Question sir, i bought 8 pairs of pigeons to my home i arranged 2x2X2.5 feet cages for them individually and i allowed them to fly in home(they are not willing to go out if i open windows) i feed all varieties of grains available in India.
all the pairs used to lay eggs monthly once and they leaving chicks in 2-3 weeks (with out much maturity). each and every chicks are dyeing. how can i prevent them from death. how can i get chicks grow up.
i will be very much thankfull to you, by your help
Answer Hi, Suresh,
The problem you are having may be due to your setup. With eggs/babies, normally, the male cares for the eggs/babies during the daytime, and the female cares for the eggs/babies during the night. If you do not allow either to leave the nesting area/cage when their "shift" is up, this may be causing problems. It's OK to have their nests set up inside the cages, but the adults need to be able to move about outside the cages in order for things to work out best. This is why it's important for the birds to be in a "loft." In a loft setup, you would have nesting boxes set up so either the male or female can play their part (the male cares for the nest during the day, the female during the night). When the male or female isn't taking their turn on the nest, they are running about the loft, sitting in the sun, bathing in the rain, etc.
In addition to the above, when chicks are about 2-3 weeks old, daddy coaxes them to leave the nest. Daddy then teaches them the things they need to learn, while mom most likely goes back to nest again. Young pigeons are usually weaned by daddy at about 3 weeks of age, sometimes 4 weeks.
If the chicks are dying, you may have some type of illness/disease amongst your adult birds and/or in their cages. It would be best to take these offspring to a certified avian veterinarian for determination if there is any disease. The vet would want to exam their droppings, as well as taking swabs inside their mouths. In the absence of an avian vet, I would recommend you completely and thoroughly clean and disinfect all the cages, etc., and start again. You need to vaccinate your birds each year for PMV, pox, and paratyphoid, and regularly medicate them for worms, etc. There can be various germs amongst your birds/in their nests/in their cages causing the babies to die. If adult birds are sick, they can pass this to their offspring. Pigeons can acquire many types of diseases from rodents, other birds, etc., and you need to keep a handle on this.
There's many things that can be a factor in your situation. You need to examine every aspect...housing, illness/disease, setup, etc....in order to get to the bottom of the situation. I recommend you start by cleaning/disinfecting everything. You really need to get them into a loft-type setup. You can Google "pigeon lofts" to see what I'm referring to. There are many photos, much information, etc., on the internet.
