I'm thinking of hand raising a pigeon, I know a few places to find info on hand raising. But let me break it down, I CAN'T afford an incubator right at the moment so the only form of incubation I have for the egg is a desklamp with a 20 watt bulb that gets to be about 90 degrees or more. I know where to find a chart regarding temp and humidity for the egg which I plan to get from a friend in CA. Just so you know I'm only there for 2 or 3 days at a time so I CAN'T wait around for the chick to be born (if it hasn't hatched already). The last time I tried incubating a pigeon egg I used a heating pad but the chick died of heatstroke. Since then I've done research and learned from my mistakes. But does anyone have any tips or advice to prevent yet another failure?
I want my next try to be sucessful!
2007-01-30 13:18:10 · 5 answers · asked by Checkers- the -Wolf 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
The temperature needs to be 99-102 preferably 100-101 constantly and the humidity needs to be 88-86% so that the egg won't dry out. The egg needs to be turned every 3-4 hours everyday. Sometimes, hatching needs to be assisted. Hand feeding requires formula for birds, feeding every 2 hours around the clock and experience with feeling the animal's crop to check that is is full and emptying properly. Avoidance of drowning the bird with formula is another important consideration. It takes a lot of work and lack of sleep. Many well-intentioned people have accidentally killed chicks due to not having the proper time or experience.Someday you will have the time for this process. For now, you are a very busy person. It would benefit you and your future pigeon to wait for now. Have a tweet year.
2007-01-30 13:48:52 · answer #1 · answered by firestarter 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with zandiandi. You need to be able to afford the vet bill if you accidentally asperate the chick when feeding or if it develops slow crop or sour crop. You can also injure your chick by feeding it's food too hot. If you do this then the chick gets crop burn and all of these things are fatal if not treated professionally at a cost of hundreds of dollars.
Are you prepared to do that? Be honest with yourself. If you are not, then I would purchase a bird that is older and then work towards raising a chick later on.
Even with an incubator, if the egg gets too hot on one side before being turned the chick will die inside the shell. Incubating eggs is not an exact science and I would even hesitate to try it myself and I have had several chicks here, both hookbills and finches.
I have included some sites that I searched for, but it seems that even the breeders don't reccomend doing what you are trying to do. I cannot find any humidity or temprature information.
2007-01-30 22:45:26 · answer #2 · answered by Christie D 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you cannot afford an incubator, then you probably also can't afford the vet bills should something else go wrong. I suggest you start off with an adult pigeon, that's easier for you, less likely to end in death, and less costly. Once you are certain you can keep an adult alive, then you can work on saving money for an incubator to successfully hatch and raise chicks.
2007-01-30 22:13:06 · answer #3 · answered by zandyandi 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
im srry i know nothing about chick hatching, but my friend did that with quail eggs one time. she but the eggs on some staw or something soft. and put them in a cardboard box and put a heat lamp over them. it worked fine so you might wanna try that.
Hope this helps! :)
2007-01-30 21:24:14 · answer #4 · answered by iloveyou<3 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you cant efford a incudiator than you should nt try it now wait untill you can or chases are it will die again
2007-02-04 10:37:01 · answer #5 · answered by sarah_see_123 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