# New pigeon laid an egg today



## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

*New pigeon laid egg*

I just bought a pair of pigeons ( high flyers) from a feed store, and the female just laid an egg on the same day. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to stay in the nest that I put the egg in? She laid it on top of a box, then it fell off the slant....just as I put out my hand. I saw the problem and put a nest where her egg was, because she insisted upon sitting where the egg HAD been. The other pigeons seem jealous, because they keep pestering her while she sits, and I don't know why, but I have a frequent problem with birds that will lay eggs and then not sit long enough. They just leave. I have not had previous experience with mother pigeons, and I don't know their habits. Please help?


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

I bought a pair of high-flyer pigeons, because I liked their color, and the same day the female laid an egg. I am afraid that she will leave the nest (which I had to put the egg in. see other thread of mine) and not hatch it. If she will not do so, can I just put it under one of my doves? Can they raise a pigeon? I have ringneck doves which are already well established and regularly hatch eggs, but I don't know if they will even make the effort to hatch such a large egg. I would appreciate PMs telling me more about rollers and high-flyers and the sports that they are associated with, because I am completely new to pigeons even though I have been raising doves and other birds for years.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Avalona Birdy said:


> can I just put it under one of my doves? Can they raise a pigeon? I have ringneck doves which are already well established and regularly hatch eggs, but I don't know if they will even make the effort to hatch such a large egg.


Hi Avalona, 

You could put the egg under your doves, but it's important that they are on the same nesting cycle. This just means that they'd have to have just laid eggs themselves in order for the timing to be right and for them to produce crop milk to feed the chick when it hatches. If this isn't the case, then you may want to wait until your new pigeons are established in their home and start again.


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

Really? I have to mess with the dove's eggs all the time and there has never been a problem. They just somehow have always seemed to be able to take care of different-aged babies all the time. I switched a dove egg and a pigeon egg, so they would still have something to sit on during the day, but the pigeons all find somewhere to perch at night and I know that won't work. I will switch it back if the pigeons continue to sit on the dove egg, because that indicates that they are more likely to sit on them consistently.....I guess I ought to see if they lay another egg, and see what happens from there. I just really would like to have them hatch their first clutch. It really gets me that several dove pairs won't ever stay on eggs long enough, and I was hoping I would not have to deal with the problem with pigeons.


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

Scratch that. The pigeon was in the nest, but not on the dove egg. They seem to want to sit on a phantom egg if their own is removed....so I gave it back to them anyway. They'll learn, I'm sure....but I hate it when birds won't sit on their eggs.


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

They still won't sit on it. I will try to hatch the lone pigeon egg under a dove, and the second egg (which I assume they will lay) may push them to sit. And I will leave that alone. Will this work? Sorry if I am being a bother......I want to hatch the egg, but I want them to learn to hatch their own as well.


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