair can’t be set free because the female was hand raised and she became very friendly towards cats because of my cat which she grew up with. The male can’t also be released because I found him badly injured and had to have half of his wing amputated... they had babies before but when I try not to intervene much and when they are fully grown I release them. I have a big food thing for the ones that are free and have built places for them to sleep (they always come back at night to sleep). 
Regarding their health, they never had any problems, she was perfectly fine yesterday, and the male is also fine.
They are always clean and with fresh water and food...
She was just there on the floor... no wounds... nothing... I have no idea what may have happened. She was about 2 years old...
They babies have around 2/3 weeks..


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

There had to be something wrong for her to just die like that. It is possible that you missed signs of illness. She may have had conker or some other stress related illness from raising babies, or maybe she had been eating less and it went unnoticed. Hard to say, but keep an eye on the others just in case. Watch that symptoms don't come up.
Do they get extra calcium/d3? That is very important for a hen, and without enough she can have health problems. Even egg binding which can be deadly.


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

They were eating as usual... I had a weird stuff to the food to help with calcium. I don’t know how it’s called in English. It looks like grated stones, small slivers... she was in good spirits... picking on my fingers like always... I had never heard of egg binding... but she had laid her eggs for a while already... the babies aren’t that young.. and she never lays eggs while still having small babies... 
I don’t breed pigeons... I just happened to rescue my pair from the street and they happened to be a male and female...
But I know she was too young to die... I had a very big attachment to her and have been just crying my eyes out non stop... 
this morning the male fed the babies again... and they are safe and warm in the nest I built for them. (It’s a big wooden box with an acrilyc side so I can look inside, and the bottom is a styrofoam base cover with straw. It’s high up on the wall and the entrance is on the opposite side of the wind...


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## Friend John (Jun 10, 2018)

Thank you for helping the birds, I'm very sorry for your loss.

I'm no expert, but if your pigeon was friendly with your cat, maybe she got a cut from your cat by accident, even if they were just playing, and it caused an infection? Just a possibility.

As for the male raising the squabs alone--I have a feral couple nesting on my window for about a year now. In one of their rearings, one of the two squabs was in a very bad shape and I took it from the nest so I could try to help it and it scared the female to the point where she'd no longer stay with the squabs in the nest when it was her turn (afternoons till late mornings). The remaining squab was 10 days old at the time. The male really stepped up and took care of the surviving squab and fed him throughout the day, even though the female didn't venture into the nest and feed it. Still, the squab survived, grew and eventually fledged, so it is possible that your male could take care of the squabs.


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

Thank you. They don’t play together anymore, the male is very scared of the cat and the female didn’t like to be outside the vivarium so she hasn’t been around the cat for a very long time. I though maybe it could be a neighborhood cat but there is no way they can get inside. The vivarium was originally built to house the two huskies I had at the time (that’s why it’s so big, but I adapted it for the birds). It’s pretty solid.


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

I’ve been keeping a close look on them and the dad seems to be feeding the little ones fine. I’ll keep “stalking” him just to make sure that if he stops I can intervene ASAP.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Most of them will lay eggs again before the babies are grown, so it is a possibility that she was egg bound. Calcium isn't enough. They need the vitamin D3 to be able to absorb any calcium, or the calcium doesn't do them any good. Unless they get out into the sunshine, direct sunshine. The sun will give them vit. D3. Are they kept where they get direct sunshine?
Or she was ill and you didn't pick up on it. Hard to know if she was eating enough, or drinking more than normally if they are kept outside, or if there is more than one bird kept together. 
Just keep a close watch in case you need to help out. I'm sorry the Mom died.
Normally it's the dad who continues to feed them while they start another nest, and the Mom is on the nest. So he can do it. Just sometimes the loss of his mate will make him abandon them. At this point he will hopefully keep feeding them.


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## pigeian (Jun 8, 2015)

Yes he'll be fine, just make sure he has a constant supply of protein to help with the growth, I normally have a jar of pigeon peas right next to the nest they can pick at.


