1/3 dozen eggs?

I have a young Jacobin pair, that I have kept in a holding pen since I
acquired them recently. The young hen laid an egg on the wire outside their
"box". She walked around it a while then ignored it. Later, she laid an
egg on the floor of her box, but not in the nest bowl. I put it in the
bowl.... she kicked it our.

A couple of weeks later she laid an egg in the bowl. Two days later, a
second egg... and she was sitting on them. Two days later, a THIRD egg. I
started asking people if they had ever had a pigeon lay three eggs... nobody
had.

Two days later, a FORTH egg, and she and her mate have been sitting on the
eggs in a normal pattern.

Now I don't know if they will hatch, or if they can raise more than two
squab, but I think I have a real rare situation here.... I didn't think it
was possible to produce 3 eggs, much less 4 in one laying..

Jim Hord

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 09:01:34 -0500, "jim" <jim.TakeThisOut@hord.com> wrote:

>I have a young Jacobin pair, that I have kept in a holding pen since I
>acquired them recently. The young hen laid an egg on the wire outside their
>"box". She walked around it a while then ignored it. Later, she laid an
>egg on the floor of her box, but not in the nest bowl. I put it in the
>bowl.... she kicked it our.
>
>A couple of weeks later she laid an egg in the bowl. Two days later, a
>second egg... and she was sitting on them. Two days later, a THIRD egg. I
>started asking people if they had ever had a pigeon lay three eggs... nobody
>had.
>
>Two days later, a FORTH egg, and she and her mate have been sitting on the
>eggs in a normal pattern.
>
>Now I don't know if they will hatch, or if they can raise more than two
>squab, but I think I have a real rare situation here.... I didn't think it
>was possible to produce 3 eggs, much less 4 in one laying..
>
>Jim Hord
>
>
Hello Jim. I had a hen lay three eggs a few years ago. I have never
heard of it but there is a lot I have never heard. Most likely is two
pair with one having gender problems. It is not unusuall for two hens
to mate and lay four eggs. Be sure to keep us informed on the group
here if you don't mind. Also I found that Jacobins did a better job of
sitting and hatching in a nest where the bottom kind of funneled the
eggs to one spot. They tend to kick their eggs around in the nest.
Mine were great parents once they got the eggs hatched and the babies
big enough to not be kicked around also.

cheers.
tonyf