Pigeons hatching in cold climates?

[BackyardFarmer4]

One of my pair of pigeons just laid there first egg of the year. Im up in Maine it the temps have been between -15 and +20 degrees. Will they do ok hatching and raising there young in these temperatures.

 

[sourland]

It depends upon the parenting skills of the birds. Even though they hover over the first egg it frequently gets chilled and winter nests frequently have only one squab hatch. I would put my pairs together mid Feb. Until I started taking the first egg away (to be returned when the second was laid) I generally raised only one squab/round.

 

[cavemanrich]

One of my pair of pigeons just laid there first egg of the year. Im up in Maine it the temps have been between -15 and +20 degrees. Will they do ok hatching and raising there young in these temperatures.

If you want more success, replace those eggs with dummy plastic ones, and let them sit on those. If you just remove the eggs, they will lay another set quite soon. Wait until it gets warmer, and you will have better chances of hatching, and survival.
I'm in milder zone weather wise than you. My loft was in a semi-warmed loft inside garage. Winter hatching was never satisfactory to me. Mostly the survival to 4 weeks was not great. That is when I decided to use the plastic eggs to advance the real hatching until spring.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Hokum Coco]

the temps have been between -15 and +20 degrees. Will they do ok hatching and raising there young in these temperatures.

We are practically neighbours. In a perfect world your eggs will hatch with no problem is my experience. The trouble comes when the squabs become too large to incubate by the parents. At least one will be lost do to cold.

I combated the problem by moving nest bowl and all in total darkness into this (once the squabs had hatched and were getting too large.)
Line the cooler I used an empty feed bag and change it when needed. It makes life easier and you will be happy you did.

This was the result these eggs were laid on Christmas Eve in Canada New Brunswick to be exact. A few years back.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Are you letting them sit on the eggs? I wouldn't recommend it in that weather, but it's your call.

 

[BackyardFarmer4]

UPDATE, out of nowhere I have had 5 pairs lay eggs 2 of those pairs laid infertile eggs and had no growth inside after 6 days. I have those 2 pair sitting on dummy eggs at the moment. My other 3 pairs have very good growth in all there eggs, one of my pairs actually laid 3 eggs and all of them are forming great the first 2 laid of the 3 are due to hatch within the next day or two and the 3rd one a day after those. With the temperatures being like they have been for the past 2 weeks I am very surprised with the success so far. Its been -10 to -32 but now the weather is warming back up some over the next week. Anyway My plan is that when the eggs start hatching I will give the 2 pairs with dummy eggs each a baby from the pair that has 3 eggs so if everything goes well I should have 3 pairs with one chick each, which will hopefully give me a better chance of a good outcome. And the other 2 pairs will have to raise there own 2 chicks when they hatch in about 12 days. I am feeling very confident about this plan and I hope all goes well.

 

[biophiliac]

UPDATE, out of nowhere I have had 5 pairs lay eggs 2 of those pairs laid infertile eggs and had no growth inside after 6 days. I have those 2 pair sitting on dummy eggs at the moment. My other 3 pairs have very good growth in all there eggs, one of my pairs actually laid 3 eggs and all of them are forming great the first 2 laid of the 3 are due to hatch within the next day or two and the 3rd one a day after those. With the temperatures being like they have been for the past 2 weeks I am very surprised with the success so far. Its been -10 to -32 but now the weather is warming back up some over the next week. Anyway My plan is that when the eggs start hatching I will give the 2 pairs with dummy eggs each a baby from the pair that has 3 eggs so if everything goes well I should have 3 pairs with one chick each, which will hopefully give me a better chance of a good outcome. And the other 2 pairs will have to raise there own 2 chicks when they hatch in about 12 days. I am feeling very confident about this plan and I hope all goes well.

That sounds like an excellent plan! The days are getting longer and several of mine are showing signs of nesting too.
edit added How many pigeons do you have? I think we need to see some pics!

 

[backyard pigeons]

Sounds good to me. Just watch to make sure the foster parents accept the squabs. And keep good records!

 

[BackyardFarmer4]

So all 3 of the eggs hatched, I put each one under each pair and everything seemed to have been going well. Each pair fed each baby like it was there own. I went back out the next morning to check up on everyone and 2 of the 3 babies were dead. it looks like the parents were just inexperienced and stepped on the babies. I am disappointed by this but its a learning experience for me and the birds. The 3rd baby is doing great with the original parents and has grown a lot! I will post some pictures of the baby and my flock as soon as I can go out and get some.

 

[PigeonLady]

Sorry for your loss. You may be correct about the reason. Or you may have been off on the timing when you made these switches. You have take note of when they lay, and your switch needs to be within the normal gestation range (17-19 days.) Even when you do everything perfect, these switches don't always go over.

I don't ever like to have a single squab in a nest if I can help it, especially in cold weather. Two squabs together will lean against each other and keep each other warm to some extent. I also think they derive comfort from having a buddy. To me, a single squab is a sad sight.

One other suggestion - I don't know what kind of pigeons you are raising, but if you can get ahold of some homer pairs, they make the best foster parents hands down. They sit tight when it's cold. They are also excellent feeders. Lots of fancy pigeon breeders use homers as fosters.