When raising pigeons in households, you cannot do without their reproduction. It will be useful for beginners in poultry farming to find out how many days pigeons hatch eggs and how many chicks there are usually in a nest. How birds hatch their young, whether the male helps the female or not, how long after laying the eggs the chicks hatch, what little pigeons look like.
When and how many eggs are laid?
Pigeons of all breeds lay 1 or 2 eggs; young pigeons often have 1 egg in the nest. The size of the eggs depends on the breed of bird.You can breed pigeons starting from six months. But usually parental pairs are formed from birds 1-5 years of age.
There are at least 3 broods per year, with a maximum of 2 eggs. At home, some breeds raise chicks all year round, as they live in warm dovecotes. Like wild ones, domestic pigeons lay only 1-2 eggs. If there is 1 egg in the nest, you can move another one from the abandoned nest, if there is one.
How do pigeons hatch eggs?
Wild rock pigeons have a brooding period of 16-19 days. How many days pets sit depends on the breed, the maximum period is 22 days. Before laying eggs, wild birds make nests from twigs, grass and other suitable materials. They look for cozy, protected places for this; in cities they often make nests on balconies. They like to settle on tree branches, in hollows or thickets of tall grass, that is, in secluded places where birds cannot be disturbed by predators or humans.
Laying begins a week after mating. First, the female lays one, and after 2 days - the second. As soon as the eggs are laid, the female begins incubation.
She warms them with her body, as other birds do. At the same time, the dove does not sit in the nest all the time; she spends several hours outside it to eat, drink and rest.
Do males help?
Females sit on the clutch from 16:00 one day until 10:00 the next morning. Then her place is taken by the male, who guards the eggs while the dove is busy. But if the female is delayed, the male begins to show dissatisfaction and coo.
How long does it take for chicks to hatch?
After the start of incubation, at least 16 days pass. The first chick in the brood appears from the first egg laid, the second - after 1 day. The day before hatching, the pigeons peck at the shell. To make pecking easier, you can humidify the air in the dovecote by placing containers of water next to the nests. You cannot help the chicks get out of the shell; you need to wait until the process ends naturally. For pigeons it can take 0.5-1 days. If the chick never appears, it means it died, and you need to come to terms with this.
Despite the short incubation period, households need to prepare for the breeding season in advance. In the dovecote you need to place nests according to the number of pairs, put grass, straw, and twigs nearby so that the birds can build a nest.
In order for the pigeons to hatch at the same time and develop equally, the first egg laid must be taken out of the nest and a fake one should be placed. Store the egg at room temperature until the female lays the second one. Then put it in the nest. When the females sit on the eggs, they cannot be disturbed, otherwise they may abandon the nest and the embryos will die.
What do hatched pigeons look like?
The chicks emerge from the eggs helpless, covered with sparse yellow down, and blind. The eyes open on the 6th day. After hatching, the adult pigeons take the shells and throw them away.
The pigeons are inconspicuous, with a large head and beak, and look awkward. The beak grows in the first days and becomes even larger. The baby pigeons lie in the nest, move little, and their parents provide them with food.
Feeding begins immediately after hatching. Both parents feed the pigeons. First, they receive food from the crop of adult birds - a special liquid mixture, which is popularly called pigeon milk.The composition of the milk allows it to be the best food for the pigeon’s body, which is not yet strong enough. Then the parents bring insects, grain, greens, larvae to the nest, and accustom the chicks to adult food. The baby pigeons get used to feeding and, when they see their parents, they begin to ask for food: they stretch their necks and flap their wings. They try to peck the grain that has fallen into the nest.
In addition to food, pigeons provide the pigeons with heating and protection from attacks by predators. In wild pigeons it looks like this: while one of the parents covers the chicks, the other distracts the uninvited guest from the nest. Birds are able to imitate weakness or injury in order to divert the attention of a predator to themselves.
Young pigeons spend 1 month in the nest. During this time, they gradually become covered with feathers, become similar to adult birds, and fly away by the end of the month. In size, the chicks almost catch up with their parents, but they look more graceful, their plumage is matte, and not shiny, like that of adults.
Some time before this, the female begins laying the next batch of eggs and gives up caring for the pigeons. The pigeon can continue to feed the brood until the end of the month and longer.
The incubation period for pigeons depends on the breed, but, in general, does not exceed 3 weeks. In such a short time, embryos manage to form in the egg and, although the chicks are born dependent on their parents, they are quite large and well-formed. A short incubation period allows birds to hatch from 3 clutches per season. And although each of them has only 2 chicks, their total number is such that it allows the pigeons to successfully reproduce, increasing the population.
