# Found another Pigeon egg now what



## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

hey guys i found another pigeon egg this time i was there when it fell and was able to get it inside i have had it for 16 -17 days and it seems to be growing how much should the egg weigh i have been weighing it. once it hatches what should i do? i have some old bottles and eyedroper that i use when we hand reard orphen kittens but what should i feed it ?? please help


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

It should be close to hatching. Did you candle this egg and did you use and inclubator. Bringing up pigeon babies from birth is very difficult task.

Can you hear a ticking noise inside the egg. the baby should be tapping and trying to break the egg about now?


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

No i have not been tring to candle the egg the last time i found a pigeon egg and tried to candle it i broke the egg and im afraid to handle it too much How much should the egg weigh around now??


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

i listend ya i could hear it ticking and it moved abit is this a godd sighn??


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Animal_Lover said:


> i listend ya i could hear it ticking and it moved abit is this a godd sighn??


That would be the chick pipping.........yea that's a good sign......need to get your stuff together. You're going to get real busy, real soon......like in the next 24 hours or less.
Need to get some Exact Baby Bird Hand Feeding Formula, syringes and do some searches and learn how to feed this tiny baby. 
The baby will have to kept very warm.


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Animal Lover,

You can search in our Resource Section for threads that can guide you....here are a couple to get you started:


Hand feeding baby pigeons from day one
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9918

and

Various Methods to Feed Young Squabs 
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9682

Good luck,
Linda


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

Animal lover, its going to be very tough. Listen and read what you can about hand rearing baby pigeons.


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

Okay so in 24 hours or less should i stay up tonight with the egg just incase or what????? i will read them if i need any help i will post an other review
what should i do when it first hatches will it need to be under the heat lamp or will sting it by the heater work?? thanks


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Here is another one from the Resource forum that you should read:

Providing Heat to Orphaned Birds:
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=13601

Linda


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

will i need to stay up tonight to watch over the egg??
Do i need to feed the brid as soon as it hatches (how soon after?)


i was not prepared i thought we still had 4 days before it hatched and i am not prepared for the brid to arrive

we have chickens and we may have some chick starter left should i feed it the (warm water and chicken starter mixture as its first meal?)

how do i sex the bird is this important?

what should i put the bird in (would an old shoe box lined with sawdust work??)

i don't have any heat lamps or water bottles what should i do about heating the bird???


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

Its not making a ticking sound anymore!!!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Animal_Lover said:


> will i need to stay up tonight to watch over the egg??


As long as you have provided warmth for the little one, you won't need to stay up, but it might be a good idea to check a couple of times.



> Do i need to feed the brid as soon as it hatches (how soon after?)


No, the little one will live off the remnant of the egg sac for about 8+ hours or so. After that, you do need to feed.



> i was not prepared i thought we still had 4 days before it hatched and i am not prepared for the brid to arrive
> 
> we have chickens and we may have some chick starter left should i feed it the (warm water and chicken starter mixture as its first meal?)


Only if it is unmedicated chick starter. If not, use human baby cereal (dry that you mix with water) or soften some dry dog or cat food in water until you can puree it and mix with water to a thin enough consistency to get through a syringe or eyedropper.



> do i sex the bird is this important?


No way to tell for a long time yet ..



> ould i put the bird in (would an old shoe box lined with sawdust work??)


No sawdust, please. Better to have a smaller, rounder, more nest like container .. margarine or cottage cheese cup or similar. Line with soft tissue or crumpled paper towel. Cover with a piece of terry cloth or old T-shirt or sweat shirt to provide something the baby can grip and get traction with.



> i don't have any heat lamps or water bottles what should i do about heating bird???


Heat for a little one on its own is essential. You can fill empty soda pop bottles with hot water and wrap them in a wash cloth and refill them with hot water as needed. You can fill an old sock with rice and heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds .. this works well and stays warm for a good while. Just make sure that whatever you use for heat doesn't "cook" the baby. If you have a heating pad, set it on low and wrap in a towel and place the baby's "nest" on top.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Terry


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

it stoped ticking at the egg is this good??
i have a syringe to use for feeding but no rice and sock or water pad i do have a heater that i can use for heating the bird with though
and all i have is puppy chow will that work? thanks for ur help guys


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

okay it started ticking agian i wheighd the egg and it whieghd exactly 16 grams


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

the baby should break the egg shell by itself. studies have shown that the mortality is high when we help them out.

has the egg pipped yet?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Don't move the egg any more .. the baby was/is in the right position to pip so just let it do so.

