Takeing the eggs.

I put a box under a lawn chair, it was intended for Freeda but Ma and Pa took it over. There's no eggs there yet but she's due anytime.

I did this before and i still have the eggs, They were hours old and have dryed up, could/should i use these? They're super lite, do you think they would notice?

Where would a guy buy wooden ones anyway?

Hi Grant,

Thank you for doing your best you can for your friendly pigeons in difficult circumstances!

About the replacement eggs, you may be able to find them in a pet store, either made of wood or plastic. But just in case,

I remembered that some time ago I had seen a recommendation for a supplier in Canada, and just managed to find it. This was the post:

Quote :

The guy I buy from is Guido Pfiffner from the Wetaskiwin Alberta area. his prices are very good and he only sells the best of the best. Everything from feed to training baskets, he has it all. Very good guy www.northstardoves.com

You can also order them online from Jedds: http://www.jedds.com/StoreFront.bok
It's further away, but they're very fast getting your order to you. I know, because I got mine incredibly fast, all the way from the US to Portugal.

In the meanwhile, you can try replacing them by the dry eggs. But I agree with you that they'll spot they're duds very quickly!

I agree with replacing the eggs.
Thanks for posting the contacts for Grant, Teresa.

Well Ma has layed her second egg and i'm haveing more thoughts.

What would be the max/min amount of time to switch eggs? I forget now but it's like 2wks incubation time, no? I'm just puzzeled if she rejects the dummies, then what does she do? stay or move?

It's best to remove the eggs as soon as the second egg is laid, so... right now, before the embryos start to develop (that starts a few hours after the second egg is laid).

Here's an idea: take the eggs with one hand and replace them with the dry ones. The pigeons will probably get startled and fly away for a little while, but if not they'll have some 'eggs' to sit on. Boil the real eggs for 10 minutes, cool them down to body temperature using cold water, then put them straight back in the nest. In effect, a double switch.

I wouldn't wait until you get the wooden eggs, cause it's really heartbreaking to consider destroying eggs when you can already detect a heartbeat inside.

Teresa is exactly right, the eggs swap needs to be done now.

I also agree with her manner of swapping.
In my opinion, it would be too late to swap if you wait for the wooden eggs. Mailing into Canada may take a little time and given the situation at hand, time isn't on your side.

Please keep us posted.

Well, I got part of it right.

I warmed the eggs I had, went out, got right up close and she didn't want to come out so I had to startel her, poor girl, first thing in the morning no less.

I had them boiled and running cold water, went to take them out and touched my hand on the pot, frigin thing was still hot on the top, dented one of them, f**k now what?

I go and look and she's back in the nest. Relief, now Pa won't be bugging her for awhile anyway.

I think their here to stay, I think.

I'd still do the swap, even if one of the eggs got dented. The pigeons will probably think, 'that's life!', chuck that one out of the nest, and sit on the other.

Hope you didn't burn yourself, but I have to confess the way you told the story was so funny, I couldn't help laughing!

Gotta like a woman that laughs at my pain.

We pretty much got it licked, just need to know how long, it was one of you two that said something like one of your males sat on eggs 45 days? I know that's not Mama or Papa, but will they give up or do I take them in like 2wks?

Cheers

You don't need to take the eggs away, because when pigeons get fed up waiting for them to hatch, they push them out of the nest.
Either that or they build another nest somewhere else and alternate between the two, almost one month in one, one month in the other. If they move to another nest after 20-something days, you can take the fake eggs and, if they're plastic or wood, put them aside for next time.
The boiled eggs don't usually last beyond one month, as the pigeons keep them warm and that spoils them.

When you replace the eggs, whoever is sitting at the time doesn't need to get out of the nest.
I just put the back of my hand under their chest and raise them up just enough for me to get the eggs and then immediately put the artificial ones right under them.
I get nipped and growled at, but other than that they just resume their sitting position and all is fine.

Thanks so much, more than you know.

I've been pondering starting a blog on my new family's progress, but as it's turning out I found some friends

Which to me is far more important than some blog that nobody will read.

Thanks again! Ma is sitting mostly, Pa doesn't stay with her much, comes to eat though. I got a new feeding set-up too. The babies, Speck and Spot just wouldn't take no for an answer. So now when they come some rice (long-grain) goes on the sill, Ma and Pa's goes out the other window, then they leave's the twins to eat, the twins are finished before Freeda shows up, and her's is inside. Been two days only and I think they know what's up.