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## corvidgirl (Sep 14, 2014)

I had a white dove and a ring neck. The white was the female and everytime the babies hatched, the male ring neck was insistent on feeding the babies on his own.He was obsessive to the point he pushed the female out of the way. She wound up just perching and watching him raise the little ones


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## CityBird (Aug 1, 2014)

To help facilitate the cock, always have fresh feed in clean cup, fresh grit and fresh water. If you can get safflower and shelled sunflower seeds, probably in 5 lb bags at your local FEED STORE, not pet shop,sprinkle liberally mix them into the feed. Sunflower seeds can also be gotten at your local big-corporate-run grocery store for your own consumption. NO SALT ON THE SUNFLOWER SEEDS. Change feed at least once per day. Change grit once per day, and have plenty of water for the day. If the cock is attentative, you'll bring the babies to the point of weaning. If the cock is attentative, he will use the feed and grit and water to finish rearing them, which is why it is important to change the feed every day. You have to have to make it easy for him...but you know how men can be.


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## mubcupk (Apr 20, 2010)

I had 2 white doves that did the same thing. The female was a little lazy or not a super interested mother, but the male was feeding and sitting with those babies 24/7. It’s him my account is named for. When the male showed up in a bush by our driveway and my husband could walk up and pick him up, we built him an enclosure. When I asked my 2 year old what his name is, she said, “Mubcupk!” And so it was. The next year a female white dove appeared in our bushes. The year after, another white dove. We figured a church nearby was stupidly releasing them for Easter....



corvidgirl said:


> I had a white dove and a ring neck. The white was the female and everytime the babies hatched, the male ring neck was insistent on feeding the babies on his own.He was obsessive to the point he pushed the female out of the way. She wound up just perching and watching him raise the little ones


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

Calaena said:


> I have a big vivarium in my backyard, it’s about... 5m by 1,5m, so it’s fairly big. I only had that pair inside because I try to always set them free. This pair can’t be set free because the female was hand raised and she became very friendly towards cats because of my cat which she grew up with. The male can’t also be released because I found him badly injured and had to have half of his wing amputated... they had babies before but when I try not to intervene much and when they are fully grown I release them. I have a big food thing for the ones that are free and have built places for them to sleep (they always come back at night to sleep).
> Regarding their health, they never had any problems, she was perfectly fine yesterday, and the male is also fine.
> They are always clean and with fresh water and food...
> She was just there on the floor... no wounds... nothing... I have no idea what may have happened. She was about 2 years old...
> They babies have around 2/3 weeks..


Not knowing is frustrating and all you have is either guesses or a necropsy could probably tell you but it’s probab too late for that.
My guess is she was going to lay more eggs and she was egg bound and dies suddenly. Her calcium would be low after laying eggs and sitting a nest plus feeding babies. The male should finish up the feeding, just check the crops and hand feed if necessary.


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

I came with sad news a very heavy heart... I haven’t been giving news but since 2 days ago the dad stopped feeding the babies... the smaller one died during the night... I started hand feeding the other one immediately and he seemed to be doing well. This morning he was dead... he was active and alert last night and ate well .. I don’t know if they were sick or what happened... I hand raised their mother from a much younger age and she did great... while feeding him I noticed he liked to be held and feel my warmth... so for these last two days I spent a lot of time holding him like that. I hope he felt loved before leaving this world... 
thank you all for your input and advice... this is a great community. Around me people don’t even understand why I care... and they certainly don’t get why this makes me so sad...


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

That is a shame... I would get the remaining pigeon checked out at the vet, sudden deaths can mean septic bacterial infection , like streptococcus. 

But really that is just guessing. I hope he stays healthy.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

In a situation like that, they need checking on daily to be sure they are getting fed. If not then they need to be hand fed. Also could have been canker. The stress from raising babies alone and losing his mate may have caused the male to pass more trich to the babies. Or maybe Mom had passed something on to them, likely canker. Sorry you lost them. Is the male eating as much as he should be? Is he drinking more?


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## Calaena (Mar 17, 2019)

The male is doing fine but I started supplementing his water to help out. I’m considering taking him to the vet but it’s pretty stressful for him because he is kinda feral even though he ha been with me for 2 years...


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

Calaena said:


> The male is doing fine but I started supplementing his water to help out. I’m considering taking him to the vet but it’s pretty stressful for him because he is kinda feral even though he ha been with me for 2 years...


Even though she was never feral, my cat can be the same way. A real challenge to get her in a carrier and to the vet, she freaks out. But I have to do it anyway for her own health.


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