Oooops!
Oops! That's what pigeon hobbyists say when their pigeons unexpectedly hatch eggs. They're called "oops babies". When a rescuer's foster pigeons unexpectedly hatch eggs, it's more like, "Holy crap!"
For over a year and a half, I have meticulously culled eggs because I struggle to find good homes for pigeons that are already here. I pull the real eggs that a mated pair of pigeons lays and replace them with wooden eggs- pigeon birth control. If you just pull (which means dispose of) the real ones, the hen will lay another pair but, when you replace the real with fake, the couple will take turns sitting on them in an extremely earnest effort to hatch the damn things which buys you a couple of weeks until they give up on the unhatchable wooden eggs and then the whole cycle starts again. They don't like fake eggs one bit. And I hate pulling their eggs. Their eggs are gorgeous and even though I pull them within a few days of their being laid (long before the embryo has developed into a chick), I can still feel how alive they are. I'd MUCH rather they could just have their eggs and raise their babies but there aren't enough homes. So, for all this time, I've succeeded in preventing the incredibly family-oriented pigeons from breeding.
Except last Thursday. I went out with my warmed up fake eggs. (The real ones are toasty, hot-toddy warm and warming the fakes is less insulting to the pij.) I knew I had to pull them from Walter & Rocky, Art & Gus and Santino & Charlie Brown White Socks. I started with Santino and when I stuck my hand (holding a pair of fake eggs) underneath him to trade for the real, I was shocked to see and feel BABIES rather than eggs. I would have sworn in a court of law that those eggs were less than a week old (max) but it takes two and a half weeks to hatch a clutch so obviously I had screwed up. The scary thing is, if they hadn't have hatched the day before, I'd have pulled and thrown out chicks-about-to-hatch. Thank goodness I didn't do that.
So I've got my first oops babies. Of course they are incredible. I love them. The parents are taking very good care of them and they are growing so fast that it is freaky. Mouse over the pictures below for the rest of the story in captions.
DAY 2 Thursday, April 30th
DAY 3 Friday, May 1st
DAY 4 Saturday, May 2nd
DAY 5 Sunday, May 3rd
DAY 6 Monday, May 4th
DAY 7 Tuesday, May 5th
I have never refused a rescue so many times and still ended up with it! Charlie Brown White Socks was a feral fledgling that somebody found injured and out of the nest prematurely. She was left on an avian vet tech's doorstep. I was out of town helping my hospitalized mom and said I couldn't help except to provide some names of other possible rescuers. Even so, I ended up with her (my fault) and, though I've released her several times, she won't go. She even had a feral mate, Slim, and he went free but she stayed behind. She's a very clever little minx and she beats me every play.
Pigeon birth control.
Please don't breed or buy- until there are homes for all of them, adopt.
DAY 8 Wednesday, May 6th
DAY 9 Thursday, May 7th
2 Comments:
While they may be "Oops" babies, they're are still absolutely precious!! Thank you for sharing these. I am amazed by how fast they grow!
Wow they grow really fast! Look at all the feathers just in a few days!
Cheryl
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