I haven't used the boiled/dented eggs, might as well leave that part, just gotta get them back.

If you've just taken the eggs and not replaced them, then Ma and Pa will mate again and start laying again in a few days, but by then you should have the wooden eggs that Cindy sent you.

The reason why we advocate replacing the eggs is to stop another egg cycle starting too soon. Once or twice it doesn't matter, but when it happens a lot the hen loses so much calcium that she can become very ill.

Pigeon blogs can be successful, but that mostly depends on how many contacts you have and can be a lot of work, as only the best of the best get visited. Those are the ones with exceptional photos and very good information. Some of our members have successful blogs, so I'll post a couple of links so you can check them out for yourself.
Petra's blog: http://pigeonwriter.wordpress.com/
Revati's blog: http://www.pigeonsaspets.co.uk/

We are delighted that you like posting here and chatting with us! And we love hearing pigeon stories!

Only a week has passed since switching the eggs. Seems way longer, I must be looking out twice a day to see if 'she's' not he's still sitting on the eggs.

All's well, I guess, just seems like a long time for a bird to be in one place.

So what happens if she don't reject them?

farmerjoecoledge wrote:

Only a week has passed since switching the eggs. Seems way longer, I must be looking out twice a day to see if 'she's' not he's still sitting on the eggs.

All's well, I guess, just seems like a long time for a bird to be in one place.

So what happens if she don't reject them?

If they accepted the eggs, they'll sit on them until the time it usually takes for eggs to hatch, 17-18 days from when the second egg was laid, or until they decide nothing's going to happen and decide to give up. When mine are sitting on fake eggs, they usually do it for 3 to 4 weeks.

Male and female usually take turns at sitting, one staying in the nest while the other one searches for food and gets some needed exercise.

Teresa wrote:

farmerjoecoledge wrote:

Only a week has passed since switching the eggs. Seems way longer, I must be looking out twice a day to see if 'she's' not he's still sitting on the eggs.

All's well, I guess, just seems like a long time for a bird to be in one place.

So what happens if she don't reject them?

If they accepted the eggs, they'll sit on them until the time it usually takes for eggs to hatch, 17-18 days from when the second egg was laid, or until they decide nothing's going to happen and decide to give up.

When mine are sitting on fake eggs, they usually do it for 3 to 4 weeks.

Male and female usually take turns at sitting, one staying in the nest while the other one searches for food and gets some needed exercise.

Our Pij'ette will sit on her fake eggs forever.
She has laid two eggs since Mikko passed away, but I still replaced them because I wasn't sure if Malio might have had a part in that.
Although he took over that area of the aviary nearly immediately after Mikko was gone, I have never seen him and Pij'ette together, but I'd rather be safe than regretful for not doing so.

Pij'ette pretty much stays to herself in her basket. Bless her heart.

Poor Pij'ette, give her a kiss from me!

Sorry but, Is pigete still sitting on the eggs?

Teresa wrote:

Poor Pij'ette, give her a kiss from me!

Will do. I may have to blow it to her though.
Although she a sweetheart, she's also a bit fiesty.

She's the matriarch of the group, so I guess she's earned the 'fiesty' title.

farmerjoecoledge wrote:

Sorry but, Is pigete still sitting on the eggs?

Not at the moment. I won't put any in her basket unless I find one or two when I make my 'egg check' rounds.
When I see her perched on the edge of her basket, I know she's finished with her egg sitting so I remove the wooden eggs until next time.

AZWhitefeather wrote:

I love how you are doting over Ma and pa, Grant. LOTS!!
Ma and Pa's wooden eggs are on the way!!


I asked the clerk about how long it would take for delivery and she said 6 to 10 days,
but it could be sooner.

Ma and Pa's eggs arrive without any problems.

This has got to the longest 17 days in recent memory. What does a pigeon sitting on eggs got to do with that?

So today I go out there with the wooden eggs in hand and I'm tappping on the box and she aint moving. I stick my hand in and she bit me! Well, ok then I'll leave you be.

What now? I still wait until she decides? That would be like a human female.

Is she sitting on her own eggs or did you replace them with the 'old' ones you had?

Mine always bite me when I go to repace the eggs.
I just 'grin and bear it' and remind them that the hand they are biting is also the hand that feeds them.

I get the look like, "Yeah, yeah, we've heard that before."

Yeah, she's sitting on the light ones i had from a couple of years back. I guess I'll wait a bit before I try and switch them again with the wooden ones, I was hoping she would reject the wooden ones.