Raising Pigeon Chicks

Raising Pigeon Chicks

If you want to raise pigeon chicks, you should provide them with food as soon as possible. Pigeon feed is not similar to any other birds' feed. Instead of seeds, it usually contains corn and peas.

By the end of the first week, the chicks must be watered at least once a day. In order to make sure they are getting enough water, you can always measure how much they drink in 24 hours.

If you do not watch over the chicks, they may go hungry, or even die of thirst.

Pigeon chicks are easy to raise, but will require a great deal of your time.

Pigeons often lay two eggs, but they typically only rear one chick. You can artificially increase the success rate by incubating one egg and allowing the parents to incubate the other. The way in which you pick which egg to remove is by rolling them on a flat surface. A fertile egg will spin like a top and an infertile egg will wobble like a drunk man.

Once hatched, pigeon chicks have no feathers. They rely on their parents for food, shelter and even warmth during the first weeks of life. Pigeons feed their young crop milk, which is a secretion from their throat that contains protein, water and fat (among other things). Pigeon crop milk is so nutritious that it has been used as livestock feed!

You should not be concerned if parents throw out the nest materials during the first week or so. This is normal behavior for pigeons, as they are constantly renovating their nests until the chicks fledge at around 4-5 weeks of age.