Terry


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

That is exactly what they should weigh. 16-18 grams is normal for a newborn pigeon. I have raised babies from the egg successfully, and it wasn't hard for me. After a few weeks I got a little bit frustrated, because the older they get, the more they eat and the longer it takes to clean up and prepare the food, but it's quite easy at first.

First things first, the tapping is normal. Though it's much less common in altricial eggs than in precocial eggs, you may get a peep out of the baby before it comes out. Hatching can take 3 days or more from the internal pip, but pigeon eggs are usually quite quick to hatch.

Though it's said that mortality rate is higher with assisted hatches, I agree with that only if the assistance is not done properly!!

A baby can be assisted with no problems as long as the membrane has dried out completely, and there are no or very little red veins lining the shell and membrane. It might sound strange, but when the baby is ready to hatch the egg will start to smell quite bad, sort of like a damp dog. It's because the membrane is sticky and the yolk sac has been entirely drawn into the body.

As soon as the baby is out, put it directly into a brooder with a good heat source such as a heat/basking lamp clasped on the side of an aquarium. This is what I used. I put the babies in a small tuberware box with lots of ripped toilet paper to keep them comfy and to give them grip. What's better for grip than toilet paper is paper towel, so if your baby is for some reason impeccably weak, it's a good idea to use paper towel for bedding.

The temperature should be about 90-95 degrees fahrenheit. Mine was always at around 90-92, I try to keep it at about 89 or 90 to make sure the babies don't get dehydrated. Tap and grab the baby's beak very gently to see how good its feeding response is. In a healthy baby, it should be ready to feed as soon as its out. Wait about an hour before the first feed, but you may wait less if the baby is peeping a lot and responding well. You may want to use pedialyte instead of water with your chosen brand of baby bird handfeeding formula to offer more electrolytes, which are very good for a newborn. Instead of using a syringe I would use a baby bottle nipple. Cut it in half and fill it up with formula that is at the temperature of about 100-102 degrees. I had best results with formula at that temperature. 6 parts water (or pedialyte for first few feedings) and 1 part formula. Fill the nipple up so that it fills just the actual nipple part of it, and carefully dip the little one's beak in it, squeezing the upper sides slightly against the baby's beak to give it the sensation of being fed. Make sure the baby doesn't get its nostrils in the formula. To be extra safe, as soon as it takes its first 2 gulps, take its beak out, wipe it off, and lift its head so it's beak is facing upwards. This helps the formula run down the throat better, though it's not usually necessary unless you're feeding very weak babies. Feed the little one until the crop is bigger, but never until its hard. It should feel a bit like a water balloon that's not entirely filled. The crop, though I'm sure you know, is the sac on their chests that store food before it enters the rest of the digestive system.

Feed every 1 1/2 - 2 hours, using the baby's actions (should sleep when full, peep when hungry) and the size of the crop as guides.


Once their eyes open and they start to get some pinfeathers they get very boisterous indeed! You need wait only a week or so, depending on how much you feed. I fed more than some people do because it made my babies that much more responsive and energetic. They are very healthy now and I had no problems during hand rearing and weaning. Once they start squeaking, standing up a bit, and getting some pinfeathers in, you'll want to switch to feeding them with a syringe with the top cut off. It's a good way to feed babies, but a bit risky with newborns. I found it best at first to use the nipple method, which I infact got from a very knowledgeable member on this very site (sorry, but I can't remember your username ) It's very safe and is quite risk free if you do it properly. Cover the syringe with the top cut off (a 10mL syringe will do) with a cut piece of a balloon. Then using a knife cut a little hole into the top of the balloon to let the baby's beak squeeze in. Fill the syringe with food, put the squeaker's beak in, and they will go NUTS!


UPDATE: the knowledgeable member I was speaking of is Phil.  He's been very inspiring to me.


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

Okay i will stop moving the egg.
i have the egg in a box lined with tissue paper until i can prepare a incubater for it.
also i noticed the egg has 2 small darker spots on the egg where it looks like the bird was trying to break through is this normal???

what do you mean the egg will pip??

and the egg is only making the taping sound every once in a while?? 
should i continue to turn the egg 4-6 times a day like usual??

thanks guys youve been so helpful


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## Animal_Lover (Mar 6, 2007)

No the egg hasn't pipped yet
how long will it take for the egg to hatch from now


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## stach_n_flash (Mar 15, 2006)

Has it hatched yet?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

If you are not seeing any "pips" (little dents in the shell) and no movement in the egg, it's not looking good for this one to hatch. Give it a bit more time, but be prepared for a sad outcome.

Terry


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Any luck with the egg??

Vasp, I just wanted to say thank you for your informational post. I am going to save a copy just in case I need it! You are a big asset to the pigeon world.


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