# Inconveniant Nesting Locations!



## Raisindust (Apr 8, 2010)

So my bird Bleu, I do love her but she can be rather uncooperative sometimes when it comes to certain things.

For example, nesting! She is going through an egg laying period right now. The first two wound up in my desk chair, the second two underneath her house on top of a pile of newspaper that's down there.

I honestly wouldn't care, I just move her eggs into her house when I find them anyway, my issue is she sits on them religiously after she lays them but ignores them when I move them into the nesting box in her house. Is there any way at all to convince her that the nesting box is the better place to be putting her eggs or am I just stuck to having a silly bird?

The only problem I have with this that could potentially be serious is that she may not think the eggs are hers anymore ( even though I make sure she sees me picking them up and moving them -- I'm usually holding Bleu in the other hand while doing this ) / that her eggs got eaten and not STOP laying ever.

I'd just leave her totally free range rather than forcing the issue of the nesting box inside her house ( she is let out during the day when the cage is locked, unless there's an egg in the nesting box, then I leave the door open ) but with a dog that shares the room with me I'd rather not risk it, especially as her mate tends to spook easy.

She has been known to be the world's worst pigeon mother when it comes to eggs, so this could just be a continuation of her previously bad parenting skills -- before this batch, she never sat on any eggs at all for any period of time. If it matters, this batch of eggs is sterile, the next one probably won't be since she has a mate now that's probably male.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Pigeons lay at their choosen spot. They won't consider eggs if you change their location. So it is necessary to give them a location of their and your choice as well.in a pair usually cock selects the location and coos there and ask hen to check and approve and when both of them find it good, cock collects sticks and straws and make nest and then hen lay there and both incubate and raise chicks. Also cock ususally chase the hen to lay in the place suitable for both of them i.e their nest.
This is not that she is worst mother of this world but she is actually not getting what she requires and you said she has a mate now and probably the cock. So if a new cock, I would close them togeter in a nesting box for few days so they can get familiar to their place and then when they mate, I would make them available nesting material close to them so they can proceed to make their nest and lay and raise chicks there.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

_I'd just leave her totally free range rather than forcing the issue of the nesting box inside her house ( *she is let out during the day when the cage is locked, unless there's an egg in the nesting box, then I leave the door open *) but with a dog that shares the room with me I'd rather not risk it, especially as her mate tends to spook easy._

Don't quite get what you said. You lock her out of the cage during the day?


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## Miss-Sassypants (Sep 25, 2010)

Aww haha.. that happened to us too - twice in Krikky's 105 egg-laying history (she's still laying mind you. And I'm still counting!).

This one time, she laid at the wrong place (not her usual) so I moved the egg to a place I prefer, and the whole night, she refused to sit at the new spot and kept sitting on the original nesting site (full of poops!).

However, the next day, at sunrise, bright lights, lots of sun, she finally noticed her little egg at the usual corner, and BAM! When I got home from work that day, she was sitting in the new spot, all happy as if nothing happened last night!

I'm not sure what happened - but I can testify that pigeons DO relocate to the 'new nest' when the conditions are right.

All the best with yours!


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## Raisindust (Apr 8, 2010)

@Kiddy:: Might have to do that, that sounds like a good idea. Though she's been a bad mother even when I haven't moved the egg; I was gone for a couple days and I found an ignored egg in the chair. It's like she has a time limit and after that time limit she stops caring. Again, not an issue, I don't want baby pigeons, I just don't want her to keep laying every couple days indefinitely.

Jay3:: The dog is only in the room at night, which is why I can't let the birds free roam at night. He ignores them and is in fact afraid of the birds, especially if they take off suddenly, but I'd rather not risk it when I'm not fully awake to keep an eye on everyone. The cage has been locked during the day so they aren't just spending all their time eating in there, but maybe I'll just find another solution for avoiding free-feeding. They are given free range of the room during the day in an attempt to promote excersize -- Bleu is all over the place but Clarence can be notoriously lazy and just stay in one spot most of the day.

Miss-Sassypants:: I wonder if it'd be a good idea to put a light in the nesting area of her house? I'd considered doing that as its only really open at the front IE the lighting in there is kinda bad but never got around to it. Then again, she had been too young to lay eggs when I first got this new house.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

Couldn't get. Was she a single lonely mother to abandon her sterile egg in the chair? As you said she has a mate now?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Pigeons will not normally relocate if you move their eggs. Some will, but not normally.
Don't put a light in the nest. They actually prefer it darker where they nest. 
If you lock them out of the cage during the day, then they will lay all over the room. They can't lay in a cage that they are locked out of. They really should be let out when you are there. If you can't do that, then leave the cage open for them all day. You don't lock them out of what is supposed to be their home, or they won't lay there. Let them decide whether they want to go out, or stay inside the cage. Their choice.


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## Miss-Sassypants (Sep 25, 2010)

I agree with Jay that you shouldn't lock the cage!

If your pigeons have identified the cage as their home, they would be stressed if they are unable to go in there... imagine being locked out of your own house!

Why don't you unlock the cage and let the pigeons choose where they would like to roam during the day? As long as they are safe from doggie-danger, I'm sure they will appreciate that they are given a chance to choose where they'd like to hang out - be it in the room or in the cage.

Also, do provide nesting materials for them to collect after they lay. I would usually provide a box, a cloth underneath the nesting area (for comfort) and some man-made 'twigs' (lol). Here's an example:









All the best! Keep us posted!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If it were left open, then they would be more inclined to view it as their home and nest there.


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