Chook Me!

Can this work, please help?!?

I have a question similar to this. Check out my Q&A , the question is titled "Got answers?!please help?!?" It has a list of things I have to make a homemade incubator. But all I want to know is this... can it work for a pigeon egg? I just wanted to know so that I might be able to save a life if a situtation like this should occur for any reason. If you read my question"Got answers?! please help?!" that will provide you with more info. But please tell me can this work?

Public Comments

1. i don't think so
2. if it would word for a chicken it wil work for a pigeon
3. It's possible to raise a pigeon egg to hatch in an incubator, however, the problem once the squab hatches is that it's not like a baby chicken. It can't feed itself. Normally, a parent pigeon provides crop milk to the youngster. It IS possible to rear a baby from day one but it is DIFFICULT and not always successful. If you still wish to try, I suggest that you check out the site below, where they show you how to tube feed a young pigeon.
4. This might work -- the goal is to keep the eggs at a steady 100 degrees, with some humidity so they don't dry out. If you use a heating pad, set it on a low temp and put the box on top of it. Do not put the pad inside the box or the heat will probably build up too high. Also, set it up and adjust the temp before you put the egg in, because if it is too hot it will cook the egg, or at least kill the embryo. You must also turn the egg a quarter turn 3 times a day. This exercises the embryo and keeps the yolk centered in the egg whites. And there needs to be some air circulation -- a completely closed box will smother the egg. The shell of an egg is porous, and the embryo gets its oxygen through the shell. If you are planning ahead rather than dealing with an emergency, it would be easier to just buy a Mini-Incubator -- you can find a simple one that works with a little light bulb for about 10 bucks, or go high-tech with an electronically-controlled one for about $150. Both of these hold 3 chicken eggs, more eggs if they are smaller. I've seen them for sale on ebay. However, be aware that if you are planning to hatch a pigeon, taking care of it is very, very difficult, because a baby pigeon is born naked, blind, and helpless. The mother pigeon pre-digests the food into something called "pigeon milk" which she then regurgitates into the mouth of the young bird. Very hard to duplicate! If you just want the experience of hatching an egg, I recommend getting fertile chicken eggs. Baby chicks can eat on their own after they hatch. If you know somebody with a hen and rooster, they can give you an egg, or you can find them on ebay -- search for "hatching eggs 3." The "3" is to find small lots -- many sellers offer lots of 3 eggs for the mini-incubators for school projects, etc. This link gives basic info on hatching eggs for beginners: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/hatch.htm